Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 9:59 pm, sunset 3:49
pm for a total day length of 5 hours and 50 minutes. Tomorrow will be 20
seconds shorter.
Lovely winter met a big storm
recently, with strong winds and rain as the temperature warmed up into the low
40s. Squalls cycled through delivering more hard rain and bouts of wind. Soft
snow still covers the ground, but the streets are alternately icy or wet or
both.
Temperatures are forecast to
drop below freezing starting on Sunday, and continue to slide into the single
digits by Thursday, with snow for Christmas Day. Due to the snow cover, long
nights, and cold temperatures, feeders remain important and popular. Keep them
filled!
I visited the boat harbor on
Thursday in between squalls. Several COMMON MURRES paddled methodically like
wind-up toy boats, sometimes diving for fish. Sadly, many more were strewn
along the breakwater rocks or floating at the edge of the pancake ice. I
counted 33 carcasses just on the south side alone, including a few that were
intact.
In past winters, seeing a
Common Murre was unusual, and often they did not appear on our Christmas Bird
Count. This winter, they are flying and dying. Groups of 10 or more Murres
wheel over land, their wings pumping furiously, desperately. As noted
previously, a dozen were found at Mile 12, and one in the middle of Skilak
Lake. Why are they here? Why are they starving?
The BALD EAGLES continue to
feast on this easy prey, and drop the carcasses below their dining perches all
over town. It is difficult to watch the uncensored, direct process of catch and
eat, sometimes skipping the “kill” step.
The other sea ducks, which
show no signs of starvation or other distress, reap the benefit of all these
easy Murre targets. And so it goes, Murres die and Eagles feast, followed by
Ravens, NW Crows, Magpies, and other scavengers until nothing is left but a few
bones and feathers. I hope scientists can discover the cause of the Murres’
distress so that we can do something to help instead of just witnessing this
catastrophe.
In other news, Ava’s
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER has not been seen again, nor has the BLACK GUILLEMOT
after Tasha refound it 2 hours after its release.
On December 17 I found a
GREATER SCAUP hen preening and paddling with a small raft of COMMON GOLDENEYES
south of the harbor Uplands. More RED-BREASTED MERGANSERS, about 20, have
arrived along the Greenbelt Beach, and I did see a COMMON LOON and a RED-NECKED
GREBE fishing off Lowell Point Road with BARROW’S GOLDENEYES yesterday.
If you haven’t already, check
out the remarkable videos by Bob Armstrong at https://vimeo.com/149234386 They will
cheer you up!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Bird Report Reporter,
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