Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 7:39 am, sunset 8:01
am for a total day light of 12 hours and 22 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes
and 24 seconds shorter as we approach the Autumn Equinox on September 22.
A huge storm arrived in
Seward this evening bearing heavy rain and strong winds. There is a high wind
warning and a flood advisory until Thursday with locally heavy rain totals
expected between 3 and 6” by 10 am Wednesday. O boy!
I wonder if the owls knew
about this storm. Yesterday at about 6 pm, I heard a GREAT HORNED OWL hooting
softly from the mountainside. That is unusually early! He continued all
evening, but when I checked around 11 pm, a NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL was tooting
instead! First time this fall, and unusual that he would let the Great Horned
Owl, a known predator, know his location. Very strange.
Five “new” adult TRUMPETER
SWANS arrived yesterday at Preacher Pond, just north of Seward. Such beautiful
birds! They spent much of their time feeding on the pond vegetation. Then one
or two sat on a sunken log and preened, dipping their black bill into their
reflection like an ink pen. Lovely white feathers drifted away like little
boats.
Two of the swans shared
head-bobbing to communicate a change in routine to move to a different spot to
feed. These may be a pair. Another swan reached out to poke another swan who
was apparently too close, otherwise they all seemed very compatible.
Two juvenile BALD EAGLES
circled hopefully above then perched in a nearby spruce, peering down and
fantasizing the feast feeding peacefully beneath. No chance!
I checked the Nash Road
wetlands and found a single adult swan sitting on the nest site. Maybe this is
the “sweet swan” that wanted so much to come home.
Today, in a lull between
scattered squalls, I refound the five swans at Preacher Pond. Two more
Trumpeter Swans graced the pond at the head of the bay, and the resident swan
family with its five cygnets reclaimed the Nash Road wetlands. A fine total of 14
swans in all: nine adults and five cygnets. I truly think that these swans, or
most of them, may all be related, but we will never know.
Listen to Richard Nelson's Encounter episode about Trumpeter Swans and apt description about "double beauty" at
<http://encountersnorth.org/audio_files/Encounters_Trumpeter_Swan.mp3>
Meanwhile, Tasha reported a
juvenile SABINE’S GULL between the seafood processing plant on Lowell Point
Road and Lowell Creek. I checked, but only found BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, MEW
GULLS, and GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, with maybe a few HERRING GULLS or hybrids
here and there, bobbing on the surf.
This storm, funneling such
strong wind from the south, may indeed sweep more great birds to Seward and
beyond.
Hold on to your hat!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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