Seward,
Alaska
Sunrise 5:51 am, sunset 10:18
pm for a total day length of 16 hours and 26 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 3 seconds shorter. Mostly cloudy and sprinkly for the past several weeks with periods of dense fog. Summer is moving along with some salmonberries and the first blueberries, very few raspberries.
It’s been a busy summer and
lots has happened since my last Sporadic Bird report on July 10 (gasp!), but I’ll
have to skip a bit to get this out now.
On Sunday night around 10:20
pm on July 29, I heard at least two MARBLED MURRELETS crying in the dusky dark,
circling invisibly in the mysterious fog. I stood transfixed in the light rain,
straining to see the tiny seabirds without success. By tracking their piercing
calls, it seemed that they circled Little Bear Mountain, and possibly flew up
Lowell Canyon.
It was fun to think that they
might roost close to the ocean. Way back in 1998, I found a Marbled Murrelet
fledgling by the side of the highway at Mile 12, possibly brushed by a vehicle.
That’s a long way to commute and I always wondered why they would fly so far
with all the coniferous trees so close to the bay.
I thought all the
SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS had migrated, so I was pleased to find five on August 4,
patrolling the tidelands with their characteristic stop-start pattern. I heard,
but did not see, another one on August 5.
The River Otter family of mom
and three pups is making tracks around the bay, literally. They pop up at the
Lagoon, travel upstream along the road to First Lake, wander over to Second
Lake, head back to the Lagoon and out to the ocean, then track up the
tidelands. They are very curious and seemingly fearless, and delightful to
watch.
King Salmon, stocked in the
Lagoon, have returned to spawn. It is a thrill to see these large, red salmon
with black spots all over their sleek bodies including the tail. The River
Otters are very pleased as well, I’m sure.
Yesterday, I watched a
cautious COMMON MERGANSER hen paddle along followed by two adorable white-striped
ducklings. When they got tired, they hopped up on her back for a free ride and
off they went.
Nearby, two SPOTTED
SANDPIPERS (without spots) ran along the shoreline picking off flies from the
ground and jumped to snap them mid-air. Whenever they could, they dipped and
bobbed. One looked like a juvenile with barred wing coverts. The other
sandpiper, maybe an adult, chased the juvenile off whenever they shared the
same area. Another Spotted Sandpiper was seen at First Lake on July 31; maybe
they are migrating through.
The TRUMPETER SWAN family at
the Mile 1 Nash Road wetlands is thriving. The pink-billed, gray cygnets at two
months are almost as big as their ever-vigilant parents. Often, they are
secreted out of sight at the back of the pond, but today they were feeding on
the abundant water horsetails nearer the road. It won’t be long before they
flap those growing wings and learn to fly.
At long last, the killer
power lines along the Lagoon are down. Yay! Now the power runs underground. The
Seward linemen left three of the seven poles to serve as perches for the Bald
Eagles, Kingfishers, Ravens, Gulls, and other birds. Now, when the Swans fly,
they won’t die. Thank you to all the concerned birders who contacted City Hall
in support of the bird deflectors and underground power!
Last year there were scarcely
any fireweed flowers and the bumblebees suffered. This year, the fireweed did
very well, gracing the roadsides with their spikes of flaming magenta flowers. I’ve
enjoyed trying to get photos of the different kinds of bumblebees as they bounce
and zoom from one generous flower to the next, sipping nectar and spreading
pollen. My favorite is the one with orange bands. So striking against the magenta flowers and green background, but I appreciate them all.
The flowers bloom from the bottom up; the remaining buds at the top will soon bloom and then fade. The bumblebees seem to know this, and work frantically to gather the food while they can. “Bumble Boogie” adapted by Jack Fina from “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov pops up in my head while I watch. Check it out on-line. Very fun!
The flowers bloom from the bottom up; the remaining buds at the top will soon bloom and then fade. The bumblebees seem to know this, and work frantically to gather the food while they can. “Bumble Boogie” adapted by Jack Fina from “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov pops up in my head while I watch. Check it out on-line. Very fun!
Exciting news flash: A GREAT
GRAY OWL, possibly juvenile, was reported last night in Forest Acres in a
birder’s yard. I’m on standby if it shows up again. I’ll keep you posted!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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