Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 6:55 am, sunset 9:02 pm for a total day length of 14 hours and 7 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 23 seconds shorter as we race towards the Fall Equinox on September 22 at 4:43 am.
After day after day of dreary drizzle, sprinkles, and actual rain, the dazzling sun emerged victorious. The low today was 43, and the high a pleasant 54º; calm then a rising 6 mph south wind by afternoon with gusts to 13 mph. Overcast until Wednesday and then more rain in the forecast until Saturday. Sigh.
Yesterday morning was amazing. I caught a glimpse of a camouflaged BROWN CREEPER ratcheting up my spruce tree on one side while an industrious RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH pounded a sunflower seed into a crevice in the bark on the other side. CHESTNUT-BACKED and BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES took turns at the feeder, selecting one seed to go. Young STELLER’S JAYS inquisitively flipped chunks of moss off the roof shingles.
Then an unseen ROBIN sang a complete verse of his sweet song, unbidden. A VARIED THRUSH in the distance wheezed out a teakettle sigh. Up piped a FOX SPARROW concealed inside a large Goatsbeard jungle, venturing just a few chips. Overhead, a COMMON REDPOLL blew raspberries. What a great way to greet the morning!
That evening, two DARK-EYED JUNCOS foraged for fallen seeds under the feeder; haven’t seen Juncos for months.
Today, I discovered two distant DOWITCHERS at the estuary pond, earnestly prodding for tidbits in the shallows. No other shorebirds were heard or seen.
ROBINS sallied forth from red elderberry bushes, bright with ripe fruit, and then two RUSTY BLACKBIRDS flew from the nearby spruce woods, creaking as they went.
On a late afternoon walk at Two Lake Park in town, a tawny juvenile AMERICAN GOSHAWK* streaked across First Lake, straight towards me, apparently startled by some people on the opposite shore. It flared its long banded tail and landed high in a nearby cottonwood, disappearing instantly into the crown of leaves. Wow! A cheeky Red Squirrel chose to scold at that moment, probably not a wise move with that predator nearby.
* (I just learned that the Northern Goshawk was split by the American Ornithological Society into American Goshawk and Eurasian Goshawk in 2023. Another species to relearn…)
Such a serendipitous few days!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
No comments:
Post a Comment