Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 10:03 am, sunset 3:53 pm for a total day length of 5 hours and 50 minutes. Tomorrow will be 0 minutes and TWENTY-NINE SECONDS LONGER!
The rain held off the first days of Count Week with mild, spring-like conditions; calm and temps in the mid-30s (OK, a little chilly for spring, but still, some yards have green grass!).
Then, having waited long enough, the clouds released their bounty on Count Day. The north wind woke up that afternoon and sent hearty gusts of wind and rain on the Counters. This lovely pattern continued on Sunday and Monday, and probably tomorrow, the last day of Count Week. Very challenging conditions especially when combined with the dark dim of the shortest days of the year.
On Friday, the resident TRUMPETER SWAN parents flanked their four, beautiful, full-grown cygnets as they paraded along Afognak Beach. I refound the elusive KILLDEER, not shy about shouting, “DEEE, DEEE” in flight. A regal BALD EAGLE dried out on a driftwood lookout. Three WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS dove reliably off Lowell Point Road.
Count Day seemed very quiet, especially for passerines, but I’ll leave the results to be posted later. Some reported highlights: the Killdeer, 3 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS, 3 YELLOW-BILLED LOONS, and 4 White-winged Scoters.
On Sunday, I pulled over and stopped by the Nash Road Mile 1 wetlands. Swans dotted the open water in the back like snow drifts. I counted 19 adults and 9 cygnets! While I was watching, a great trumpeting echoed off the nearby mountainside as two more adults sailed in from the beach and skied to a stop on those giant, black, webbed feet. After a pause, an encore as another pair flew in. Magical, wild, swans!
I walked Afognak Beach in the rain and found 14 ROCK SANDPIPERS in the distance, too far to determine if any Dunlins were among them. About 16 more Trumpeter Swans scrounged for calories in a creek, partially hidden by wetland vegetation.
Today it rained harder and more continuously. I found four RUSTY BLACKBIRDS hidden in a tangle of branches, quietly enduring the wet.
I found three MALLARDS guzzling grass in a puddle in a ballfield.
The sea ducks by Lowell Point Road, including the 3 White-winged Scoters, Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Surf Scoters, and Common Mergansers, did not seem to mind the rain as they rode up and down the swells then dove for clams and fish.
One more day for Count Week; maybe something new will rain down or blow in!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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