Seward, Alaska
The rainbow’s promise of sunshine came with a thin veneer of morning ice on puddles as the overnight low dipped to 27. Brrr! It felt like winter all day with a chilly south wind, though the thermometer read a high of 40.
For the first time, I saw the TRUMPETER SWAN sitting on her nest. The water level is unusually high at the Mile 1 Nash Road wetlands; she’s been dredging nest materials from the water to the water. But now, it looks like the nest and future babies are above the flood zone.
Out in the bay, HORNED GREBES are exchanging their plain black and white winter outfits for outrageously gaudy gold “horns” and chestnut brown suits. This process takes a while, so don’t embarrass them during the seedy-looking molt.
Salmon fry are hatching out of their hidden eggs in the numerous anadromous streams around the bay. These tiny fish fuel many birds, including ARCTIC TERNS, BELTED KINGFISHERS, and DIPPERS. I marveled as a Dipper added variety to its meal and dove for a caddisfly larva, shook it out of its case, and tossed it down the hatch.
An unexpected, long song of a PACIFIC WREN at Two Lakes Park delighted me, though the singer was concealed in the woods. Though these tiny Wrens sometimes stay the winter, this is the first I’ve heard this year.
Nest-building continued in earnest for two resident AMERICAN CROWS. They industriously gathered bits of dried grass, last-year’s horsetails, and small twigs from the gravel drive and grass near the Waterfront. More and more, cramming in one treasure after another to an already over-flowing bill.
I don’t know how they kept going and suspect they picked up the same building supplies more than once. Finally, possibly realizing the items were starting to look familiar, they both flew off towards a grove of small spruce. Biodegradable, affordable homes almost ready for occupancy!
The finale tonight around 9:45 pm was not the lonesome Saw-whet Owl, but a phenomenal male ROBIN, serenading the whole neighborhood with his sweet, melodious song. Wow!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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