Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 7:11 am, sunset 8:42 pm, for a total day length of 13 hours and 30 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 30 minutes shorter. Temps continue to hover around 50ยบ. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week with an inch predicted for Tuesday followed by two inches on Wednesday.
Three juvenile NORTHERN HARRIERS popped up on Sunday to patrol the wetlands. Today, I happened to be under the flight plan of one and was thrilled to get close views of this beautiful hawk, even to see the bristles around her beak.
Back and forth she looped over the uplands, pond, and beach ryegrass barrier. She flushed the nervous GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 4 NORTHERN SHOVELERS, AMERICAN WIGEONS, MALLARDS, and 7 DOWITCHERS, but made no strikes.
I followed her flight over the meadow, hunting. After several overflights and reconnaissance, she suddenly flared and plunged into the grasses. After a brief disappearance, she emerged triumphant with a fat vole in her left talon and hauled it off to dine. I wondered if the dramatic flash of her flared tail and wing feathers stunned the prey into paralysis prior to being nabbed by the sharp talons.
Over at the beach, I slowly followed a SPOTTED SANDPIPER, foraging through the extensive woody debris. I caught a photo of him pulling a grub out of the sand! A brief interlude of sunshine warmed and activated the sluggish beach flies. The Spotted Sandpiper and a few remaining SAVANNAH SPARROWS chased their now-lively prey. I did not find any PIPITS.
Back in the woods in the uplands, many GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS remained, flitting through the leaves. I watched one perched comfortably on the top of a Devil’s Club spike, plucking the ripe red berries one by one. Like a Pine Grosbeak, she juiced the berry, letting the red cover and large seed dribble down.
I heard two RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS briefly burst into song and caught a glimpse of a few ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS zipping through. Notable was the absence of ROBINS that were so prolific on Saturday. Moving on with the changing of the season.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
PS I don't know the gender of these fascinating birds, but assigned a gender rather than use "it."
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