Wednesday, May 27, 2026 Lesser Yellowlegs, American Pipits, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 4:55 am, sunset 10:57 pm for a total day length of 18 hours and 2 minutes. Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 44 seconds longer.

With the exception of the unexpected gift of sunshine (and wind) on Sunday and Monday, chilly May intends to finish off her days with clouds and showers, dipping down to freezing then barely reaching 50 on her last gasp.  

Birding in the rain seems normal now. On Saturday, I watched two LESSER YELLOWLEGS stalk around a flooded pothole. Everything about them was “lesser” than the Greater Yellowlegs: shorter, straighter bill, fewer bars and stripes, thinner neck, and smaller size. 

A LINCOLN’S SPARROW sang its melodious song nearby while WILSON’S SNIPE winnowed from on high.

On Sunday, not one but two female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS buzzed around my feeder! Yay! So relieved and happy they were back!

A pair of VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS checked out one of my nest boxes (free for a song) and I suspect a CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE has claimed another.

I heard my FOS ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER at the Lagoon.

Today, thanks to a report from Robin C, I found dozens of AMERICAN PIPITS rummaging through the wrack at Afognak Beach. One caught an amphipod while others tracked down flies. 

A bright YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (Myrtle, with a white throat) also rummaged through the wrack with a wide-eyed, rusty-tailed HERMIT THRUSH and a dark, streaky SONG SPARROW. A SPOTTED SANDPIPER flew stiff-winged along the shoreline.

Five adult BALD EAGLES burst out of the spruce; I could hear one beating its way through the thick branches. Quite the excitement!

Then the rain returned in earnest and I trudged back to the car, pleased with this glimpse into the busy birds at the beach.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Friday, May 22, 2026 Pipits, Geese, Whimbrels, Tattler

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 5:04 am, sunset 10:47 pm for a total day length of 17 hours and 42 minutes. Tomorrow will be 4 minutes and 12 seconds longer.

 

The cool, rainy May weather is stuck and getting monotonous: an overnight low of 33 today with a high of 38. Fresh dusting of snow on the mountains and rain at sea level. Nonetheless, even cold rain is the color green as evidenced by greening grass and emerging leaves. 

 

I last spotted the BAR-TAILED GODWITS, DOWITCHERS, and DUNLINS on May 19. 

 

But the slow, cool spring may have contributed to the lingering 85 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE and 25 CACKLING GEESE. 

 

Surprisingly, six HUDSONIAN WHIMBRELS and one WANDERING TATTLER probed among the rocks and wrack at Scheffler Creek despite the human and dog disturbances. A tiny male YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER flitted among them for flies.

 

New today, a large pulse of about 50 AMERICAN PIPITS popped up from the grasses in the upper field along the Airport Road. 

 

The TRUMPETER SWAN is sitting on her nest at the Mile 1 Nash Road. I hope they built this year’s nest high enough to keep the eggs out of the frigid water.

 

About 10 VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS swooped about catching some of the numerous insects.  I saw a few TREE SWALLOWS but Swallow numbers seem quite low.

 

The SAW-WHET OWL has been beeping from lower Mt Marathon as early as 9 am. (!)

 

No sign of “my” Hummingbird since the first sighting last week. Hmmmm.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 More photos of Bar-tailed Godwits, Long-billed Dowitchers, Wandering Tattler

Seward, Alaska

The dismal weather may have encouraged a handsome pair of BAR-TAILED GODWITS, about 13 LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS, and at least one WANDERING TATTLER to linger. What a pleasure to study and photograph these long-distance migrants! 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Saturday, May 16, 2026 Bar-tailed Godwit, Dowitchers, Pacific Golden-Plover, and a Rufous Hummingbird

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 5:17 am, sunset 10:33 pm for a total day length of 17 hours and 15 minutes. Tomorrow will be 4 minutes and 37 seconds longer.

 

Cool and cloudy weather continued this week, with a low of 35 and a high of 40 today. More of the same with moderate rain is forecast for the next week as another big storm blows in from the Gulf of Alaska.

 

This morning, two VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS swooped low over the road hunting insects (mosquitoes have emerged), revealing their diagnostic white rumps. I hope they find one of my nesting boxes suitable!

 

I heard my FOS HERMIT THRUSH singing in my yard, and watched my FOS YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER fly-catch from a willow at Nash Road wetlands.

 

At the tidelands, a pale female BAR-TAILED GODWIT probed through the mud for marine worms, small clams, and crustaceans. The bars on her tail became visible only when she flew. 

 

The Alaskan subspecies baueri breeds on sub-Arctic and Arctic coasts and tundra. They are famous for their non-stop flight across the Pacific Ocean without feeding to reach their nonbreeding grounds in New Zealand and eastern Australia. In 2022 a juvenile flew 8,425 miles from Alaska to Tasmania in 11 days, 1 hour, setting a record.

 

Another long-distance flyer from Hawaii, a female PACIFIC-GOLDEN PLOVER, gleaned sluggish flies from the wrack line. Other shorebirds included my FOS SPOTTED SANDPIPER, small numbers of WESTERN and LEAST SANDPIPERS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, and a GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS. 

 

Nine DOWITCHERS continued to feed in the shallows of the pond.

A single HUDSONIAN WHIMBREL dined in wet areas in the upland grasses.

Small lingering flocks of CACKLING and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE fed in the sedges.

An adult BALD EAGLE swooped into the flats, scattering alarmed Geese, NORTHERN PINTAILS, GADWALL, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN SHOVELERS, AMERICAN WIGEON, and MALLARDS. She landed, grabbed a huge piece of seaweed (?), and stroked powerfully back to her nest.

 

Around 6 pm, my FOS female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD magically appeared at my feeder, just as if she never left. My neighbor reported their first one Friday and one was reported at Bear Lake on Thursday. 

 

Another exciting day of birding!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter