Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 6:50 am, sunset 9:08 pm, for a total day length of 14 hours and 18 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 27 seconds longer.
Winter and Spring continued to swap places all week with 2” of short-lived snow on Tuesday then sunny on Thursday with temps rising above 40. The forecast favors Winter with temps in the high 20s overnight, rising to mid-30s. Spring wins, regardless, with over 14 hours of daylight and gaining!
The wetlands and pond at Mile 1 Nash Road remained mostly frozen, but five adult TRUMPETER SWANS gathered at the back near a small section of open water.
The nest failed last year due to high water flooding; these Swans may be the family from the previous year. It will be interesting to watch the territorial drama and winners of the nest sweepstakes over the next few weeks.
After hearing and briefly spotting very elusive LAPLAND LONGSPURS this past week, I found four who landed and instantly disappeared, perfectly camouflaged against the brown grasses. By taking blind shots of the general landing zone, I managed to get a documentary, but gratifying photo by luck.
I also found and photographed the drake EURASIAN TEAL with his sporty horizontal white stripe, and a very handsome drake EURASIAN WIGEON styling his rufous head with a big white “thumbprint” on the crown.
Small numbers of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WIGEON, GADWALL, NORTHERN PINTAILS, and MALLARDS dabbled nearby in the tidelands.
Hundreds of SHORT-BILLED GULLS and other gulls rose and fell like snow in a blizzard at the tide’s edge when an Eagle swooped across. I watched one adult Bald Eagle stroke low and powerfully after a panicked duck; the duck miraculously escaped.
On sunny Thursday, I heard the much-missed call of a GREATER YELLOWLEGS and finally found him/her standing next to an estuary creek.
On April 6, as the Artemis II Orion spacecraft passed behind the moon on their historic fly-by mission, I happened to find patchy clouds veiling the sun. I took some photos and when I enlarged them later, I discovered sunspots! 93 million miles away!
From the wonders of Spring migrants to space; what a phenomenal week!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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