Saturday, September 13, 2025 Bonaparte’s Gull, Usual Suspects, Sunshine and a Gibbous Moon

Seward, Alaska

The clouds lifted for a glorious day revealing termination dust on Mt Alice and fall colors on the mountainsides. A waning gibbous moon hung in the western sky almost 230,000 miles away, a rare sight lately with all the storms.

At the beach I found a single, dainty, adult BONAPARTE’S GULL in its non-breeding pure white plumage with black wingtips. It stood reflected in the calm water of an intertidal stream. 

A FOX SPARROW popped up on the beach driftwood in the territory of the resident Song Sparrow, interrupted from picking off dancing beach flies warmed by the sun. Momentarily, a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW photo-bombed the background then flitted away.

The juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER continued to patrol the area and harassed a flock of perturbed ducks without making a meal. Three adult TRUMPETER SWANS nearby continued to feed, unconcerned.

Two GREAT BLUE HERONS cruised past on their mysterious mission. The juvenile PEREGRINE FALCON vaulted two of the four LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS into flight. A male BELTED KINGFISHER hovered over the pond, calculating, watching, then diving.

Hidden in the sedges, a LAPLAND LONGSPUR flushed as I approached calling once as it vanished.

I photographed one of the last Dragonflies of the year basking in the sun, a phenomenal insect whose adult lifespan is all too short.

We all savored this reprieve from the wind and rain.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

Friday, September 12, 2025 Cackling Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Merlin, Peregrine, Harrier

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 7:20 am, sunset 8:29 pm for a total day length of 13 hours and 9 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 24 seconds shorter.

 

The recent mild, calm weather abruptly turned chilly today with temps in the high 40s and a strong north wind gusting up to 19 mph. Scattered cold rain showers and dim light made birding and photography challenging.

 

Mercifully sheltered in the lee of a few small spruce trees at the beach, Jonah, Robin, and I searched the far shore for two CALIFORNIA GULLS spotted by Jonah earlier. Through his scope, I saw one small, dark brown juvenile Gull with long very dark primaries, and a bi-colored black tipped bill walking along a bar among GLAUCOUS-WINGED, HERRING, and SHORT-BILLED GULLS. The conditions were difficult; the photos poor. I hope to be able to refind these stray Gulls for better documentation.

 

To our amazement, a juvenile MERLIN flew towards us, battling the wind. At first, it seemed she might land on the scope, but she veered at the last minute and instead landed on a nearby piece of driftwood. There she perched for several minutes, constantly stabilizing her position in the north wind. What a beautiful falcon! I've never been so close! So fearless!

 

Not to be ignored, the juvenile PEREGRINE FALCON zoomed past like a rocket and in no time was flashing over the distant Gulls. RAVENS dive-bombed and harassed the falcon. The Gulls seemed  unimpressed, though last Sunday I found feathers strewn all over the beach and the still bright red carcass of an adult Glaucous-winged Gull. 

 

High up against the clouds shrouding Mt Alice, Jonah spotted a flock of 14 CACKLING GEESE, and then 23 SANDHILL CRANES, all fighting their way into the wind. Had they turned tail, the wind could have shot them to California in no time. These were my first migrant Geese and Cranes of the fall.

 

As we began to leave, the juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER cruised past, bounced around by the wind but still hungry enough to hunt.

 

Another fascinating peek into the wild world of fall birding!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Reporter Reporter

 

 

Monday, September 8, 2025 Golden-crowned Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Spotted Sandpiper

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 50º. 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."