Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Terns! Canada Geese! Ring-necked Ducks!

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 6:16 am, sunset 9:37 pm, for a total day length of 15 hours and 21 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 20 seconds longer.

 

Overnight low of 33, cloudy with sprinkles and a north wind in the morning, warming up to 42º and mostly sunny by afternoon. 

 

More flocks of SANDHILL CRANES heard last night and seen today, purposefully heading north or circling with indecision. What a wonderful sound!

 

“Chip! Chip!” from about ten graceful ARCTIC TERNS fishing, courting, squabbling, and checking out nesting sites. They seem well-fed and energetic, especially for such long-distance migrants.

 

Two newly arrived CANADA GEESE ripped into the sedges with about 25 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, possibly the same flock from last week. 

Also FOS, several pairs of NORTHERN SHOVELERS, joining MALLARDS, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and NORTHERN PINTAILS.

 

Four GREATER YELLOWLEGS called stridently, flying across the estuary to feeding spots. At least one LAPLAND LONGSPUR dashed through the high grasses. Only one NORTHERN HARRIER spotted, briefly.

 

The totally open waters of Preacher Pond at Mile 3 Seward Highway hosted 7 napping RING-NECKED DUCKS including one hen, a pair of BARROW’S GOLDENEYES, two pairs of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, several COMMON GOLDENEYES, and two TRUMPETER SWANS.

 

Crocuses are in bloom, daffodils and rhubarb poke their tender shoots through the recently thawed dirt. Willows wave their flowers in anticipation of insect pollinators and warblers. Joy is in the air!

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

PS At 10:25 pm, a SAW-WHET OWL close by on Little Bear Mt burst into a flurry of beeping, overlapping with a scolding ROBIN in a cottonwood. The Owl stopped as abruptly as it started.

 

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 Cranes!

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 6:33 am, sunset 9:22 pm, for a total day length of 14 hours and 48 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 24 seconds longer.

 

April weather has been mostly abysmal, cold, snowy, wet and windy just like winter but with more daylight. Even the few sunny days were cold and windy. Temps today ranged from an overnight low of 26 with a high of 38, wind ESE 3-15 mph with gusts to 35, and a chance of snow showers. There is hope for slightly warmer temps this week, and more rain to melt away the remaining considerable amount of snow.

 

On my walk around the block last night in the dusky-dark tail end of civil twilight at 10 pm, I heard a familiar bugling cry that stopped me dead in my tracks. Scanning through the scudding clouds, I finally found a magnificent, lop-sided V of about 200 SANDHILL CRANES, flying high along the mountains, heading north. They didn’t vocalize much, just a “Keep going?”, “Roger that!” but even the brief conversations sent a thrill through me. Spring on the wings of Cranes!

 

Many ducks arrived overnight as well. The mostly thawed pond at the head of the bay and tidelands were teeming with hungry MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAILS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, and AMERICAN WIGEON. Three strikingly handsome drake EURASIAN WIGEON with dark rufous heads and buffy foreheads paddled about, possibly with their hens, but it was hard to differentiate them from the Americans.

 

Two WILSON’S SNIPE flushed from the sodden vegetation, perfectly camouflaged, and dashed away with surprising speed into the distance.

 

A female NORTHERN HARRIER hunted for voles; yesterday I watched a male and female flying a circuit around the snow-free fields.

 

A RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD was reported today at Mile 7. I washed my hummer feeder and made a batch of sugar water: 2 cups boiled water plus ½ cup granulated sugar, no food coloring. As soon as it’s cool, I’ll swap out the sunflower seed feeder. 

 

Though the RED CROSSBILLS, occasional WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, and loads of PINE SISKINS have been feeding voraciously, the action seems to finally be tapering off today. It’s time to clean up the mess of hulls and lost seeds before the bears emerge, and focus on Spring.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold 

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

 

Thursday, March 14, 2024 Bouquet of Beautiful Birds

Seward, Alaska 

Sunrise 8:16 am, sunset 7:59 pm for a total day length of 11 hours and 42 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 30 seconds longer as the Earth tilts towards the Spring Equinox at 7:06 pm on Tuesday, March 19.

 

Light snow showers in the past week culminated in a surprise 18+” of snow overnight on Tuesday, with a dash more yesterday morning. As the town shoveled out, the sun peeked out, turning the scene into a winter wonderland. 

 

Last night, as the moon’s Cheshire-cat grin drifted behind Mt Marathon, I heard a hopeful SAW-WHET OWL beeping in my neighborhood. I followed the sound to a tall spruce tree in a yard at Madison and Third. I wondered if the inhabitants appreciated the magic of this little Owl, or perhaps were annoyed by a supposed loader’s backup alarm.

 

The new snow completely blanketed the ground, burying access to invertebrates, fallen seeds, and grit formerly available under the spruce trees.

At first light, my feeders were buzzing with birds, mostly PINE SISKINS and REDPOLLS, with a dozen or so RED CROSSBILLS, a SONG SPARROW, two shy VARIED THRUSH, a raiding STELLER’S JAY, and a cameo by a SONG SPARROW. After I replaced the suet block, even a pair of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS zoomed in for the treat.

 

On this gorgeous sunny day, temps ranged from a low of 17 at 7:30 am to a high of 37 by midafternoon; without the wind, it felt like summer. Everything appreciated this break!

 

Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills seem to be everywhere this winter. I saw more Red Crossbills gleaning soggy seeds from tide-washed spruce cones at Afognak Beach today. They worked away at the cones, apparently finding seeds. Are the abundant tree cones empty? 

Two males actually squabbled over one cone with tiny ferocity; the victor carried the heavy load into a nearby spruce for more private dining. I watched others eat rockweed and poke through the sand, possibly for grit or amphipods. It was enchanting to observe these trusting, beautiful finches at such close range. 

 

Two red-eyed adult SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS in the distance skirmished with each other, flashing through the trees. One dove after a Crossbill but missed. 

 

I heard soft trumpeting and watched fourteen magnificent TRUMPETER SWANS fly from a stream to the eelgrass bed in the bay. These tough Swans have overwintered in the Seward area through very challenging weather and just have to hang in a little while longer for the ice to melt off the ponds and wetlands. 

 

I watched RAVENS build a cliffside nest last week, fetching perfect sticks from their favorite Stick Store far away. 1”-long krill washed up on the beach on Monday’s high tide, an annual spring event a few AMERICAN CROWS appreciated. I heard at least ten Varied Thrushes singing in my neighborhood.

With Daylight Savings, it’s light so much later and the long, cold nights are getting shorter. Spring is coming!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024 Signs of Spring!

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 7:38 am, sunset 6:42 pm for a total day length of 11 hours and 3 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 29 seconds longer.

 

Spring is in the air! The sun rises higher every day, peeking over the western mountains to cast welcome afternoon light on winter shadows in town.

 

The high of 34 today created puddles in the street and cracks widened in the frozen ponds. A few Sitka willows popped their tight buds; the first flowers of the year. Though snow showers are in the forecast starting on Sunday, winter is on the run.

 

Last night around 9 pm, I heard my first-of-year SAW-WHET OWL calling from Little Bear Mountain. What a joyous beeping! The Owl night life has been very quiet this winter.

 

Today, I found dozens of GADWALL with about ten AMERICAN WIGEON and two adult TRUMPETER SWANS paddling offshore among the bits and blocks of beach ice stolen by the tide. A flock of very tired MALLARDS napped soundly onshore; I wonder if they are recent arrivals?

 

Farther out, many dozens of newly arrived BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES commandeered floating ice shelves like pirates on a prize, watching the seas for action. Their distinctive clamor is a sure sign of spring. Two Harbor Seals rested on a nearby ice raft. When they suddenly dove into the water, the Kittiwakes roared off to join them; something’s afoot!

 

Even as March tries to intimidate Spring with snow and wind, fearless migrants are on their way!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter