Seward, Alaska Sporadic Bird
Report
Sunrise 4:31 am, sunset 11:26
pm for a total of 18 hours and 54 minutes. Tomorrow will be only 31 seconds
longer as we roll towards the Summer Solstice.
HOT! A new all-time high
temperature record was set today in Seward, 88º! The previous record of 87º was
set on July 4, 1999, when Mt Marathon racers passed out from heat exhaustion
and some had to be hospitalized. But hey, Talkeetna set a new record of 94º! Go
jump in the Susitna!
The sky is hazy; the
remaining snow on the mountains looks beaten, resigned to join the swollen
rivers rushing to the sea. Despite the heat and dryness, almost everything but
lawns is green and blooming. Coolling sprinklers provide welcome relief to
humans while enticing robins, sparrows, Steller's jays, and warblers.
This afternoon, a friend and
I drove north to the Seward Highway Mile 15 pullout. Immediately upon exiting
the car, I heard the unmistakable piercing whistle of a RUSTY BLACKBIRD. The
glossy black fellow with a white eye was perched on the top of a spruce tree
quite near the parking area. He posed for a minute or more, then flew down and
out of sight on the other side. Throughout our visit, he whistled from that
grove of spruce several times. I saw two birds flying at one point, but not
well enough to see if it was a female. It would be wonderful, and is likely,
that they would be nesting near this wetlands.
The nesting TRUMPETER SWANS
attracted a lot of visitors armed with optics from spotting scopes and
professional cameras with telephoto lens, down to point and shoots and camera
phones. When the rush cleared, we walked slowly onto the boardwalk. One swan
incubated the eggs or kept them cool in the sweltering sun, but the other one
started swimming towards us. We froze every time the swan's head was above
water, then moved quickly when it fed, its head deeply submerged. In this
stop-and-go fashion, we easily moved into position without scaring it.
Soon, it was just yards away,
tipping it pure white body tail-up to the blue sky among the blooming yellow
pond lilies. At times, its powerful black webbed feet flailed the air, the bird
perfectly balanced and probing the depths. I should have timed these dives; it
sure seemed to hold its breath a long time! When it emerged, the pure-white
head was streaked with brown as if combed by a beautician. Lovely even when
dirty!
After a while, the swan
paddled even closer, nipping the emergent water horsetails and eating the long,
coarse stems. The ancient horsetail is loaded with silica, good for scrubbing
pots at camp; I didn't realize they had any nutritional value. The swan knew
otherwise and ate voraciously. The long reddish stripe along its glistening
black beak showed serrations on the edge, helpful for cutting the horsetails
off at the joints.
As we were leaving, several
cars pulled in and many people piled onto the boardwalk. Too bad they didn't
know the "stop and go" method; the swan studied them and then
majestically paddled far away.
Of note, the RED-NECKED
GREBES' nest is now well concealed by tall green horsetails. One parent
incubated (or shaded) the nest while the other popped up briefly in the pond. A
single CANADA or CACKLING GOOSE sat, perhaps on a nest, to the right of the
swan and grebe nests. I heard a SWAINSON'S THRUSH in the distance. This is a
really worthwhile place to stop and spend some quality time birding.
On the way home, we stopped
at the Bear Lake weir. The red salmon were jockeying for position in Bear Creek
below the culverts. On the other side of the road, salmon erupted out of the
foaming white water and flew through the air, flinging themselves against the
metal bars of the weir. Such tremendous strength and power! Others, that found
the opening in the weir, were lifted up in a "fish elevator" and
sorted by sex for further processing by hatchery workers. 6000 of each sex will
be released into Bear Lake to spawn, and others will be egg and milt donors for
the next generation of hatchery raised salmon.
Tourists probably did not see
the little gray bird, standing quietly on the iron grate above the cascading
waterfall. The DIPPER family is out and about with at least two babies fledged.
Watch for them along the creek as you enjoy the spectacular red salmon.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Very Sporadic Bird
Report Reporter
No comments:
Post a Comment