Sporadic Bird from Seward, Alaska : Wednesday, December 30, 2015 Seward CBC Count Week Day One

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 10:02 am, sunset 3:58 pm for a total daylight of 5 hours and 56 minutes. Tomorrow will be 1 minute and 41 seconds longer.

Huge storm last night with strong south wind, lashing rain, and early morning rumbling, rolling thunder and lightning. High of 44º, two degrees cooler than yesterday. The snow has rapidly melted or washed away except where snowplows packed it along the roadside, or city dump trucks piled it up next to the beach. The bare ground is once again available for birds to scavenge for seeds and invertebrates, but feeders are very active.

Squally today with diminished south wind; more rain in the forecast for the next week or so.

Today was the first day of the Seward Christmas Bird Count Week. I ventured out for a look and found 35 species. After focusing on dead and dying Murres for so long, it was a welcome change to see the wider world.

Highlights included a brief glimpse of about 20 SNOW BUNTINGS during one of the squalls; refinding Seward’s resident TRUMPETER SWAN family whose cygnets show even more white as they mature; a COMMON LOON in the boat harbor holding and swallowing what seemed to be a clump of mussels; active COMMON MURRES also in the boat harbor, snorkeling and diving; a BALD EAGLE flying with a large stick, presumably for a little home repair job; a NORTHERN SHRIKE clinging precariously to the top of a snag, jostled by the wind; the handsome drake HOODED MERGANSER closely attended by an adoring COMMON GOLDENEYE hen; a single GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCH foraging on the ground far from feeders; and SURF SCOTERS surfing the impressive storm waves close to shore.

Tasha reported finding seven storm-tossed CRESTED AUKLETS in the bay, 6 by Thumb Cove and one about a half mile south of Seward yesterday. I looked for it today without success. If refound during the CBC period, that would be a phenomenal first! The southerly winds and wild storms could make for a very interesting CBC this Saturday!

Snow Bunting

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Pelagic Cormorant

Northwestern Crow

American Dipper

Harlequin Duck

Bald Eagle

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Horned Grebe

Pine Grosbeak