Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 9:48 am, sunset 4:25
pm for a total daylight of 6 hours and 37 minutes. Tomorrow will be 3 minutes
and 47 seconds longer.
Yesterday’s
scant 1” of new snow repainted the spring-like canvas back to wintery
wonderland more appropriate for January. The temps remained rather mild with a
low of 27 and a high of 35, with a light wind from the north.
Tomorrow
is forecast to be about the same, with slightly warmer temps and snow showers
for the big Polar Bear Jump on Saturday.
The SKY was clear this
morning! Hurrah! First time in a long time without rain or clouds. Just before
10 am, I saw bright Jupiter shining to the west by Lowell Mountain. The
approaching sun had already dimmed Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Mars.
Highlights of today were the
first NORTHERN SHRIKE spotted in a bare cottonwood, flashing through the highway fringes of Forest Acres. I also found a First-of-year single drake BLACK SCOTER
accompanied by 3 hen SURF SCOTERS south of the harbor uplands. It was also great to find six BUFFLEHEAD females in a small raft.
Five BARROW’S GOLDENEYES
snacked near the Sheffler Creek outlet. A single COMMON MURRE paddled past, as
oblivious as ever. There aren’t many left alive, so it was doing pretty well
just being there. I haven’t seen any new dead Murres on the beaches either. I
think the wreck is over, not because suddenly there is food, but because most
of them tragically died.
Alaska Public Media hosted a
very interesting program on January 8, “What’s causing Alaska’s sea bird
die-off?” Listen online at
As this easy
Murre-in-the-‘frig food source disappears, Bald Eagles will have to switch to
other fare including other sea birds. Those numbers seem low as well, though
not documented by beach mortality. This will be interesting to follow.
Back at the busy feeders,
more and more PINE SISKINS are showing up. I had about 40 today. Also JUNCOS,
including a striking OREGON JUNCO male, a stream of grab ‘n go BLACK-CAPPED and
CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES, aggressive RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, a few
GRAY-CROWNED ROSY-FINCHES gleaning fallen suet and seeds, a shy BROWN CREEPER,
a smattering of PINE GROSBEAKS, a SONG SPARROW, and a very dominant STELLER’S
JAY, screeching loudly to clear the whole area.
On January 12, Alaska News
Nightly aired an interview with Todd Eskelin “A century of bird data informs
modern surveying on the Kenai.” Good job, Todd!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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