Seward, Alaska
First bird today was a BROWN
CREEPER that lives in the ‘hood. It busily investigated the nooks and crannies
in the potato chip spruce bark as it deftly spiraled up the trunk in quick hops. The
dainty curved bill fit neatly behind the gaps and in the cracks to extract
tiny, well-hidden tidbits to eat.
After a few excursions up and
around the spruce trunks, it flew over to the sunflower seed feeder and clung
to the wire side. All around, on every side, CHESTNUT-BACKED and BLACK-CAPPED
CHICKADEES zipped in, grabbed a seed, and took off with their prizes. Perched
on a nearby branch, they pounded it open in short order with their short,
sturdy beaks, gobbled up the meat, and hustled back for more. RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES made countless trips, stashing the seeds.
I think the Brown Creeper was
bewildered about all this fast food action. Its beak did not fit into the wire
mesh, nor could it open a sunflower seed even if it managed to find one. After
a while, back it flew to the spruce trunk, traveling easily up and down the
vertical sides and on the undersides of the branches. Try that, chickadees!
Later in the afternoon, I
drove over to Fourth of July Beach. As I was walking through the leafless alder
grove, I heard a soft call. Searching through the dense branches, I found a
pale-eyed, female RUSTY BLACKBIRD perched near the top, slowly pumping her
tail. I tried hard to get a photo, but the camera could not find it. The bird
flew down to the soggy leaf litter and quickly disappeared.
I don’t recall seeing a Rusty
Blackbird pump its tail. That was interesting. I tried to refind the bird,
but failed. I will keep trying; maybe she will have a companion with her next
time.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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