Seward, Alaska
Seward Christmas Bird Count:
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Sunrise 10:00 am, sunset 4:04
pm for a total daylight of 6 hours and 4 minutes.
What a difference a day
makes! Miraculously, Saturday’s raging waters subsided to flat calm; the
squalls departed, depleted and defeated. The clouds stubbornly persisted,
shedding half-hearted sprinkles throughout the day just because.
The temps rose from 33º to a
pleasant 37º. The recent rains at sea level erased much of the remaining snow,
but cloaked the surrounding mountainsides in white once again. Tempestuous rain
hammered Seward on Monday and Tuesday, making all the birders very glad indeed
for the window of grace on Sunday.
Seventeen Field Counters,
including Captain Mike Brittain on the Dora and his crack crew of four birders,
and three intrepid fatbikers, spent an enjoyable day looking for and counting
birds. At home, ten bird watchers counted their feeders.
The unofficial total number
of species is 66, with one more for Count Week.
One of the many highlights of
the Count was 30 CRESTED AUKLETS spotted by the boat crew. Seward has never had
this species on the CBC before. The recent storms delivered this unusual little
alcid just in time.
Seward had an all time high
of 546 COMMON MURRES, a species in distress whose numbers of dead birds
floating in the water and washed up on the beaches, ranges in the thousands. A
live MURRE was counted at Bear Lake in a little patch of open water. Another
live MURRE, stranded against a fence as high as Mt Everest a block from the
beach, was grabbed and splashed; quite a wonderful sight to see it actively
preening and paddling away.
Two warblers, a YELLOW-RUMPED
and an ORANGE-CROWNED somehow survived some pretty nasty weather to be counted.
The KILLDEER and HOODED
MERGANSER, repeat honored winter visitors, made themselves quite visible. The
resident TRUMPETER SWAN family, who often disappear for many days, graced the
count with their presence. The cygnets were almost as white as their parents.
The only MERLIN and
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK cruised by Ava’s Place, distressing the songbirds, but the
only AMERICAN TREE SPARROWS (4) and RED CROSSBILLS (2) popped in.
On the last night of Count
Week, a GREAT HORNED OWL, by Mile 1 Nash Road, softly hooted its way into the
record.
Many thanks to all the
birders who showed up on Saturday, including folks from out-of-town who braved
nasty road conditions, all willing to count in dismal conditions; to the Feeder
Counters who counted their feeders on Saturday and Sunday; to the Field
Counters who spent the whole day counting on Sunday, and a big cheer to Captain
Mike Brittain who donated his time, expertise, and trusty Dora once again for
the CBC. HURRAH!
If anyone has any unlisted
species to add to Count Week, or the Count Day, please email me ASAP.
2015 Alphabetical Checklist
Seward Christmas Bird Count:
Final Total Species
30 Auklet, Crested
28 Bufflehead
35 Bunting, Snow
93 Chickadee, Black-capped
6 Chickadee, Boreal
132 Chickadee, Chestnut-backed
53 Cormorant, Pelagic
11 Creeper, Brown
2 Crossbill, Red
156 Crow, Northwestern
6 Dipper, American
76 Duck, Harlequin
7 Duck, Long-tailed
3 duck unknown species
52 Eagle, Bald
adult
15 Eagle, Bald
immature
67 Eagle, Bald total
1 Gadwall
411 Goldeneye, Barrow’s
43 Goldeneye, Common
28 Grebe, Horned
5 Grebe, Red-necked
71 Grosbeak, Pine
1 Guillemot, Pigeon
1 Gull, Glaucous-winged X Herring hybrid (not a species)
106 Gull, Glaucous-winged
1 Gull, Herring
86 Gull, Mew
1 Hawk, Sharp-shinned
3 Heron, Great Blue
61 Jay, Steller’s
114 Junco, Dark-eyed (Slate-colored)
3 junco unknown species (pink)
1 Killdeer
3 Kingfisher, Belted
14 Kinglet, Golden-crowned
5 Kittiwake, Black-legged
6 Loon, Common
1 Loon, Pacific
2 Loon, Yellow-billed
2 loon unknown species
72 Magpie, Black-billed
114 Mallard
12 Merganser, Common
1 Merganser, Hooded
7 Merganser, Red-breasted
1 Merlin
546 Murre, Common
66 Murrelet, Marbled
70 Nuthatch, Red-breasted
CW Great Horned Owl
71 Pigeon, Rock
94 Raven, Common
118 Redpoll, Common
19 Robin, American
4 Rosy-Finch, Gray-crowned
9 Sandpiper, Rock
109 Scoter, Surf
2 Scoter, White-winged
133 Siskin, Pine
4 Sparrow, American Tree
3 Sparrow, Fox
7 Sparrow, Golden-crowned
8 Sparrow, Song
5 Sparrow, White-crowned
1 Starling, European
6 Swan, Trumpeter
1 Thrush, Varied
1 Warbler, Yellow Rumped
1 Warbler, Orange-crowned
11 Woodpecker, Downy
4 Woodpecker, Hairy
1 Wren, Pacific
TOTAL SPECIES: 66
CW Great Horned Owl
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic CBC Compiler
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