Seward, Alaska
The clouds rolled in on a
south wind Friday night, ending the hot sunny stretch. In the afternoon before the big storm arrived late Saturday, I
checked the tidelands. It was very quiet without the Arctic Terns after the
devastating egging incident of May 13.
About a dozen GADWALL and a
pair of PINTAILS quietly dabbled in the pond. A flock of 20 MEW GULLS flew
past, no youngsters with them. It seemed unusual to see so many not tending
nests or fledglings.
Six SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, a
species that struggles to nest on Seward’s increasingly popular beaches, stop-started
along the tide line. One LEAST SANDPIPER, one SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, and one
WESTERN SANDPIPER (in order of minutely increasing size) poked and prodded through
the beach wrack. I haven’t seen many shorebirds since spring migration, though
it is possible that these are local breeders.
Just before I headed back, I
heard the exciting, harsh cry of a CASPIAN TERN. I spun around to find two
terns circling around, very likely the same terns I spotted from Tonsina Point
on Tuesday. What an impressive bird, larger than many gulls, with such a huge
red bill and black cap.
I wonder if they were
surprised at the absence of the much smaller, buoyant, graceful, and
territorial Arctic Terns? Hmmm, nobody home! They enjoyed plunging with a
terrific splash into the pond after small fish, unfettered.
Watch and listen for this
pair at the boat harbor and along the Greenbelt. Not all gull-sized birds are
gulls!
A bit later, I headed to
First Lake in town. At least a dozen VIOLET GREEN and TREE SWALLOWS swooped and
looped around the small lake, snatching up mosquitoes midair and other insects
from the water’s surface. It was dizzying to try to track them in their erratic
flights by eye, binocs, and camera, but so rewarding and fun to watch.
Once in a while, I managed to
get an image in focus so I could really appreciate their colorful plumage as
more than just flashes of color amidst the twisting and turning white bellies
and brown wings. The birds, with the Tree Swallow’s metallic blue black, and
the Violet-green Swallow’s green head and violet rump, resembled exotic
tropical butterflies fluttering over the green water. Such unexpected beauty in
this serendipitous moment!
Ringing the lake, I heard
TOWNSENDS, YELLOW, ORANGE-CROWNED, and WILSON’S WARBLERS, VARIED and HERMIT
THRUSHES, a RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, and a PACIFIC WREN singing. A DIPPER landed
on a rock near my feet then, both of us greatly surprised, flew across the
lake. Raucous fledgling RAVENS demanded food from deep in the forest. BALD
EAGLES cried out as they rose above the lake higher into the sky framed by Mt
Marathon.
Quite a treat, in this lovely
little city park jewel.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
