Seward, Alaska
Beautiful, bright spring day with
temps rising from an early morning low of 34º to a late afternoon high of 47º.
Yay! The snow is slowly but surely disappearing, revealing cars that were
mysterious mounds all winter and long lost yard items.
It seemed quiet at the head of the
bay this afternoon. The majority of the first pulse of Pintails departed, as
did the three Tundra Swans. Only two adult TRUMPETER SWANS fed peacefully in
the ever-widening pond.
Suddenly, a large bird lifted off
ahead of me and sailed across the tide-washed expanse of brown sedges and beach
rye grass. A SHORT-EARED OWL! I was hoping to see one soon, but every encounter
is an exciting surprise! It flew in a wide circle then disappeared behind a
faraway tussock.
In the distance, I heard two
RAVENS squawking. I could see even from afar that something was amiss. As they
approached, it was clear that they were not enjoying clever aerial stunts. It
was a battle!
One Raven viciously attacked the
other with its ferocious, strong bill, grabbing the other by the wing, tail,
and back. They resembled a black ball of ragged feathers, tumbling through the
sky, somehow managing to stay aloft. After they passed me, they fell to the
ground in a heap.
When they disengaged, the victim
managed to streak off with the attacker still in pursuit. Only they know what
incited this unusual violence. I’ll be on the lookout for a disheveled Raven
with fresh cuts and missing feathers. Wow.
Peace again. I peeked around the
corner and discovered a single GREATER YELLOWLEGS feeding in the shallows,
jerking its head forwards and backwards and it waded, those long yellow legs
flashing. Two were seen yesterday by Sadie, First of Season.
I carefully backed away and sat
down to enjoy the peace and the sun. Ahhhh. But not for long! Here came two
TRUMPETER SWANS, flying down to the pond. They landed, but only briefly. Upon
noticing the other two swans at the far end, they took off and soon there was
another pursuit underway. The second pair drove the first pair up and out and
away. At one point, it looked like one of the pursuers physically attacked a
fleeing swan before veering back to the pond. At least it was VERY close. I could
not tell where the two went, possibly the Nash Road wetlands.
This was all very exciting, but
then I got a closer look at the avengers. One was an adult Trumpeter, but the
other was a cygnet! My imagination raced; was this Daddy’s Girl? Sure looked
like one of the three cygnets with one of the resident adults. How very
interesting! Where were “mom” and the other two cygnets? What is going on?
I left the two feeding peacefully.
A casual bystander might think that nothing had changed and that these were the
two swans first seen feeding. What a drama in between, and what a puzzling
situation now!
Searching for the missing swans, I
checked the Nash Road wetlands next. There were two adult swans swimming in the
tiny open area at the back, maintaining their claim to the future nesting site,
but they have been here for days. Preacher Pond is still frozen, so no swans
there. The Lagoon is partially open, but no swans there either. It’s a mystery
where they went.
Speaking of the Lagoon, work has
started to bury the power lines all along the Lagoon. This is exciting news as
it will completely eliminate the power line hazard. Hopefully a few of the
poles will remain to serve as perches for Bald Eagles and Kingfishers. Kudos to
the City of Seward!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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