Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 7:27 am, sunset 8:20
pm for a total day length of 12 hours and 52 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5
minutes and 24 seconds shorter.
Mostly light rain and
calm today, with a few precious interludes between rain. More rain in the forecast,
easing up on Sunday and midweek to cloudy with a chance of rain, and wind then
more rain.
I lucked out on the noon walk
today at Afognak Beach and enjoyed one of those interludes. Spent pink salmon
carcasses littered the beach. On the edge of the ebbing tide, I was very
surprised to find a family of GREATER YELLOWLEGS! One adult and three juveniles
poked in the silty mud and around recently exposed rocks close to the beach.
One plucked and ate an amphipod. They didn’t seem very concerned about me and
kept hunting. Such elegant birds with those long, yellow legs and long bills!
Over at the creek, teeming
with spawning pink salmon, was another adult Greater Yellowlegs and a SPOTTED
SANDPIPER. I wonder how much longer they
will be here; or are they considering staying to tough it out?
On a rainy, blustery Tuesday,
September 12, I found three TRUMPETER SWANS walking along the tideline when the
tide was quite far out. They pecked and poked in the mud; no idea what they
found to eat. I could not tell at that distance if this threesome was Daddy’s
Girl and her parents; they all looked about the same. After a time, they walked
into the water and floated offshore in the bay.
Meanwhile, a bazillion gulls,
mostly GLAUCOUS-WINGED and MEW, with several HERRING GULLS raised a ruckus on
the flats. I soon spotted the cause: a very determined juvenile PEREGRINE
FALCON dashed through the mobs of gulls feeding on pink salmon carcasses. It
relentlessly but ineffectually pursued one Mew Gull after another as the gulls
rose up in clouds. No place to hide; just fly, fly, fly and try to disappear
into the masses. Despite the numerous choices, I did not see a strike. So
exciting to watch!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report
Reporter
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