Seward,
Alaska
Monday,
October 22 Sunshine!
A
perky PACIFIC WREN called insistently from my back yard while performing an
inspection of the house siding, deck planter, and nearby shrubs. I tricked the
curious little wren to pop up for a quick photo by pishing briefly. I hope he
finds enough spiders and other invertebrates to tide him over, maybe even for
the winter.
Gulls
gathered at Resurrection Bay Seafoods at the start of Lowell Point Road hoping
for fish scraps. The extreme weather and rough seas have been so bad, few
fishing boats went out and of those, even fewer were able to fish for Pacific
Cod.
I
continue to search without success for the adult California Gull that Scott
Schuette spotted on Sunday. I think I found his ICELAND (THAYER’S) GULL, and
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, MEW GULLS, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, HERRING GULLS, (and
hybrids, no doubt).
Wednesday,
October 24 Rain, then a peek at the sun
A
cow Moose crossed the road at dawn in the rain; amazingly difficult to see such
a big animal in the twilight! Also spotted in the early dawn, six wary GREATER WHITE-FRONTED
GEESE at the tidelands. This sure seems like a late date for them.
Report
of 50+ Geese flying high overhead, heading south. I wonder if they could have
been more Greater White-fronted Geese or perhaps Snow Geese that were recently
reported in the Kenai area.
Friday,
October 26 Cloudy
Single
TRUMPETER SWAN at the Lagoon, spotted frequently these past few weeks, always
alone. The resident Trumpeter Swan family of eight has been hanging out at the
Nash Road wetlands.
An
adult BALD EAGLE polished off the best parts of a silver salmon carcass at the
Lagoon then waded off to rinse its beak. Instantly, the attending two
BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES and two juvenile GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS moved in to feast
on the rest.
A
cheerful DIPPER chatted conversationally to itself as it scouted for salmon
eggs and macroinvertebrates in the small streams feeding into the Lagoon. It
was such a pleasure to slowly walk along, watching it flip over alder leaves at
the edge, dive into the water, popping up with a pink salmon egg, and survey its
world from an alder. What a joyful bird, rain or shine!
A
BROWN CREEPER gleaned tiny invertebrates from under the potato chip bark of a
spruce tree. I often hear them, but it’s always special to see one.
Saturday,
October 27 Rain, rain, rain
Two
active River Otters ran around at the Lagoon north shore, checking out silver
salmon that are still spawning, and possibly the remnants of the Eagle’s
carcass, before plunging back into the safety of the water.
Sunday,
October 28 Rain, then cloudy, then back to rain with wind
I
was surprised to hear a ROBIN scolding in the alley before flying down to feast
on red Mt Ash berries. I haven’t seen or heard a Robin in several weeks. Everyone
seems grateful for a few hours without rain.
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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