Sunrise
8:09 am, sunset 7:26 pm for a total day length of 11 hours and 16 minutes.
Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 25 seconds shorter.
September
departed with sunshine and blue skies, leaving memories of one of the finest,
warm, sunny Septembers ever. October tried to continue the streak,
but gave up after one day. Now we pay. It’s raining hard now with temps inching from a low
of 45 to a high of 50. Rain in the forecast for at least the next ten days with
a possible peek of sunshine next Monday.
It’s
been pretty quiet, bird-wise for me, except for the continuing thrill of the
resident TRUMPETER SWAN family whose six cygnets continue to thrive. Nine adult
swans flew in around October 1, probably migrating through, but time will tell.
Punctuating
the quiet, however, were a few delightful surprises:
On
September 22, a light-colored bird shot out of the beach ryegrass and flew
rapidly over the tidelands. My surprised camera got off several shots, mostly
bad, trying to track its erratic flight. Upon further scrutiny, it sure looked like
a FORK-TAILED STORM-PETREL. I have no
idea why or what it was doing flying from land, especially when there were no
other FTSP seen or reported in the bay. Very strange!
On
September 23, five LAPLAND LONGSPURS flew over the tidelands, calling before
diving back down into the grasses and sedges.
A
few days later on September 25, four CACKLING GEESE called as they circled ever
lower and presumably landed at the head of the bay wetlands. They sure seemed
late!
At
least a couple DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS linger in Seward. One seems to enjoy
the freshwater Lagoon, preening on the shore with COMMON MERGANSERS and
MALLARDS. The other likes the B Street pilings, preening and stretching without
any thought of winter. Who knows? Maybe one of these will stick around for the
Christmas Bird Count.
A
regular resident SONG SPARROW sang sweetly from its perch among still-green
Sitka Alder leaves on September 30th.
On
October 1, a mystery shorebird called plaintively as it flew high over the
tidelands. The light was bad and it was far, so the photos are difficult.
Nonetheless, this late migrant is of interest if any experts want to take a
best guess. Sometimes, that’s all we can have.
Happy
Birding!
Carol
Griswold
Seward
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
Update: Thanks to Dave Sonneborn and Martin Renner for scrutinizing the mystery shorebird photos and suggesting PECTORAL SANDPIPER. I listened to the call and it was a pretty close match. This is surely the latest I've ever seen a Pectoral Sandpiper in Seward.
Update: Thanks to Dave Sonneborn and Martin Renner for scrutinizing the mystery shorebird photos and suggesting PECTORAL SANDPIPER. I listened to the call and it was a pretty close match. This is surely the latest I've ever seen a Pectoral Sandpiper in Seward.
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