Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 7:58 am, sunset 6:25 pm for a total day length of 10 hours and 27 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 29 seconds longer.
Gorgeous, calm, sunny, first day of March with a low of 25 and a high of 41. Crusty snow and ice cover most of the ground, with bare patches of dejected grass under low-hanging spruce branches.
First bird this morning was a PINE SISKIN feeding earnestly at my sunseed feeder, and another belting out its zipper song nearby. ZZZZZ-ip! My neighbor has steady visitors; I received a report of about 40-50 at another feeder in Forest Acres. Yesterday, an estimated flock of about 70 Pine Siskins mixed with COMMON REDPOLLS fed on alder seeds before they whirled away. It’s so nice to see them again!
Out at the tidelands, a NORTHERN SHRIKE flashed past, a white and black blur that fortunately perched on a snag momentarily so I could admire its striking black mask, beak, wing, and tail. As the tide retreated, 23 shorebirds magically appeared between the noisy MEW GULLS. I’m pretty sure at least one was a droopy-billed DUNLIN among the sturdy ROCK SANDPIPERS. These are continuing winter birds, though not always easy to find.
On the east side of the bay, I counted a huge flock (compared to the usual 2) of 23 HORNED GREBES serenely paddling in a loose raft, accompanied by a diving PELAGIC CORMORANT. Twenty-two TRUMPETER SWANS, including the 2018 resident family of six cygnets, snorkeled for eel grass and plucked tidbits floating past. These are also continuing amazing, tough and beautiful birds.
Later in the day much to my surprise, I followed up on a report of a Trumpeter Swan feeding by Scheffler Creek, just south of the harbor uplands. Sure enough, the adult stood at the water’s edge, then walked a few dignified steps and gracefully paddled just offshore where apparently it found salad for supper at sunset.
I watched the clouds move in across the bay as the dew point lowered, creating layers of blue sky, pinkish gray clouds, snowy mountains, dark spruce and steel blue bay.
COMMON MERGANSERS flew in a long erratic line, heading towards the harbor and perhaps one last meal before bed. A few HARLEQUINS and SURF SCOTERS lingered near the shore. A BALD EAGLE cried out from a cottonwood and RAVENS flew off in pairs: a peaceful, beautiful ending to a fabulous winter day.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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