Tuesday, May 28, 2019 Swan cygnets! Baby swallows!

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 4:53 am, sunset 10:59 pm for a total daylight of 18 hours, 5 minutes. Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 39 seconds longer. Temperatures ranged from around 40 to as high as 59º. Though rain has been in the forecast for a solid 10 days, the clouds occasionally parted to let the ever-higher sun shine in. It’s been a cold May.

Thanks to the rain, everything is as green as possible, in every possible hue, tone, tint, and shade, and growing while-you-watch. Spruce bud caps recently popped off, revealing bright green, soft, new needles. Brown male spruce flowers erupted today, showering plumes of yellow pollen into the wind. Magenta female cones await cross pollination. Regrettably, legions of enthusiastic dandelions in full first bloom cheer from along the roads, in yards, and every open area; they win again.

Yesterday, I noticed both Trumpeter Swan parents sitting together at the nest. Very suspicious behavior! This afternoon, they paddled slowly through the horsetails near the nest. I looked closely and counted three tiny white cygnet puffs exploring their world, pecking at the water and horsetails, lovingly tended by both magnificent parents. Both parents stirred up the sediments with their large webbed feet, to bring more tidbits to the surface for the babies. Unlike baby Robins, baby Swans have to feed themselves, so sampling everything is critical to their survival.

I believe May 25 or 26 is the earliest date of hatching for Seward’s resident swans. Mom diligently sat and fasted through rain, the May snowstorm, cold, wind, and more rain while dad guarded (and ate and lounged). Meanwhile, last summer’s six cygnets have been spotted as far away as the Mile 14.5 Lily Pond and boardwalk, and at Bear Lake.

This morning, I watched a Violet-green Swallow erupt from one of my swallow boxes, carrying off a fecal sac. Wow! Shortly afterwards, the other parent swooped in and the eager recipients clamored to be fed. I had no idea this particular nest box was in use, or that the family was so far along. 

Seems the Swallows just arrived! Spring sure doesn’t wait for us to notice.

Happy Birthday, little ones! Welcome to the world!

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Monday, May 27, 2019 Kittiwake dramas!

Seward, Alaska

Pacific Hooligan arrived in mid-May in enormous numbers, feeding mammoth humpback whales, seals, sea lions, Eagles, Ravens, Crows, Magpies, gulls, other birds, humans, and finally microscopic bacteria. The 8-10” long anadromous fish swam up creeks to spawn where they have never been seen before. What a bounty!

For the next several weeks (and still continuing), clouds of gulls feasted on hooligan at the tideline, tide flats, and in creeks. Most seemed to be BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, rising up like a screeching snow flurry whenever a Bald Eagle cruised nearby or sliced through.

To my surprise, I watched many hundreds of Black-legged Kittiwakes divert from feeding to converge on the mud and sedges in the estuary wetlands. In a frenzy akin to a free shopping spree, they ripped out beak-fulls of soggy vegetation and mud, almost denuding the targeted areas.

Their nearest nesting habitat is 17 miles to the south at Cape Resurrection. It’s incredible that they would gather nest building supplies at the head of the bay and try to deliver them so far away to the rocky cliff headlands. I wonder if any boats noticed a stream of gulls with fat gobs of mud and leaves in their beaks flying south all the way down the bay?

It also seems late for them to be just starting to build their nests. Time will tell!

During one of these building supply forays, an adult Bald Eagle casually flew past and without warning, grabbed an inattentive adult Kittiwake mid-flight. The Eagle looked fierce (as usual) and screamed with murderous intent and triumph as it stroked powerfully home. Clutched in the powerful talons, black-tipped wings still outstretched, the doomed Kittiwake screamed in protest, an unwilling participant in the life and death drama. Tough to see, but part of Nature nonetheless.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Thursday, May 23, 2019 Exit Glacier

Seward, Alaska

Bright bits of the tropics sang from leafing-out willows and cottonwoods at Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Occasionally, I spotted the virtuoso, head thrust back, beak open wide, throat pulsing with life, vigor, and hope. I can’t imagine their treacherous journey from Central America and beyond, especially with all the storms along the NW Coast.

With the exception of the VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS that fed, flew, and nested in the recently deglaciated valley by the glacier, and the BLACK-BIILLED MAGPIE and RAVEN cleaning up the parking lot, all the birds were found on the main, paved trail and at the start of the Harding Icefield Trail.

DOWNY WOODPECKER, GOLDEN EAGLE (on May 16 ), WILSON’S SNIPE, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, COMMON RAVEN, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, HERMIT THRUSH, AMERICAN ROBIN, VARIED THRUSH, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBER, WILSON’S WARBLER, FOX SPARROW, COMMON REDPOLL.

I am still listening for the ethereal songs of the Swainson’s Thrush and Gray-cheeked Thrush. Maybe next time!

Also spotted on May 24 on the mountainside, a Black Bear momma with her two tiny cubs.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward, Sporadic Bird Report Reporter