Merry Christmas, Everyone!
On Monday, December 23, Sulli Gibson of Anchorage drove down to do a little birding in Seward. On his way out of town, he stopped at Bear Lake, 7 miles north of Seward, to check out the Canvasback and Redhead with the Greater Scaup that Tasha had reported on Saturday, December 21.
In the failing light on an overcast afternoon with snow flurries, Sulli found the Redhead and Greater Scaup, but after confirming his digiscoped photos, corrected the Canvasback to a rare Eurasian species, a male COMMON POCHARD! This is the second record for the Kenai Peninsula, the first being in 1981 in Homer.
I and two other local birders converged on Tuesday as the dim light grew slightly brighter around 11 am. We did refind the COMMON POCHARD actively diving with a mixed flock including one REDHEAD, 14 MALLARDS, about 30 GREATER SCAUP, 2 BUFFLEHEAD, about 6 BARROW’S GOLDENEYES, and 2 COMMON GOLDENEYES.
Unlike the large Canvasback, with a length of 21” from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, the Common Pochard is a small sea duck, at only 18”. The Redhead is slightly larger at 19”. A Mallard towers over all at 23”. No wonder the Mallards could bully the Common Pochard as Tasha observed; they’re bigger!
All males of the three species have a reddish head and neck, light gray back and sides, black tail, and black breast. In addition to size, the diagnostic feature of the Common Pochard is a light gray patch in the middle of the upper bill, with a black base and tip. The Redhead bill is shorter, lacks the black base, and is tricolor: mostly pale blue with a thin white band bordering a small black tip.
Given the tough viewing conditions of dim light, distance, waves, snow (heavy at times), ice, and wind, it’s amazing that anyone even saw these ducks. But with perseverance and luck, it was actually possible to discern the small red-headed, pale diving duck with the gray saddle patch on its bill.
This morning, the first day of the new Christmas Bird Count Week, I excitedly drove out to Bear Lake to look for the COMMON POCHARD, REDHEAD, GREATER SCAUP, GOLDENEYES, BUFFLEHEAD, and MALLARDS. To my great disappointment and amazement, all I saw was ice. Bear Lake froze up tight last night.
It's a mystery what happened to all the ducks when the ice suddenly closed in and froze in the night; did they fly in the dark? Did they know where to find open water and Resurrection Bay?
The next best hope is to look for the flock of ducks in the bay. The area south of the Seward Harbor uplands by Scheffler Creek is a good possibility, though I didn't see them there or anywhere along the waterfront from the cruise ship dock out to Lowell Point this afternoon.
After Sulli Gibson's post, it was like winning the lottery to see the mega rare Common Pochard. Two birders from Australia drove down from Anchorage to get a glimpse and another bird for his Big Year before they flew to Adak today. A birder from Arizona tried. Kenai birders arrived at the same time the snow storm hit. A handful of local birders saw it. And now it could be anywhere.
Tick tock. Time is fleeting to count this rare duck for the 2019 Seward Christmas Bird Count. Keep your eyes peeled!
Good luck!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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