Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 7:06 am, sunset 8:55 pm, for a total day length of 13 hours and 49 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 28 seconds longer.
Fickle April in her short life left the freezer door open and the fan shooting snow flurries one day, turned on the heater and smiled sweetly the next, then blasted the freezer again. Nevertheless, recently solid ice on wetlands, ponds, and creeks shows signs of relenting. Except for isolated snow and ice patches, most of the ground is bare, brown, and looking rather beat-up. Not a pretty sight.
The freezer and fan were running today with a high of 32 and misleading sunny skies. The forecast calls for upper 30s to low 40s for the week with strong northerly winds, 1” snow tomorrow night, and rain/snow showers by the weekend. New to the Wunderground forecast is the Coronavirus window noting 13 confirmed cases in the Kenai Peninsula as of today
Fortunately, birding by car, on foot, and from home continues despite the pandemic.
On Saturday, March 28, BALD EAGLES went nuts plucking herring by the fistful just offshore of Lowell Point Road. I counted at least 15-20 in the air, in trees, circling over the water, hovering, swooping, grabbing, and eating from their talons on the fly. Gulls screamed in excitement and frantically followed the silvery fish, gobbling as many as they could reach.
March 29: Robin C reported FOS AMERICAN PIPIT. SAW-WHET OWL still calling from the flanks of Mount Marathon at 11 pm.
March 30: FOS 2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS. John M discovers FOS GREATER YELLOWLEGS at Afognak Beach. SAW-WHETS continue calling.
March 31: Robin C reported CASSIN’S FINCH and WHITE-THROATED SPARROW at feeder.
April 3: 3 SNOW BUNTINGS and 3 LAPLAND LONGSPURS popped up at Afognak Beach, gleaning beach rye grass seeds and possibly beach flies. John M reported 6 fleeting HORNED LARKS!
April 4: A lovely TRUMPETER SWAN family with one cygnet fed at the Lagoon on this peaceful morning. COMMON MERGANSERS napped in the sun at the edge of a small beach backed by ice. A single HOODED MERGANSER female snoozed in the recently opened water, head tucked under her wing, her glorious gold-tipped crest blazing in the sun.
COMMON GOLDENEYE drakes beeped, hyper-extended their necks, then violently threw back their heads to impress the ladies. Meanwhile, a drake BUFFLEHEAD, briefly bobbed his handsome head then started a family with a willing hen. Beauty, grace, feeding, courtship, and action all packed into a small opening in the ice, courtesy of Spring.
Nearby, a RAVEN took an exuberant bath in a puddle, splashing and spraying water all over. Though I was a long way off, he suddenly stopped and flew a short distance to shake off. Giving me a long look, he flew off with whatever shred of dignity he might still have. Paparazzi!
Ten more TRUMPETER SWANS fed in a small opening at the rear of the Nash Road wetlands. Still sharing and non-territorial.
The BRANT count is down to two from the high of 44. Moving on. Ben L also reported 24 GADWALL, 6 EURASIAN WIGEON, 2 AMERICAN WIGEON, 25 NORTHERN PINTAILS, 1 GREEN-WINGED TEAL,10 GREATER SCAUP, 8 SURF SCOTER, 1 LONG-TAILED DUCK, 10 BUFFLEHEAD, 25 COMMON GOLDENEYE, 80 BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, 27 COMMON MERGANSER, 30 HORNED GREBE, 1 PIGEON GUILLEMOT, 120 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, 180 MEW GULL, 80 HERRING GULL, 1 ICELAND GULL, 320 GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, 1 GLAUCOUS GULL, 1 PELAGIC CORMORANT, 4 BALD EAGLE, 1 SHORT-EARED OWL, 2 NW CROWS, 3 COMMON RAVENS, 1 HORNED LARK, singing!, 3 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, 1 PINE SISKIN. Amazing list!
April 5: Flocks of HERRING GULLS circled and cried. Migrating or arriving? Probably a mix of both.
April 6: As the first fishing boats unloaded, hundreds of Gulls gathered to glean scraps from the surface just offshore Lowell Point Road. It looked like a gull snowstorm. Apparently, Gulls only have one volume, LOUD, and seem happiest in the midst of mayhem. It was exciting to watch, mostly GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, some HERRING GULLS, a few BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, and an odd one or two I am still working on. I did not see Mew Gulls, but will try to check again soon.
That freezer door will have to slam shut sometime. I hope it’s soon!
Meanwhile, Spring is on her way!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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