Seward, Alaska
Unsettled weather this week with a mix of showers and sun, temps in the low 50s. I took a chance in the afternoon and rode my bike to the Exit Glacier parking lot in Kenai Fjords National Park. It’s so fun to bike and bird!
I noticed that the birds became mostly quiet when it rained, but in the hush as the shower ceased, a most beautiful chorus began. How I love the “woodland flute”, the HERMIT THRUSH. Next, an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER resumed trilling; others answered from their territories. Mr. Wilson (WILSON’S WARBLER), revved up his sewing machine with his pals. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS began warbling. I even heard several NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES (actually warblers) along the road near small waterways.
The VARIED THRUSHES and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS that just so recently dominated every other tree, have piped down but a few still sang. Ditto the melodious ROBINS. A passing RAVEN threw in a few hoarse croaks and a small fly-over of COMMON REDPOLLS chattered.
I listened hard, very hard, for my target bird, the SWAINSON’S THRUSH. Then suddenly, deep in the woods, I heard the ethereal upwards spiral. Yay! How wonderful to know they have returned safely from their long migration from Central America and beyond.
An unusual call caught my ear and I tracked it to a few juvenile COMMON REDPOLLS busily gleaning aphids from the underside of young alder leaves. At first glance, they resembled fat Pine Siskins as they lack any red, but a closer look shows a much more conical beak. It seemed like a lot of hard work and acrobatics to pick off the tiny aphids, but I applaud their efforts!
Right along the road where cars whizzed past at 35 mph, I discovered a patch of Frog Orchids in bud, blooming Nootka Lupines, and blooming Yellow Dryas (Dryas drummondii). Birds, blooms, and biking. What a great combo!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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