Seward, Alaska
Hard rain last night must have drained most of the clouds. Despite the gloomy forecast, today was a fine day to bird: no wind, brief showers then WARM sunshine peeked through, followed by high overcast, with a high of 49ยบ.
Many more birders streamed in from Homer and Anchorage to see the very cooperative PURPLE MARTINS at the Spring Creek Campground. These two have become superstar crowd-pleasers, flying over people’s cars and heads as if to greet them. They proved as challenging to photograph as ever but even rested a few times in the same tall spruce tree, albeit a bit too far to really appreciate them.
The BANK SWALLOW was spotted briefly, no longer hanging out with his larger buddies.
A few birders sought the elusive American Redstart, possibly catching a tantalizing glimpse with some BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES at the edge of the spruce forest behind Spring Creek pond. The SHARP-SHINNED HAWK returned as did the BLACK-BILLED MAGPIES to harass it as a gang of six. The BELTED KINGFISHER perched on its snag, undisturbed.
After enjoying the sunny interlude and visiting with the wonderful birders, just like old times but farther apart, it was finally time to go home. But no! The Palm Warbler had been spotted at the Airport cul-de-sac.
Only exceeding the speed limit by a hair, Gary and I raced back across the bay. Robin and Lisa were on the prowl and saw it. As we approached, a shotgun blast scared it off. We searched and searched in the spruce and alder thicket, madly taking photos of anything that moved.
In the end, I had a wonderful documentation of a female or juvenile YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, very nice I’m sure. Humph. And, a surprise WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE. Both were fly-catching, but the Wood-pewee very consistently returned to the same snag multiple times.
The lack of an eye-ring, a bit of yellow on the base of the lower bill, and no flicking of the tail cinched the ID for me. The Eastern Wood-pewee is under consideration, but what a tough call if it doesn’t sing! I leave that to others to ruminate.
I hope to look for that Palm Warbler tomorrow. I now know a lot more about who exactly I’m searching for.
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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