Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Exit Glacier birding by bike

Seward, Alaska

As of today, I have not yet heard any Swainson’s or Gray-cheeked Thrushes at Exit Glacier. Other thrushes made up for their absence: ROBINS sang sweetly from treetops and HERMIT THRUSHES poured out a fantastic symphony, declaring their territories in such beautiful song. 

A visitor stopped to ask me about a peculiar whistle like an alarm that she heard last night, worried enough to go outside to check her RV. She was relieved to learn it was a VARIED THRUSH, confirmed by yet another hidden whistler nearby.

 

Most of the usual warblers have arrived and sing lustily: WILSON’S and YELLOW WARBLERS are recent arrivals, joining the NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH, ORANGE-CROWNED, and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS. I'm still waiting for the TOWNSEND’S WARBLER.

 

FOX SPARROWS and RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS continue, and both TREE and VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS have recently arrived, twittering and swooping overhead.

 

Exciting times!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

Tuesday, May 25, 2021 Hummingbirds!

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 4:58 am, sunset 10:54 pm for a total day length of 17 hours and 55 minutes. Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 54 seconds longer. Sunny days are here again! Yesterday, it was 70º! 

 

Today was a bit cooler at 66º thanks to a brisk north wind at 15 mph that switched to a 12 mph south wind by mid-afternoon, bringing a dampish chill from the fog bank blocking the entrance to Resurrection Bay.

 

The forecast calls for increasing clouds, cooler temperatures, and then rain by Friday for a while. Rain is the color green, and we need it.

 

If you watched for a minute, you might see leaves steadily expanding as Seward turns green from the tops of the trees to the ground. Dandelions wasted no time; their cheerful and determined yellow flowers have popped up everywhere. They win.

 

This evening, as I surveyed my yard from a lawn chair, I noticed hungry queen bumblebees and other insects buzzing around the Sitka willow flowers. An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, and then a male HUMMINGBIRD probed the male flowers for pollen and tiny insects. The little jewel then buzzed over to sit in the sunshine on a thin branch, smacking his tiny pollen-dusted two-toned bill, gorget flaming when he turned his head just right.

 

This little rocket also likes to sit on the powerline along the alley behind my house, a tiny bump on the wire. When shade reached his spot, he zipped over a few yards to be back in the sun where he serenely scratched his jeweled neck feathers with his minute foot.

 

He is the only hummer I have seen recently since they arrived on May 5 and reliably attended my feeder in the first two weeks of May. I had two males and at least 3 females. Now they have access to other sources like the insects in willow flowers and may not need sugar water as much. Or, with all the daylight, they are feeding when I’m not looking. I hope they are still around so I can enjoy watching the moms bring their babies later.

 

Hummingbird bander Todd Eskelin returned to Seward last weekend expecting a surge, but was perplexed to only capture 18 over the two days at four different sites. He did recapture 3 at Ava’s from last year’s banding, showing site fidelity. Todd was very excited to recapture an adult male that was banded last year as a hatch year bird at a feeder several miles from Ava’s. 

Without the banding and recapture, we would have no idea that hummers are migrating though Seward, returning to the same sites, or expanding their local territories. It’s a fascinating glimpse into their phenomenal lives.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Wandering Tattlers and Whimbrels

Seward, Alaska

Buffeted by the cold south wind, I glassed the intertidal zone by Scheffler Creek on an ebbing tide. A single BONAPARTE’S GULL, changing to breeding plumage, stood quietly in the shallow water.

 

AMERICAN CROWS busied themselves among the algae-covered rocks, crowing over major finds. I searched for many long minutes in case any WANDERING TATTLERS were still here. Instead, up popped a WHIMBREL, walking among the rocks, its long, decurved bill poking and prying under the algae. For such a large shorebird, it sure was camouflaged! As I followed it along, it hopped down off a rock and another Whimbrel flew up. Then they both strolled through the grocery aisles, selecting morsels fresh from the sea. 

 

A slight commotion caught my attention; a Crow startled a smaller bird into view; a WANDERING TATTLER! The Tattler perched on a rock for many minutes, then flew across the creek to join another Tattler that suddenly materialized. They sure can hide! Without patience and binoculars, it would be hard for the casual passerby to see these amazing, transitory shorebirds in this multi-textured zone. 

 

Just offshore, six HARLEQUIN DUCKS bobbed in the waves. A pair of BARROW’S GOLDENEYES paddled along the tideline. Farther out, a mob of screeching BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, and MEW GULLS scrabbled over ground-up fish “waste” from the seafood processing plant. 

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 Exit Glacier black bears

Seward, Alaska

Brrr! Chilly today with a cold south wind and temps in the low 40s.

Yesterday was so warm, the cottonwood and alder catkins burst into bloom like Slinkies popped from a can. The sticky cottonwood buds littered the ground. One could almost hear leaf buds bursting and the tiny origami leaves unfolding. Not so much today!

 

I did return to Exit Glacier parking lot where the NPS staff was still working hard to make the parking and access safe. Boots are still needed for the snowy trails. While scanning the greening mountainside, I suddenly saw a momma black bear strolling over a small rise to a meadow, followed by her two cubs. So black! Blacker than any shadow or crevice. They all seemed to be grazing on the foot-high False Hellebore, a poisonous plant to us, but a very useful plant for them. In brief, it helps pop the plug on their digestive tract so they can get a fresh start after a many months-long hibernation.

 

The nearby visitors were very excited to see the black dots, and even spotted a single black bear nearer on the mountainside. Even though the shrubs were still leafless, he disappeared before our eyes.

 

Still hoping to find some brown bears and cubs.

 

As for birds, I heard a WILSON’S SNIPE winnowing in addition to all the birdsong from yesterday.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Tuesday, May 18, 2021 Northern Waterthrush and other Exit Glacier birdsong

Seward, Alaska

Sunny! High of 63 with a SSW wind. Beautiful spring day!

 

Exit Glacier Road (Herman Leirer Road) was open to the second gate on Resurrection River at the boundary of Kenai Fjords National Park. I was amazed at the jam-packed and overflowing parking lot at the nearby USFS Resurrection River trailhead, especially on a Tuesday. Lots of visitors hiked the 1.5 miles to the closed Nature Center on a clear road and then on to see the glacier. 

 

I biked, gliding along effortlessly past the plodding pedestrians, listening to the chorus of birdsong: VARIED THRUSHES, ROBINS, HERMIT THRUSHES, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, FOX SPARROWS, a DOWNY WOODPECKER drumming, and first-of-spring NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES. 

 

At the parking lot, two MAGPIES were already on duty, cleaning up crumbs. A beautiful pair of PINE GROSBEAKS cautiously flew down to the snow berm at the edge. The female appeared to be eating gravel. I thought the male was doing the same, but a closer inspection of my photos showed a beakful of invertebrates or insect larvae that were hiding in the snow. The female then flew up to a spruce and seemed to be eating spruce needles. It’s hard to find them away from town feeders so that was another treat. 

 

I glassed for brown bears and black bears on the brown mountainside without any luck. It’s always easier to spot bears and mountain goats before the leaves emerge.

 

Aside from the elusive Northern Waterthrush, my other two target birds were Swainson’s Thrush and Gray-cheeked Thrush. I didn’t hear them or the Wilson’s and Yellow Warblers yet. I thought I would hear Common Redpolls as they overwinter here and nest in the park, but didn't find any. The bird list is filling out nicely; it’s always fun to anticipate finding more species and surprises.

 

Park staff was busy snow blowing around the mostly clear parking lot, installing speed bumpers, and working in the Nature Center. I think the gate will be open soon. Meanwhile, it was a pleasure on this beautiful afternoon, to linger in the road, looking and listening for birds.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

Sunday, May 16, 2021 Peeps and Geese and Spring!

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 5:17 am, sunset 10:33 pm for a total daylength of 17 hours and 16 minutes. Tomorrow will be 4 minutes and 36 seconds longer.

The first half of May remained stubbornly cool and cloudy with chilly wind. Today, the temperature sank to 35º overnight and rose to 49. Sunshine is forecast for the next two days with a corresponding rise to the upper 50s.

A lonely, loud and persistent SAW-WHET OWL continued to call throughout the night from Little Bear Mountain. A nearby lodging guest at a late night fire pit was overheard asking in consternation, “WHAT is that NOISE?” I wish I could have heard the answer. They were as loud and persistent as the Owl and a couple of hearty, territorial male ROBINS.

At Two Lakes Park today, blueberry flowers hung on dainty red stems like white lanterns. I heard my FOS TOWNSEND’S WARBLER singing in the spruce trees: “I’m-a-TOWN-SEND’S-war-BLER!” Increasing numbers of VARIED THRUSHES sang in a variety of pitches like virtuosos of the referee's whistle. 

A perky PACIFIC WREN competed with his long, bubbly song next to a stream lit by glowing yellow skunk cabbage flowers. RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS, one of the earlier arrivals, keep belting out their jazzy song. I watched several HERMIT THRUSHES hunting for invertebrates and insects in the underbrush and riparian areas. One perched in an alder next to the lake, asking “Chway?” I have not yet heard their haunting, soothing song.

The peak shorebird spring migration seems mostly over, leaving latecomers and perhaps residents. Small flocks of WESTERN SANDPIPERS wheeled and flashed along the tideline, sometimes with a few of the larger, black bellied DUNLIN intermixed. LEAST SANDPIPERS seem to prefer the intertidal and marshy areas.

I found one PECTORAL SANDPIPER that only remotely resembles a “big Least Sandpiper” with its yellow legs. A big flock went through on May 12^th with WHIMBRELS.

Increasing numbers of SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS stop-started along the tidelands, expertly extracting food from the mud. Such handsome birds with gleaming white fronts, black neckband with matching headband, and a dash of orange on the bill to complement the golden legs. 

Robin Collman reported three WANDERING TATTLERS, first of season, by Scheffler Creek, before the weekend crowds disturbed them.

I included several photos of LESSER YELLOWLEGS as I sometimes find it hard to identify without the larger Greater Yellowlegs nearby for scale and comparison. The black markings along the side are much sparser and the bill is straighter. They both wade slowly through the emerging mares tails, yellow legs gleaming, to catch sticklebacks. 

Dwindling numbers of GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, CACKLING GEESE, and DUSKY GEESE patroled the emerging sedges and grasses. The flock of 14 SNOW GEESE first seen on May 10, uncommon on our flyway, shrank to 11, then 6, and have now apparently moved on. Frequent disruptions from happy loose dogs did not help.

I’m glad I took a second look at a small flock of Mew Gulls, daintily picking through the freshly exposed edge of the tide. The thin black bill, dark ear smudge, and pinkish legs belonged to winter plumaged adult BONAPARTE’S GULLS. I did not see a black bar across the wings that would differentiate a first winter bird. By comparison, Mew Gulls seem clumsy and coarse, and the default Glaucous-winged Gulls as tanks. 

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER numbers are increasing as well. I heard a few GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS and FOX SPARROWS singing around town.

My FOS RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS arrived May 5. Now I have two males and 3 females (that I know of ) that the drain sugar water feeder at a wonderful pace; buzzing and hovering like bejeweled figments of an extraordinary imagination. 

Remember: bring 4 cups water to a boil and add 1 cup white granulated sugar and let cool. Do not add red food coloring. Clean feeders thoroughly at least once a week, or more often if it ever gets warm. I like to alternate my glass, easy-to-clean Audubon feeders so they’re always ready to go.

Spring is definitely here and moving along at a brisk pace!

For photos and edits, please visit my blog at http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com/

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

Saturday, May 1, 2021 Sand Lance Frenzy

Seward, Alaska

 

Cacophony: ca-coph-o-ny, \ ka-ˈkä-fə-nē

1. harsh or jarring sound

2. an incongruous or jarring mixture, a striking combination

3. gulls

 

Do gulls ever sleep in the spring? I’ll bet the racket from the seafood processing outfall pipe south of the harbor keeps the Waterfront campers awake! Constant din also erupts from the tidelands at the head of the bay, the mouth of the Resurrection River, and at low tide at Afognak Beach. I’m not sure what is causing all the excitement except that it’s fresh seafood, including ground-up fish "waste", herring and their eggs, sand lance, and maybe salmon smolt.

 

Scattered small groups of MEW, HERRING, and GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS staked out the sandy beach at low tide, watching each other warily while they fished. The easily crumbled sandy banks of small streams seemed to be hot spots. I watched a Herring-type Gull magically nab one small fish after another out of the sand, not the water. It was amazing to see. 

 

A RAVEN swiped his bill through the sand, digging shallow pits, then grabbed one sand lance after another, laying them in a neat pile. He must have chomped them first, as they made no attempt to burrow in or escape. I was surprised that he didn’t just immediately eat them, but instead gathered them up in his beak like a Puffin and hopped away from the paparazzi and the gulls to eat them in private.

 

Farther from the tide line, three distant large brown birds walked along, also probing the sand. I was thrilled to recognize them as my First-Of-Season WHIMBRELS! Two first-winter Mew Gulls also watched them. Suddenly, one Whimbrel pulled out a shiny fish! The gull charged over in a flash and chased the unlucky shorebird. Fortunately, the Whimbrel managed to evade the pirate and enjoyed the sand lance. 

 

Fishing in the sand is a fascinating technique apparently mastered by Gulls, Ravens, and Whimbrels.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter