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
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