Seward, Alaska
Thunder rumbled twice as I stood by the side of Exit Glacier Road at 8:30 pm, listening to SWAINSON’S THRUSHES singing on both sides. We hardly ever hear thunder, and I had just left a sunny, blue-sky Seward. The weather can be quite different out the road!
I searched through the canopy of cottonwood leaves without much hope but finally found the closest Swainson’s singing on a cottonwood branch. What a lucky find! It may have been a different Swainson’s, but I also heard a call that reminded me of water dripping in a cave, a rich, round sound. I looked it up later in iBird Plus and found it described as a “whit” call, used as an alarm or distraction call.
I drove on slowly and discovered a VARIED THRUSH poking industriously through the underbrush. How could such a brightly colored bird be so invisible in the forest? He had something in his bill, but I couldn’t tell if it was building materials or food. Other Varied Thrushes joined the chorus of birdsong in the woods.
All along the road between the bridge and the parking lot, HERMIT THRUSHES sang, their sweet notes cascading down like peace offerings. I was unable to find one close enough to try to find.
Around 9 pm, I was very pleased to track down a GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH, singing and listening to another’s song, both taking measured turns. Feeling more optimistic after finding the Swainson’s and Varied Thrushes, I searched through a screen of cottonwood and willow leaves. There he was! Fortunately, he was perched on a dead branch in a clearing so I could actually watch him tip his chin up and sing. The elusive Gray-cheeked! So exciting to hear and see him!
Not to be left out, a ROBIN perched in a spruce tree, singing his cheerful carol, loud and long, just like those in town.
Five thrush species! All of them sweet songsters!
Across the road near a stream, a NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH kept up a steady conversation with more distant males, again politely taking turns. He thrust his head all the way back and delivered his rich warble to the sky.
Though his name is confusing, he is not a thrush but a wood-warbler. He still counts as a valuable member of the symphony. Other warbler songsters included ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW-RUMPED, YELLOW, and WILSON’S. I didn’t hear a TOWNSEND’S until I reached the denser spruce-hemlock forest in the Chugach National Forest down the road.
All the time I was birding, it rained hard a few miles away. It looked like a street cleaner had thoroughly sprayed the road to the highway. Quirky clouds!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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