Friday, October 22, 2021 Red Crossbills, Cassin's Auklet, Salmon

Seward, Alaska

Plop, plop, plop. Ping! 

Spruce cones landed on my driveway and metal roof in a slow rain this afternoon. I peered up into the dark branches in the hard hat zone; no red squirrel dashed off, scolding. Silence, except for the cones hitting and RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES chatting as they flew between the feeder and the spruce boughs.

 

I set up my spotting scope, as high as it’s ever been, and scanned through the cone-laden branches. Up and up. Tiny bits of spruce seeds floated down. Up and up. Finally! About ten immature/female RED CROSSBILLS, scattered among the branches, industriously tweaked the tiny seeds from the cones. 

 

Perched on a cone, sometimes sideways or upside down, they ate a few seeds then pulled it off the stem and carried with them to dine upright on top of the branch. After a short time, the discarded cone fell overboard and they repeated the process. I never saw them fly down to inspect the fallen cones. No need to be thorough; there are plenty of cones to choose from. 

 

Although the viewing was tough, it was a delight to watch them at dinner; mystery solved!

 

Earlier this afternoon, I found dozens of FORK-TAILED STORM-PETRELS from the Uplands and along the Waterfront, fluttering in the choppy water. I also finally found a CASSIN'S AUKLET and a MARBLED MURRELET, specks in the distance, bobbing and diving.

 

The seafood processing plant fish “waste” outfall pipe attracted mobs of BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, SHORT-BILLED GULLS, PELAGIC CORMORANTS, and a few DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. 

Silver salmon are still migrating to their home streams, luring Harbor Seals and at least four Steller Sea Lions to the mouth of Scheffler Creek just south of the harbor Uplands. 

 

I saw dozens of silvers milling at the Lagoon culvert, waiting to leave the salty/brackish water for the freshwater of the stream. I counted at least 80 silvers swimming up from the Lagoon along the Second Avenue creek leading to First Lake in Two Lakes Park. It was so exciting to see these large, beautiful, powerful fish heading home! This historic run has been noted since at least the early 1950s. Among them, almost unnoticed, I spied a Dolly Varden, patiently waiting to snarf down fresh eggs.

 

Also happy to see the silvers was a DIPPER, dipping as they do, and diving in the creek. A perky PACIFIC WREN poked through the leaves along the edge, alert to the splashings of the ancient ritual. 

 

From the sea to the forest and back; salmon weave the ecosystem together.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

"Note the all-gray body, faint eyebrow, triangle-shaped bill that is slightly turned up, and larger size than a murrelet." Thanks, Tasha!

Monday, October 18, 2021 American Coot, and Crossbills

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 8:46 am, sunset 6:41 pm for a total day length of 9 hours and 54 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 22 seconds shorter.

 

A nice break in the rain today; a low of 39 and a high of 48 with a chilly north wind. Rain is forecast for the rest of the week.

 

Robin C showed me the AMERICAN COOT at Bear Lake this afternoon at about the same location where Sulli first spotted it on Saturday. It was all alone, bobbing in the waves. If there’s only one bird, how fortunate it’s the rare one! I did not see it dive, though it may have nabbed some aquatic plant bits it prefers from the surface.

 

Although it looked like a dark duck with a white bill (and a red eye), it is a member of the Rail family. Instead of webbed feet, they have lobed toes like Grebes. Several members of the Rail family are flightless, but Coots are migratory and able to fly. Their short, rounded wings and weak flight means they are often blown off course. 

 

Juneau, Seward, Anchorage, Fairbanks have also recently reported Coots. I wonder if the powerful storms over the last several weeks helped blow them northwest from their closest breeding grounds in western Canada?

 

When Bear Lake freezes, the Coot might migrate to Resurrection Bay to feed on eel grass like the resident Trumpeter Swans. Or blow who-knows-where. All the stranded Coots are invited to spend the winter here.

 

About a quarter mile south of the lonely Coot, dozens of ducks including RING-NECKED DUCKS, AMERICAN WIGEON, a MALLARD, a NORTHERN SHOVELER hen, a CANVASBACK pair, BUFFLEHEAD, BARROW’S GOLDENEYES, and SCAUP, and one RED-NECKED GREBE surrounded three adult TRUMPETER SWANS. The divers didn’t need the left-overs from the Swans’ lunch, but the dabblers seemed to appreciate the Swans’ long reach into the buffet. 

 

We did not refind the pair of HOODED MERGANSERS, 6 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS, or TRUMPETER SWAN family with 7 cygnets that Sulli and Tasha found on Saturday. Birds on the move, and it’s a big lake.

Seward birder David Jadhon counted an amazing 46 Ring-necked Ducks at 5:30 pm on Monday. This might be a new, unofficial record.

 

Back in town, a PACIFIC WREN scurried around my garage foundation, scolding loudly, practically at my feet. A flock of about a dozen WHITE-WINGED and RED CROSSBILLS descended on nearby spruce trees, then swirled off. I enjoyed hosting a juvenile Red Crossbill on Saturday, the day after I put up my sunflower seed feeder on the garage. 

 

The single feeder also attracted three RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES and at least one CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE. Given the rapid rate of arrival, snatch, and departure, the Nuthatches stashed their prizes nearby. 

 

Other notables: Robin C spotted 3 ANCIENT MURRELETS from the Waterfront with his scope on Sunday. I looked today without a scope and only saw a carpet of Gulls feeding on the harbor seafood processing plant outfall pipe. David H refound them today at 12:20 pm AND 35 FORK-TAIILED STORM-PETRELS. Time to start packing a scope!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Update: On October 20, 2021, Tasha counted a remarkable 62 Ring-necked Ducks on Bear Lake.

Saturday, October 9, 2021 Cassin’s Auklet and Anna’s Hummingbird

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 8:24 am, sunset 7:07 pm for a total day length of 10 hours and 42 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 24 seconds shorter.

 

After a rainy Friday, the stars blazed and today dawned mild and sunny. The overnight low was 34, the high 48 with a gentle north breeze. The forecast calls for mostly sunny tomorrow and similar temps; we may see some snow by next weekend.

 

On Thursday, an alert visiting birder spotted a CASSIN’S AUKLET near the Seward harbor, apparently a scope bird. A few hours later upon notification, Seward birders converged on the harbor Uplands to search without success at the harbor mouth and among the throngs of frenzied gulls at the seafood processing outfall. 

 

On Friday, Robin C refound the bird paddling close to shore along Lowell Point Road. 

I did not find it today, but had less time to search. I hope it’s still around. Instead I found an immature PIGEON GUILLEMOT diving and surfacing with algae, which it ate.

 

An ANNA’S HUMMINGBIRD was reported visiting a feeder at Second and Madison on October 4 and 5. I did not find this little jewel, and now the feeder is down. With the mild temperatures, many flowers like nasturtiums are still hanging on, perhaps providing some nectar in addition to their diet of spiders and tiny insects. 

 

It’s fascinating that the non-migratory, pioneering Anna’s have extended their range into Cordova, Seward, Cooper Landing, Homer, including Peterson Bay, Nikolaevsk, Kenai, Anchorage, Wasilla and beyond. 

 

Check out the Facebook site “Hummingbird Banding on the Kenai Peninsula.” Expert bander Todd Eskelin has banded 10 males and 1 female hatch year birds so far this season, and knows of an additional 1 or 2 unbanded females in Homer. Of note, he also banded an immature male COSTA’S HUMMINGBIRD in Kenai, a bird that nests in the desert. Exciting!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Tuesday, October 5, 2021 Hooded Merganser, Peregrine Falcon, Waterfowl

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 8:15 am, sunset 7:19 pm for a total day length of 11 hours and 4 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 25 seconds shorter.

 

Fall temperatures so far remain moderate with overnight lows in the mid-30s and daytime highs in the upper 40s. The weather cycles between glorious sunshine, strong northerly wind, and calm overcast with rain. Termination dust on the surrounding mountains comes and goes, but will soon become more permanent. Clear skies at night are a delight with the return of familiar constellations, and bright Jupiter and fainter Saturn glowing in the south.

 

Thanks to a hot tip, I found a female HOODED MERGANSER back at the Lagoon in the company of several BARROW’S and COMMON GOLDENEYES, all recently returned. While the larger ducks lounged, the Hoody busily dove and resurfaced with small fish. The sticklebacks in particular, seemed to give her a hard time with all their spiny fins extended to delay the inevitable trip down the gullet.

 

Ghostly schools of salmon swam below the ducks, still intent on fulfilling their destiny. Soon, their eggs and carcasses will provide sustenance to many birds and nutrients to the Lagoon ecosystem.

 

Small scattered rafts of SURF SCOTERS and a few RED-NECKED GREBES have also recently returned to the bay to overwinter. In addition to the Lagoon Barrow’s Goldeneyes, I found a nice flock of about 30 bathing in the outlet of Lowell Creek over the weekend.

 

On October 2, I strained to identify a raft of assorted ducks on Bear Lake from the public access at Old Sawmill Creek Road. Unfortunately, I did not bring my scope. But among the dabbling MALLARDS and AMERICAN WIGEON, I spied a single female NORTHERN SHOVELER and a couple pairs of diving RING-NECKED DUCKS. This is a good location to look for and hopefully find some fall oddities before the lake freezes.

 

On Sunday afternoon on October 3, I received a report of 5-6 Swans right at the salmon stream a short distance down the Iditarod Trail. 

 

That same afternoon at the tidelands, I watched many hundreds of gulls (KITTIWAKES, SHORT-BILLED, GLAUCOUS-WINGED) suddenly take off in the distance. I whipped up my binocs and found a suspicious dark bird, not the usual Eagle, hurtling through the frenzied cloud. 

 

My suspicion was verified when to my delight, a young PEREGRINE FALCON landed on a piece of driftwood down the beach. It looked a bit wet, possibly from an unexpected water landing, as it teetered in the wind, balancing on its perch. It soon flew off, rousing the few ducks in the pond, and disappeared. Wow!

Also on Sunday, about 7:30 pm near dusk, I received a report from Anchorage of 4 large Vs of birds, thought to be geese, migrating south. I had thought migration was over, but not so! I looked, watched and listened the next day without success. Instead, three LAPLAND LONGSPURS vocalized briefly and disappeared over the waving beach ryegrass, on their way south.

 

As the season continues to change, birds are on the move, some still migrating far south, others migrating here for the winter. It’s a fun time for surprises and reunions!

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter