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
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