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
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