Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 6:35 am, sunset 9:21 pm for a total day length of 14 hours and 46 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 25 seconds longer.
Spring seems reluctant to release Winter’s apron strings, hanging on to below freezing temps at night and creeping up to the low 40s. A cold south wind did more to sublimate the snow last week than the cloud-shrouded sun, but many feet of snow remain outside of town and in large patches in town.
Despite the cranky weather, the migratory birds are trickling in daily. The cacophony of screeching gulls excited by seafood processors’ fish “waste” continues dawn to dusk and fills the otherwise quiet night.
BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES rock and roll with multitudes of GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS and SHORT-BILLED GULLS. HERRING and GLAUCOUS-WINGED X HERRING (COOK) GULLS laugh, “heh, heh, heh,” overhead.
Tasha spotted two first-of-spring ARCTIC TERNS yesterday, right on time. I heard a “chip” today and searched eagerly for the buoyant, bold flyer without success.
A pair of NORTHERN SHOVELERS sluiced the surface of the estuary with their enormous bills. Two recently arrived CANADA GEESE hungrily plucked sedge corms, recently released form the ice at the wetlands while a pair of GADWALL rested nearby on last year’s sodden leaves.
A TUNDRA SWAN reached down for emerging vegetation in a narrow lead in the otherwise still-frozen pond. There were two a few days ago. MALLARDS, PINTAILS, and GREEN-WINGED TEAL hovered about, hoping for scraps. COMMON MERGANSERS dove for fish. Have the 3-spine sticklebacks, an anadromous species, returned for the Terns? A nice flock of LAPLAND LONGSPURS was reported in the grasses.
Ice mostly covers the Nash Road Mile 1 wetlands, but in a narrow lead, I found a female HOODED MERGANSER. Farther back, a pair of Common Mergansers dove. The TRUMPETER SWAN pair that has been guarding this much-coveted nesting site was not present. It may be another week before the nest island is available for the lucky winners to start nest-building.
Three Trumpeter Swan adults and three cygnets fed on eelgrass south of Afognak Beach. The large flock of up to 33 this winter is apparently dispersing as leads open up.
One of two independent cygnets tragically died on March 11 after colliding with an invisible powerline at dusk near Old Nash Road. Seward hasn’t had any Swan deaths since the Lagoon power lines went underground and bird deflectors were installed along the hot spots at Nash Road wetlands, Preacher Pond, and the pump station by Scheffler Creek. The deadly lines are nearly invisible in that dim light, especially to an inexperienced 9-month old Swan. The electric department will try to install more deflectors as the lines are maintained.
Winter ducks overlap Spring along the Waterfront and in the ever-melting Lagoon including BARROW’S and COMMON GOLDENEYES, BUFFLEHEAD, and COMMON MERGANSERS waiting to migrate to their nesting grounds. I spotted a COMMON LOON in winter plumage by the harbor entrance.
Much to my delight, the o-so-sweet sound of a ROBIN singing greeted me yesterday morning at 6 am. Soon, soon, the rest of the choir will arrive, tune up, and perform the much-anticipated Celebration of Spring. They’re on their way now!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
I will add photos later…
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