Thursday, December 29, 2022 Count Week Day 2: Short-eared Owl

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 10:03 am, sunset 3: 58 pm for a total day length of 5 hours and 55 minutes. Tomorrow will be 1 minute and 28 seconds LONGER. 

After a week of piercing cold mixed with strong north winds, the past few overcast days seemed balmy, hovering around freezing and calm. Roads remain icy and treacherous. The National Weather Service issued a Special Weather Alert for this weekend as another series of storms is predicted to hit South-central this weekend.

Equipped with ice grippers that will likely stay on until May, I checked out the tidelands for the afternoon walk. Chaotic blocks of ice piled up in the estuary pond, leaving several areas of open water where MALLARDS and a few GADWALL paddled and dabbled, and BUFFLEHEAD dove. 

I found the ROCK SANDPIPER flock with DUNLINS feeding intently at the receding tide’s edge. About 50 Gulls, likely Short-billed and Glaucous-winged (too far without a scope), rested on the flats. The fierce cry of an adult BALD EAGLE rang out from its perch at the very top of a tall red crane in the adjacent industrial area to the west.

Suddenly, I heard an odd, almost muffled honking and turned to find an adult TRUMPETER SWAN flying from the east to an open area of the pond. It soon settled down to feed among the ducks. What a relief to have access to food after that cold spell!

Then, to my joy, I spotted a SHORT-EARED OWL wafting over the tide-washed sedges, hunting for unsuspecting voles. A RAVEN took time out of its busy schedule to harass it, so the Owl kept moving and was soon out of my sight.

The Seward Christmas Bird Count is on Saturday; I invited all these birds to participate and bring their friends.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

Friday, December 16, 2022 Swans, Red Crossbills, and Bohemian Waxwings

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 9:58 am, sunset 3:51 pm for a total day length of 5 hours and 52 minutes. Tomorrow will be 0 minutes and 53 seconds shorter.

Sunny today for that short time, low of 16 to a high of 23, with a brisk north wind gusting to 21 mph like a fan in a freezer. Continued cold, clear, and windy in the forecast.

Hoping to beach it out of the wind, I headed to Afognak Beach. On Tuesday, I counted 33 TRUMPETER SWANS, including 2 cygnets that were still quite brown, feeding on eel grass in the bay. Today, there were none. I kept walking along the frozen ocean floor, crackling through thin ice sheets, to the Point. In the distance on the tide flats in the sun, sixteen sleeping Swans lay in a line with heads tucked under wings like rounded snow drifts, completely exposed to the cold north wind.

The sluggish sun slowly crept over the nearby mountains and the blue shadows along the shore shrank back, but the Swans remained, fast asleep. I wondered how long they had been there; the 8.86’ high tide at 7:12 am likely covered this area. Did they paddle out of the adjacent stream to rest as the tide ebbed?

As I waited for some action, seven RED CROSSBILLS sailed in and landed on a spruce, extracting tiny seeds from the cones, chattering quietly. When I left, the Swans were still sleeping. Conserving energy? Fasting? Do they feed in the dark?

Robin C reported six Trumpeter Swans feeding at the north end of the Lagoon around 2 pm, so at least some Swans were active.

Back home, I was excited to hear the soft chirring of BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS and found about 40 decorating a neighbor’s spruce like feathered ornaments. After a few minutes, they simultaneously erupted and vanished. Maybe that Sharp-shinned Hawk Robin C reported in the ‘hood on Tuesday cruised past, checking out the lunch menu.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Monday, December 12, 2022 Snow Birds

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise, a leisurely 9:53 am, sunset 3:52, for a total day length of 5 hours and 36 minutes. Tomorrow will be 1 minute and 36 seconds shorter as we approach the Winter Solstice next week on December 21.

Mostly sunny for those precious daylight hours after several dark, stormy days. Schools, including Seward, were closed across South Central today, mostly due to impassable roads. Town only received about 8-10 inches of crusty snow, whereas farther north, the storm dumped several feet. The fierce NNW wind boiled and blew snow off the surrounding mountains, 13-16 mph with gusts to 38. Fortunately, the temp rose from a low of 14 to 34 by midday, taking out the sting.

I crunched through billows of crusty snow to the beach, pushed enthusiastically by the wind. Suddenly, a flock of about 20 SNOW BUNTINGS swirled past like snow flurries. They landed in the snow, pecking at loose ryegrass seeds as they strode into the wind, then flew a short way to glean more seeds from protruding stalks. After a minute, off they blew, out of sight.

I marched on, escaping to the snow-free, tide-washed beach. A single DUNLIN poked and probed along the tide’s edge near four SHORT-BILLED GULLS. I searched for the usual winter flock of Rock Sandpipers without success. Small rafts of ducks surfed in the waves, mostly MALLARDS with a few BUFFLEHEAD.

On my return, I heard the sonorous honking of TRUMPETER SWANS. I spun around and followed them, stroking into the wind, veering towards the rugged, snowy mountains until they disappeared, white into white.

A shaft of sunshine, a surprise of snow birds, snow streamers and spectacular scenery: a sweet Seward song. 

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter