Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 7:40 am, sunset 7:51 pm for a total day length of 12 hours and 1 minute. This is much closer than the actual Fall Equinox on Friday, September 22, but we’re special so far north. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 25 seconds shorter.
Bright sunshine, but the brisk NNW winds at 10-15 mph whisked away any perceived warmth. Temps ranged from a chilly low of 36 to a high of 48.
A bit of magic at the beach today, and a LIFER for me!
Alert visiting birder Robert Gibson first reported the WHITE WAGTAIL on eBird yesterday at 2:40 pm at Waterfall Beach, just south of the Alaska Sealife Center. Amber refound it and alerted me this morning. I was fortunate to find it actively foraging along the edge of the rising tide.
Local birds did not seem to like it; first a SONG SPARROW chased it off, then a BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE. When not harassed, the lost bird occasionally flew up then down like a flycatcher, presumably in pursuit of kelp flies. Mostly, it strode along the beach wrack line or at the edge, on either side of the creek, wagging its tail and plucking morsels between the rocks and in the wrack.
After being chased by the Song Sparrow, it flew past me and vocalized. It sounded like a Pipit to me, two quick notes, the second a bit higher pitched than the first. It belongs to the same family.
According to the web, there are between 9 and 11 subspecies of Motacilla alba, which makes it very confusing to me, especially the yellow wash on its face. The species breeds in much of Europe, northern Asia, and parts of North Africa. Those birds migrate to southern Europe or north Africa. The few nesting in the far NW coast of Alaska overwinter in SE Asia. This one sure got blown off course!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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