Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 8:37 am, sunset 5:49 pm, for a total day length of 9 hours and 11 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 22 seconds longer.
Snow/sleet/rain/wind created challenging conditions this week, followed by a few beautiful sunny days featuring more normal winter temperatures in the 20s. Colder and windier in the forecast.
BALD EAGLES and RAVENS are courting and pairing up, getting ready for spring with great fanfare. On Valentine’s Day I saw two Ravens preening each other on a romantic street light, forming a heart shape. Unfortunately, I was driving, so no photo except in my memory.
The Alaska Sealife Center provided the bird sustenance I needed mid-week. Hard to beat watching and listening to the two outrageously colorful KING EIDER drakes within touching distance, puffing up and cooing, “Ah-oooo,” more like a dove than a duck. A very interested King Eider hen followed them around clucking and chasing.
The gorgeous SPECTACLED EIDER drake didn’t have to say anything to attract his mate; he just looked elegant as he paddled around the habitat with her close behind. The other birds dimmed by comparison but did their best to impress. There’s always something interesting going on at the ASLC!
Thursday evening around 11 pm, a SAW-WHET OWL briefly piped up from Little Bear Mountain. Glad to know he’s still around.
Today, I was again fortunate to photograph a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS, flying in tandem. I also found three ROBINS scrabbling up frozen and withered Mt Ash berries on exposed grass. The flock of 40 has either greatly diminished or dispersed after the snow buried the berries. Plucky birds!
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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