Friday, August 10, 2018 17 Bohemian Waxwings!

Seward, Alaska

While checking the returning sockeye and king salmon in the Lagoon this morning, I heard a BELTED KINGFISHER rattling like his life depended on it. It did, in the shape of a MERLIN hot on its tail! The Kingfisher managed to pull away and the Merlin veered off into the spruce where a gang of MAGPIES mercilessly announced its presence.

Then I spotted a flock of birds smaller than the usual Pigeons, but larger than Crossbills or Pine Siskins, flying rapidly over the Lagoon in a tight flock heading north. Fortunately, they landed in one of the ghost trees in the former horse pasture. When they began chirring, I just about flipped! BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS! I counted 17, including 3 juveniles. 

These beautiful birds usually show up later in the fall and winter until all the Mt Ash berries are devoured. Right now, those berries are just starting to ripen, but maybe they don't mind green ones.

It's fall migration time; be alert for delightful surprises!

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Monday, August 6, 2018 Murrelets in the fog, Swan family, bumblebees, and king salmon

Seward, Alaska                

Sunrise 5:51 am, sunset 10:18 pm for a total day length of 16 hours and 26 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 3 seconds shorter. Mostly cloudy and sprinkly for the past several weeks with periods of dense fog. Summer is moving along with some salmonberries and the first blueberries, very few raspberries.

It’s been a busy summer and lots has happened since my last Sporadic Bird report on July 10 (gasp!), but I’ll have to skip a bit to get this out now.

On Sunday night around 10:20 pm on July 29, I heard at least two MARBLED MURRELETS crying in the dusky dark, circling invisibly in the mysterious fog. I stood transfixed in the light rain, straining to see the tiny seabirds without success. By tracking their piercing calls, it seemed that they circled Little Bear Mountain, and possibly flew up Lowell Canyon.

It was fun to think that they might roost close to the ocean. Way back in 1998, I found a Marbled Murrelet fledgling by the side of the highway at Mile 12, possibly brushed by a vehicle. That’s a long way to commute and I always wondered why they would fly so far with all the coniferous trees so close to the bay.

I thought all the SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS had migrated, so I was pleased to find five on August 4, patrolling the tidelands with their characteristic stop-start pattern. I heard, but did not see, another one on August 5.

The River Otter family of mom and three pups is making tracks around the bay, literally. They pop up at the Lagoon, travel upstream along the road to First Lake, wander over to Second Lake, head back to the Lagoon and out to the ocean, then track up the tidelands. They are very curious and seemingly fearless, and delightful to watch.

King Salmon, stocked in the Lagoon, have returned to spawn. It is a thrill to see these large, red salmon with black spots all over their sleek bodies including the tail. The River Otters are very pleased as well, I’m sure.

Yesterday, I watched a cautious COMMON MERGANSER hen paddle along followed by two adorable white-striped ducklings. When they got tired, they hopped up on her back for a free ride and off they went.

Nearby, two SPOTTED SANDPIPERS (without spots) ran along the shoreline picking off flies from the ground and jumped to snap them mid-air. Whenever they could, they dipped and bobbed. One looked like a juvenile with barred wing coverts. The other sandpiper, maybe an adult, chased the juvenile off whenever they shared the same area. Another Spotted Sandpiper was seen at First Lake on July 31; maybe they are migrating through.

The TRUMPETER SWAN family at the Mile 1 Nash Road wetlands is thriving. The pink-billed, gray cygnets at two months are almost as big as their ever-vigilant parents. Often, they are secreted out of sight at the back of the pond, but today they were feeding on the abundant water horsetails nearer the road. It won’t be long before they flap those growing wings and learn to fly.

At long last, the killer power lines along the Lagoon are down. Yay! Now the power runs underground. The Seward linemen left three of the seven poles to serve as perches for the Bald Eagles, Kingfishers, Ravens, Gulls, and other birds. Now, when the Swans fly, they won’t die. Thank you to all the concerned birders who contacted City Hall in support of the bird deflectors and underground power!

Last year there were scarcely any fireweed flowers and the bumblebees suffered. This year, the fireweed did very well, gracing the roadsides with their spikes of flaming magenta flowers. I’ve enjoyed trying to get photos of the different kinds of bumblebees as they bounce and zoom from one generous flower to the next, sipping nectar and spreading pollen. My favorite is the one with orange bands. So striking against the magenta flowers and green background, but I appreciate them all.

The flowers bloom from the bottom up; the remaining buds at the top will soon bloom and then fade. The bumblebees seem to know this, and work frantically to gather the food while they can. “Bumble Boogie” adapted by Jack Fina from “Flight of the Bumblebee” by Rimsky-Korsakov pops up in my head while I watch. Check it out on-line. Very fun!

Exciting news flash: A GREAT GRAY OWL, possibly juvenile, was reported last night in Forest Acres in a birder’s yard. I’m on standby if it shows up again. I’ll keep you posted!

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Tuesday, July 10, 2018 baby birds

Seward, Alaska

Sunrise 4:53 am, sunset 11:12 pm for a total day length of 18 hours and 19 minutes. Tomorrow will be 3 minutes and 1 second shorter.

After a week of sunny blue skies and temps in the mid 70s, the National Weather Service posted a warning about our weather returning to normal. And normal it is, with fog, low gray clouds, wind, and rain of many adjectives punctuated by a high-wind, heavy rainstorm.

The storm was a terrible time to be blown out of one’s nest. Yesterday, an alert pedestrian spotted a dark object the size of a marshmallow in a parking lot. Taking a closer look, he realized it was a tiny wet bird lying on its side. He scooped it up and discovered it was alive! After a few minutes nestled on his palm in the blast from the car’s hot air vent, the little tyke perked up, stood up in his hand, and demanded food service. “Cheep-cheep-cheep-now!”

I arrived a short time later, wondering who it was and how to best take care of it. The tail feathers had not yet sprouted, but the baby down was mostly gone except for darling filoplume feathers waving like wild antennae on its head. The wing feathers were well along, unfurling from white sheaths. He certainly had a big appetite and his large yellow bill marked the target for food.

I decided the best place for this healthy baby was with its parents and began scanning for adults and listening for other noisy siblings. Luckily, a parent flashed past, carrying off a fecal sac. I waited and watched as it  stealthily returned and indirectly flitted through the bushes. After some time, I realized the nest was near an alder tree, and furthermore, on the ground. I crept forward and gently set the cheeping baby near the base and backed away.

The parent soon returned and resumed hauling off fecal sacs and delivering insects to the clamoring family. The light was dim and the bird was quick, but I think it was an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER. A very hard-working warbler parent!

Back at home, the RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH family left the nest box on the garage about 10 days ago. Oddly, the entrance hole was plastered all around with spruce sap. A brief Google search brought up several hits. The thought is that this practice may reduce predation and competition. Nuthatches zoom in like an arrow to the bulls-eye and do not touch the hole, so perhaps this would help keep birds from landing and entering. I touched the sap, and found it hard and not at all sticky, so perhaps this was a short-term deterrent to keep out those pesky Chestnut-backed Chickadees at the beginning of the nesting season. Or maybe it’s just one of those nutty Nuthatch traditions. It also smells good.

Other sites mentioned that Nuthatches prefer nesting in cavities in trees, so attracting a family to a nest box is special. I’ve had them nest in the swallow boxes in the past, but do not remember the sap. It would have been interesting to watch them gather and apply the sap; I wonder how they unloaded the sticky stuff?

The VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS in the nest box on the other side of the garage, and in the backyard nest box are still attending to their hungry babies, likewise the TREE SWALLOWS in the deck box. They too, fly in like an arrow, or land briefly on the edge then pop in. What a pleasure to watch them gracefully swoop and twirl, flying low one instant then soar overhead, snapping up all kinds of insects on the wing to fed their babies. It’s a joy to watch them rest on the overhead power line or atop the nest box and preen, chuckling conversationally, unconcerned that I’m there.

This year is the best year in years for nesting Swallows and the most I’ve ever had. I am so pleased!

I’m glad the Swallow babies did not fledge during the storm, but their confinement won’t last much longer. I will miss their sweet, syncopated, persistent, incessant, insistent racket; the sound of life growing and bursting with hope.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter