Sunday February 4 - Sunday February 11, 2024 Squall Birding and a Sitka Black-tailed Deer!

Seward, Alaska

 

Birding this past week slowed down as the temperatures rose into the 20s and then 30s, bringing snow, then sleet, rain, and squalls. Seeking new species for my January 31-February bird list provided incentive to get outside and get wet. 

 

Last Sunday, I found a single PIGEON GUILLEMOT in the SMIC boat basin, and a DIPPER at Afognak Pond. Far out at the edge of the low tide at Afognak Beach I at last found 36 ROCKSANDPIPERS and a DUNLIN feeding among a flock of Short-billed Gulls (previously counted.)

 

On Monday, in a snowstorm, I added a PACIFIC LOON south of the harbor Uplands. On sunny Tuesday, I enjoyed watching a BALD EAGLE dining at the bird café along Lowell Point Road, though the entre did not enjoy being invited to lunch. A Greater Scaup and Yellow-billed Loon paddled around by Scheffler Creek, and one Great Blue Heron roosted on the blue coal loader platform.

 

Varied Thrushes seem almost abundant this winter at feeders and at the beach. I photographed a brilliant male foraging at Lowell Point Beach on Wednesday. The two Long-tailed Ducks and Common Loon were still there, along with the usual Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Mergansers, and Pelagic Cormorants.

 

It really warmed up by Friday resulting in snow and rain squalls. As previously reported, I found two more species: Rusty Blackbirds and Robins. Saturday’s weather was much worse with continual, hard squalls all the dark day.

 

Today let up and alternated heavy snowfall like a shaken snow globe with clear intervals. I scored a RED-NECKED GREBE at the SMIC boat basin with a raft of Surf Scoters. I was watching beautiful male RED CROSSBILLS at Ava’s when Robin C called. He reported seeing a Trumpeter Swan family with two cyngets at the Lagoon yesterday and a big surprise today.

 

I immediately left and drove to the Lagoon just in time to see my first ever SITKA BLACK-TAILED DEER in Seward. She was feeding on partially exposed vegetation along the shore. It’s amazing that deer are in Seward. After occasional reports over the years, at least two have recently been documented from Lowell Point to Tonsina Point, and one or two in town. In some photos, they look like yard ornaments. Crazy. 

 

Here's my list of 50 species since January 31, which does not include several species seen earlier:

Rusty Blackbird

Bufflehead

Brambling

Black-capped Chickadee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Pelagic Cormorant

Red Crossbill

White-winged Crossbill

American Crow

Harlequin Duck

Long-tailed Duck

Dunlin

Bald Eagle

Gadwall

Barrow’s Goldeneye

Common Goldeneye

Horned Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Pine Grosbeak

Pigeon Guillemot

Glaucous-winged Gull

Short-billed Gull

Great Blue Heron

Steller’s Jay

Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon, and Slate-colored

Common Loon

Pacific Loon

Yellow-billed Loon

Black-billed Magpie

Mallard

Common Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Marbled Murrelet

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Rock Pigeon

Common Raven

Common Redpoll

American Robin

Rock Sandpiper

Greater Scaup

Surf Scoter

White-winged Scoter

Pine Siskin

Fox Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Trumpeter Swan

Varied Thrush

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

 

 

Friday, February 9, 2024 Rusty Blackbirds, and Robins

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 8:54 am, sunset 5:32 pm for a total day length of 8 hours and 37 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 15 seconds longer.

 

Fickle February turned up the thermostat to 35º today and let the burdened clouds vacillate between snow, sn’rain, and rain. More mixed showers are in the forecast until Wednesday. The National Weather Service issued an avalanche warning for the Kenai Mountains and also roofs (!) due to recent heavy snowfall, strong winds, and unstable snow.

 

This dreary day perked up considerably when I heard the creaking and whistling of at least seven RUSTY BLACKBIRDS at a feeder hotspot on Second and Madison. They rummaged through the soggy snow, striding from one spot to the next, gleaning fallen birdseed while a few others serenaded from hidden perches in the trees. Hopping around with these rock stars were at least three VARIED THRUSHES, glowing like bright round pumpkins. 

 

A very short time later, I found another eight Rusty Blackbirds at a feeder on First Ave. At least 15 in all. Plus, another Varied Thrush and the usual PINE SISKIN and COMMON REDPOLL birdfeeder vacuums, DARK-EYED JUNCOS, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES, BLACK-CAPPED and CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES. Two ROBINS cautiously watched from the alders. 

 

I’m so glad these and all the other birds made it through the cold snap. Now they have to survive the cold winter rain.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Reporter

Friday, February 2, 2024 Last sunny day

Seward, Alaska

Clear, cold, and windy continued today with a low of minus four at 8 am and a high of plus four at 2:30 pm. The north wind still packed a punch with gusts to 27 mph. The forecast calls for temperatures rising from minus 4 to plus 19 by tomorrow evening and a chance of snow. The cold snap is over, hopefully.

 

The WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS flocked to Lowell Point beach this morning, a colorful bouquet of tropical colors. I noticed some used their pink tongues to pick up invisible-to-me items; maybe licking ice? Getting grit or small tidbits in the wrack? With such a specialized scissorbill, a tongue is an important tool.

 

A single WHITE-WINGED SCOTER hen popped up near Lowell Point Road. Unfortunately, the heat waves from the car distorted the images and I didn’t want to get out. A small avalanche partially blocked the road and I was glad to get past it.

 

Across the bay at Afognak Beach, I searched for TRUMPETER SWANS and found two adults far out in the north wind near an intertidal stream in the tidelands. An adult BALD EAGLE perched regally in a favorite spruce snag at the Point. A female BUFFLEHEAD took refuge in Afognak Pond with a napping drake MALLARD. Almost the whole beach was icy and slippery so after a while I gave up and drove to Fourth of July Beach.

 

The wind whipped around the shipyard, but 4 degrees almost felt warm, relatively. A raft of BARROW’S GOLDENEYES huddled in the lee of the breakwater. Four HARLEQUIN DUCKS dove just offshore accompanied by a GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL. Steam boiled and roiled down the bay.

 

North of the SMIC boat basin I found six SURF SCOTERS and a PELAGIC CORMORANT bobbing the waves.

 

The Seward Boat Harbor remained frozen at both ends with open water leads. I enjoyed photographing a small parade of unsuspecting Barrow’s Goldeneyes, a COMMON MERGANSER drake, and a red-eyed HORNED GREBE paddling past the dock below me.

 

The sun zipped behind the western mountains at 3 pm, casting the town into shadows. I thought the show was over and was on my way home when I spotted a fracas of RAVENS and BALD EAGLES circling around just south of the harbor by Scheffler Creek. 

Ten Eagles executed daring reconnaissance missions and then perched in a nearby cottonwood like Christmas ornaments. An immature Eagle, feathers comically askew, approached the crowd of Ravens hop-flying over an offering of food. Two more adults watched from a snow berm as the youngster paused, then made its move, scattering the crowd and scored on some calories. What a show! As the light seeped away, I backed out and drove home.

 

Despite the cold and wind, birding these past few days has been a joy, illuminated by that great spotlight sailing low across the sky.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Thursday, February 1, 2024 More cold, more wind, more birds

 Seward, Alaska

 

Sunny, but colder, and windier today with a low of minus 2, and a high of 5. A howling north wind at 20-30 mph flung streamers of snow off the mountains and flattened the steam from the bay before it could rise.

 

I chopped up a block of sunflower seed suet and spread it below my two sunflower seed feeders. It’s easier for the two VARIED THRUSHES and FOX SPARROW than the suet feeder cage. They got some and then a STELLER’S JAY (very efficient gobbler) polished it off quickly. I also spread some sand for grit and it either blew away or the birds ate it all up too.

 

At Lowell Point Beach parking lot, RED CROSSBILLS, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS, (including juveniles), COMMON REDPOLLS, and PINE SISKINS fluttered from one spruce bough to the next, grabbing the tiny seeds as fast as they could. I found more Crossbills and Common Redpolls eating sand? at the beach.  

 

A SHORT-BILLED GULL daintily picked at a few fish carcasses, mostly just bones, at the tideline. A GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL briefly harassed it but soon left. A RAVEN cautiously circled overhead, wanting it, but not with the paparazzi present. The best way to scatter Ravens is to point a lens at them. 

 

One of the RED-BREASTED MERGANSER hens patrolling the edge found some of the fish bones and tossed them down. It was perilous so close to the shore; she hammered through the surf like a pro.

 

Far out, I watched the pair of LONG-TAILED DUCKS paddle along, never far from each other. A very distant COMMON LOON preened and finally stretched. The head and nape seemed unusually dark, almost black. That is a puzzle. I wish it had been closer.

 

Dozens of MALLARDS rested in a shallow nook below Lowell Point Road, not really out of the wind, but in somewhat calmer water. Over by the Uplands, a handsome male GADWALL flew in towards shore and landed. Both BARROW’S and COMMON GOLDENEYES paddled offshore.

 

Robin C reported a BRAMBLING by Two Lakes Park. Though the feeder was in deep shadows, I was able to photograph it, and got a glimpse of a WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW among the Siskins, Juncos, and Redpolls.

 

I visited Ava’s again, hoping for another chance to photograph the banded Red Crossbill, but none appeared. A beautiful Steller’s Jay cleaned out the remains of the peanut butter in the log feeder; such efficient guzzlers! I added a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, and a pair of BALD EAGLES flying overhead to my list. The little birds buzzed back and forth between the trees, feeders, and snow, busily stocking up for the long, cold winter night.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter