Thursday, May 2, 2024 Godwits, Dowitchers, Pectoral Sandpiper, etc!

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 5:51 am, sunset 10:00 pm, for a total day length of 16 hours and 8 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 10 seconds longer.

 

Light rain most of the day with an overnight low of 33 and a high of 41, mostly calm. More rain/showers in the forecast through Sunday and temps dipping below freezing next week with a chance of snow. Sheesh! Cold spring!

 

Nonetheless, it’s an exciting time to watch the return of breeding residents, and the influx of migratory birds, perhaps influenced by the squally weather to feed here rather than push north. 

 

Flocks of CACKLING GEESE and GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE gobbled sedges and grit, rising in noisy protest when riled by BALD EAGLES. Tasha reported 8 Tule, a larger, darker GWFG subspecies. 

NORTHERN SHOVELERS, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAILS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL covered the pond.

 

At least 15 HUDSONIAN GODWITS plunged their long bills into the shallows of the estuary pond, surrounded by dozens of SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS. Long-billed dowitchers were also reported and 8 Bar-tailed Godwits. I found a single PECTORAL SANDPIPER working in the shallows.

 

A shimmer of LEAST and WESTERN SANDPIPERS flashed around the area, landing briefly to forage then zipped away. A flock of about 20 DUNLIN flew between the pond and tidelands, black bellies now prominent. 

 

Five BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS, not quite in breeding plumage, worked the tidelands.

 

13 GREATER YELLOWLEGS called stridently and circled the pond. One Lesser Yellowlegs was reported. Yesterday, 37 WHIMBRELS flew overhead, creating a pattern reminiscent of a MC Escher tessellation. 

 

WILSON’S SNIPE winnowed high in the sky. A female NORTHERN HARRIER hunted from the upper fields to the beach, circling the area.

Courting ARCTIC TERNS paraded around with tiny fish for their ladies. Two BONAPARTE’S GULLS growled. SHORT-BILLED GULLS defended their nesting sites from pesky RAVENS. 

 

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and a single FOX SPARROW sang from the adjacent woods.

 

Exciting and challenging times indeed, trying to identify these beautiful transient visitors. 

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Tuesday, April 23, 2024 Terns! Canada Geese! Ring-necked Ducks!

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 6:16 am, sunset 9:37 pm, for a total day length of 15 hours and 21 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 20 seconds longer.

 

Overnight low of 33, cloudy with sprinkles and a north wind in the morning, warming up to 42º and mostly sunny by afternoon. 

 

More flocks of SANDHILL CRANES heard last night and seen today, purposefully heading north or circling with indecision. What a wonderful sound!

 

“Chip! Chip!” from about ten graceful ARCTIC TERNS fishing, courting, squabbling, and checking out nesting sites. They seem well-fed and energetic, especially for such long-distance migrants.

 

Two newly arrived CANADA GEESE ripped into the sedges with about 25 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, possibly the same flock from last week. 

Also FOS, several pairs of NORTHERN SHOVELERS, joining MALLARDS, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, and NORTHERN PINTAILS.

 

Four GREATER YELLOWLEGS called stridently, flying across the estuary to feeding spots. At least one LAPLAND LONGSPUR dashed through the high grasses. Only one NORTHERN HARRIER spotted, briefly.

 

The totally open waters of Preacher Pond at Mile 3 Seward Highway hosted 7 napping RING-NECKED DUCKS including one hen, a pair of BARROW’S GOLDENEYES, two pairs of GREEN-WINGED TEAL, several COMMON GOLDENEYES, and two TRUMPETER SWANS.

 

Crocuses are in bloom, daffodils and rhubarb poke their tender shoots through the recently thawed dirt. Willows wave their flowers in anticipation of insect pollinators and warblers. Joy is in the air!

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

PS At 10:25 pm, a SAW-WHET OWL close by on Little Bear Mt burst into a flurry of beeping, overlapping with a scolding ROBIN in a cottonwood. The Owl stopped as abruptly as it started.

 

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 Cranes!

Seward, Alaska

 

Sunrise 6:33 am, sunset 9:22 pm, for a total day length of 14 hours and 48 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 24 seconds longer.

 

April weather has been mostly abysmal, cold, snowy, wet and windy just like winter but with more daylight. Even the few sunny days were cold and windy. Temps today ranged from an overnight low of 26 with a high of 38, wind ESE 3-15 mph with gusts to 35, and a chance of snow showers. There is hope for slightly warmer temps this week, and more rain to melt away the remaining considerable amount of snow.

 

On my walk around the block last night in the dusky-dark tail end of civil twilight at 10 pm, I heard a familiar bugling cry that stopped me dead in my tracks. Scanning through the scudding clouds, I finally found a magnificent, lop-sided V of about 200 SANDHILL CRANES, flying high along the mountains, heading north. They didn’t vocalize much, just a “Keep going?”, “Roger that!” but even the brief conversations sent a thrill through me. Spring on the wings of Cranes!

 

Many ducks arrived overnight as well. The mostly thawed pond at the head of the bay and tidelands were teeming with hungry MALLARDS, NORTHERN PINTAILS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, GADWALL, and AMERICAN WIGEON. Three strikingly handsome drake EURASIAN WIGEON with dark rufous heads and buffy foreheads paddled about, possibly with their hens, but it was hard to differentiate them from the Americans.

 

Two WILSON’S SNIPE flushed from the sodden vegetation, perfectly camouflaged, and dashed away with surprising speed into the distance.

 

A female NORTHERN HARRIER hunted for voles; yesterday I watched a male and female flying a circuit around the snow-free fields.

 

A RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD was reported today at Mile 7. I washed my hummer feeder and made a batch of sugar water: 2 cups boiled water plus ½ cup granulated sugar, no food coloring. As soon as it’s cool, I’ll swap out the sunflower seed feeder. 

 

Though the RED CROSSBILLS, occasional WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, and loads of PINE SISKINS have been feeding voraciously, the action seems to finally be tapering off today. It’s time to clean up the mess of hulls and lost seeds before the bears emerge, and focus on Spring.

 

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold 

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter