Kenai Birding Festival

I just posted a few photos of the NORTHERN HORNED LARK that was spotted at the Anchor River on Sunday May 12 during the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.

Please visit my blog at < http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com/>

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com/

Last night at 7 PM I made a quick stop at the Wildlife Viewing Platform and had a great show of birds.  There were hudsonian godwits, western sandpipers, pectoral sandpipers, both dowitcher species, and the usual waterfowl and gulls.  In the small pond next to the road there were over 300 birds in the pond feeding.  

Anchor Point--Anchor River Mouth (Kenai Penin.), Kenai Peninsula, US-AK
May 13, 2013 6:45 PM - 8:45 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments:     2013 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project
Session #7

WOW!

On Monday, May 13th the Kachemak Bay Birders had its seventh shorebird
monitoring session for this season.  A total of 21volunteers made
observations for two hours (6:45 pm ¿ 8:45 pm) at four sites on the Homer
Spit, nearby Beluga Slough, the Islands and Islets on the south side of
Kachemak, Bay, and the Anchor Point/River.  Sites on the Spit include Mud
Bay, Mariner Park Lagoon, Mid-Spit (Green Timbers and Louie¿s Lagoon) and
the Outer Spit (fishing hole and the boat harbor area).

This year¿s spring migration was slow in starting but is making up for lost
time.  This was a banner monitoring session.  Last session (May 8th) we saw
14 shorebird species (less the Willet) and 306 individual birds.  This
session (May 13th) we saw 20 shorebird species and a total of 10,519
individual birds, give or take a few.  What a difference a spring makes -
now that it really is here.  We saw more shorebirds this session than we did
our entire first year of monitoring in 2009 when we reported only 7,406
individual shorebirds (which didn¿t include the Anchor River site).  Are
shorebird populations on the rebound?

To add to this, we have another possible rare bird alert.  Our experienced
team of Anchor River birders were stumped by a plover which they concluded
might be a European Golden-Plover.  The University of Alaska Museum
Checklist of Alaska Birds for 2013 considers the European Golden-Plover an
¿Accidental¿ meaning that there are one or two Alaska records.  We are only
mentioning that this might be a possibility and birders who visit the Anchor
River might be on the lookout in *** to provide further documentation, or
lack thereof.  Michael Craig will be writing up a description of what they
saw which will be attached as a comment to our eBird submission.  If the
observation is not accepted in review, it will be withdrawn.

The weather during monitoring was stable.  Conditions, based on the Homer
Airport (http://w1.weather.gov/obhistory/PAHO.html), were as follows.  At
6:53 pm skies were overcast with scattered showers in the area and the
temperature was 43°.  The wind was from the SW at 8 mph and the barometric
pressure read 29.45 inches.  At 8:53 pm conditions were still cloudy and the
temperature remained 43°.  The SW wind was at 5 mph and the barometric
pressure stayed at 29.45 inches.

The big news is the arrival of our first big pulse of sandpipers.  Our
previous session on Wednesday observed only about 190 shorebirds in the
Calidris genus.  This session on Monday counted over 10,000 sandpipers.
Fortunately, most of them arrived on Friday afternoon (approximately 5,000
Westerns and Dunlin at Mud Bay) just in time for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird
Festival.  While daily counts seem to indicate some leaving the area, it is
obvious that more have arrived.  In fact, on a trip out to the Spit on
Tuesday night I saw 10,000-15,000 sandpipers just in Mud Bay including about
90% Western¿s, about 10% Dunlin, as well as about 100 Dowitchers.  Another
birder there agreed with the count.  It was a spectacular sight as huge
flocks would take to the air, twist and turn, flashing brown and white, and
then land on the beach again.  At one point, two flocks of thousands of
birds flew right into each other in what looked like a major head-on.  But
miraculously, they all came out the other side.  Obviously, the birds don¿t
need FAA controllers.


17 species (+3 other taxa)

Black-bellied Plover  6

European Golden-Plover  1     Location:  The bird was viewed from the
parking lot adjacent to the beach tractor launch facilities near the mouth
of the Anchor River.  The bird was resting at the edge of a small pond in
the marshy area, surrounded by dead grass.

Date and Time:  Monday, May 13, 2013 at approximately 1730 hours.

Light and Weather Conditions:  Partial overcast with good sunlight from over
our right shoulders as we observed the bird.

Movements of the Bird:  It was first observed sitting beside a pond at
approximately 200 yards distance.  After being observed at this location for
nearly 10 minutes, it moved to a location less than half that distance from
the viewers.  It remained in this location for some time, finally flying off
as one observer was preparing to photograph the bird.

Observers Present:  Michelle Michaud, who first noticed the bird and who
first suggested the identification, Lori Paulsrud, Eric Paulsrud, Michael
Craig, and 2 non-identified out of area birders.

Optics:  All 6 observers had high quality binoculars and there were 4
spotting scopes being shared, 3 of those being 80mm scopes and at least 2 of
them HD models with different power settings.

Description:  At first look, the bird appeared to be a Pacific Golden Plover
(PGP).  We had recorded a number of PGP over the course of our ongoing
shorebird monitoring program in this general location.  The first field mark
that was significantly different was the very narrow black line that
separated the white areas on either side of the neck and upper breast.  In
the case of the PGP as well as the Black Bellied Plover (BBP) and the
American Golden Plover (AGP), this central black marking is nearly the full
width of the neck.  This was only the width of a common pencil for possibly
2 inches.  The second diagnostic mark was the facial pattern.  Though the
bird was in breeding plumage (or very close to full breeding plumage), the
face was not black as would be expected in the other 3 species.  It was
dark, but appeared to have a golden wash to it, similar to the plumage on
its back.  The white line over the eye extended down the side of the neck,
beside the black breast/belly spot to the under tail coverts.  This would
exclude the AGP from consideration.  With the decidedly golden back, this
excluded the BBP from consideration.  Based on these 3 conditions (thin
black central line down neck/breast, white extending all the way back to
under tail coverts, and the facial coloration), we believe that we were
viewing a European (also known as Eurasian) Golden Plover.

References Used:  National Geographic ¿Field Guide to the Birds of North
America¿ in several editions, ¿Shorebirds an identification Guide¿ by
Hayman, Marchant, and Prater 1986 and the ¿Sibley Guide to the Birds.¿  Of
all of the various paintings in these books, the images identified as on
Plate 31, particularly 81b and the unidentified face on view in the book by
HM&P most closely resemble the specimen we saw.

We hope that this is adequate to at least suggest that others should be on
the lookout for this bird and to possibly bring to being an accepted
sighting.

Pacific Golden-Plover  5
Semipalmated Plover  4
plover sp.  15     Species uncertain
Greater Yellowlegs  4
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Whimbrel  21
Ruddy Turnstone  1
Black Turnstone  2
Semipalmated Sandpiper  5
Western Sandpiper  179
Least Sandpiper  5
peep sp.  500     Mostly Western Sandpipers
Pectoral Sandpiper  3
Dunlin  40
Short-billed Dowitcher  4
Long-billed Dowitcher  3
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher  13     Species uncertain
Wilson's Snipe  1

View this checklist *** at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14121798

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (/content/iss)

As part of the 8th Annual Kenai Birding Festival (May 16-19) a 24 Hour Big Sit will be held from 0600 Saturday morning through 0600 Sunday morning at the Wildlife Viewing Platform on Boat Launch Road overlooking the Kenai Flats. Currently, we have "sitters" scheduled for 20 of the 24 hours. We are still looking for a sitter or sitters to cover the remaining 4 hours, Saturday 2000 to 0000 (8 PM to midnight). The forecast for this period is for cold, breezy, raw weather so this is not for the faint of heart (i.e. wuss-bunny birders need not apply - you know who you are). Interested parties please contact me.

2013 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project

Session #7

WOW!    

On Monday, May 13th the Kachemak Bay Birders had its seventh shorebird monitoring session for this season.  A total of 20 volunteers made observations for two hours (6:45 pm – 8:45 pm) at four sites on the Homer Spit, nearby Beluga Slough, the Islands and Islets on the south side of Kachemak, Bay, and the Anchor Point/River.  Sites on the Spit include Mud Bay, Mariner Park Lagoon, Mid-Spit (Green Timbers and Louie’s Lagoon) and the Outer Spit (fishing hole and the boat harbor area).  

This year’s spring migration was slow in starting but is making up for lost time.  This was a banner monitoring session.  Last session (May 8th) we saw 14 shorebird species (less the Willet) and 306 individual birds.  This session (May 13th) we saw 20 shorebird species and a total of 10,519 individual birds, give or take a few.  What a difference a spring makes - now that it really is here.  We saw more shorebirds this session than we did our entire first year of monitoring in 2009 when we reported only 7,406 individual shorebirds (which didn’t include the Anchor River site).  Are shorebird populations on the rebound?      

To add to this, we have another possible rare bird alert.  Our experienced team of Anchor River birders were stumped by a plover which they concluded might be a European Golden-Plover.  The University of Alaska Museum Checklist of Alaska Birds for 2013 considers the European Golden-Plover an “Accidental” meaning that there are one or two Alaska records.  We are only mentioning that this might be a possibility and birders who visit the Anchor River might be on the lookout in *** to provide further documentation, or lack thereof.  Michael Craig will be writing up a description of what they saw which will be attached as a comment to our eBird submission.  If the observation is not accepted in review, it will be withdrawn.

The weather during monitoring was stable.  Conditions, based on the Homer Airport (http://w1.weather.gov/obhistory/PAHO.html), were as follows.  At 6:53 pm skies were overcast with scattered showers in the area and the temperature was 43°.  The wind was from the SW at 8 mph and the barometric pressure read 29.45 inches.  At 8:53 pm conditions were still cloudy and the temperature remained 43°.  The SW wind was at 5 mph and the barometric pressure stayed at 29.45 inches.  

Here is a summary of shorebird observations followed by all other birds.

Golden and black-bellied plovers seem to have moved on.  Some Pacific Golden Plovers were seen in the grass at Mid-Spit (18) and the Anchor River (5).   A few Black-bellied Plovers were seen at Mud Bay (4) and the Anchor River (6).  But more Semipalmated Plovers, which breed locally, were seen including Mud Bay (2), Mariner Park Lagoon (8), Mid-Spit (23), Beluga Slough (3), and Anchor River (4).    

Black Oystercatchers (2) were seen at Gull Island. 

Yellowleg counts are also declining.  Greater Yellowlegs were seen at Mud Bay (1), Beluga Slough (1), and the Anchor River (4). Lesser Yellowlegs were at Mariner Park Lagoon (1), Beluga Slough (1), and Anchor River (2).  

Whimbrel were seen at Mid-Spit (11) and Anchor River (21).    

A group of Wandering Tattler (24) were seen at the boat harbor and Gull Island (1).  Surfbirds, as usual, were at the entrance to the boat harbor (75) and Lancashire Rocks (80).    Black Turnstone showed up at Gull Island (1), Lancashire Rock (3), and Anchor River (2).  Ruddy Turnstone were seen at Mid-Spit (2) and Anchor River (1).  

Hudsonian Godwit were seen only at Beluga Slough (3).  

The big news is the arrival of our first big pulse of sandpipers.  Our previous session on Wednesday observed only about 190 shorebirds in the Calidris genus.  This session on Monday counted over 10,000.  Fortunately, most of them arrived on Friday afternoon, just in time for the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.  While daily counts seem to indicate some leaving the area, it is obvious that more have arrived.  In fact, on a trip out to the Spit on Tuesday night I saw 10,000-15,000 sandpipers just in Mud Bay including about 90% Western’s, about 10% Dunlin, as well as some Dowitchers.  Another birder there agreed with the count.  It was a spectacular sight as huge flocks would take to the air, twist and turn, flashing brown and white, and then land on the beach again.  At one point, two flocks of thousands of birds flew right into each other in what looked like a major head-on.  But miraculously, they all came out the other side.  Obviously, the birds don’t need FAA controllers.    

The details for sandpipers are as follows: Western Sandpipers were at Mud Bay (3,504), Mariner Park Lagoon (2), Mid-Spit (1,510), the boat harbor (6), Beluga Slough (232), and the Anchor River (179).  Dunlin were at Mud Bay (1,500), Mid-Spit (149), Beluga Slough (9), and Anchor River (+40).  In addition there were lots of “peeps” including Mid-Spit (+5,000), boat harbor (50), Beluga Slough (16), and Anchor River (500).  The peeps were about 90% Western Sandpipers and 10% Dunlin.  Other sandpipers include Least Sandpiper at Mariner Park Lagoon ( 36), Mid-Spit (6), Beluga Slough (6), and Anchor River (5).   Semipalmated Sandpiper (5) was seen at Anchor River (5).  Pectoral Sandpiper were at Mud Bay (1), and Anchor River (3).  Rock Sandpiper (2) were seen on Lancashire Rock.

Mixed in with the big flocks of sandpipers were a lot of Dowitchers.  Most observers didn’t venture to determine whether the birds were short or long-billed and just lumped their sightings by recording Dowitcher sp. ; Mud Bay (119), Mariner Park Lagoon (10), Mid-Spit (4), Beluga Slough (22), and Anchor River (13).  However, some observations were more specific with Short-billed Dowitchers at Mariner Park Lagoon (4), and Anchor River (4).  Long-billed Dowitchers were seen and photographed at Mariner Park Lagoon (19) and reported at Anchor River (3).  

There was just 1 Wilson’s Snipe at Anchor River.

Other bird observations, by site, are as follows:

Mariner Park Lagoon: 

Green-winged Teal – 14

Northern Shoveler – 18

Bald Eagle – 4

Sandhill Crane - 2

Mid-Spit: 

Lapland Longspur - 2

Bonaparte’s Gull - 1 

Common Murre - x

Outer Spit:

Black-legged Kittiwake - x

Common Loon – 2

Bald Eagle – x

Herring Gull - 2

Rock Pigeon – 2

Common Murre – 5,000

Pelagic Cormorant – 8

Red-breasted Merganser – 6

Pigeon Guillemot - 2

Lapland Longspur - 1

Savanna Sparrow – 3

Song Sparrow – 1

Beluga Slough:

Greater White-fronted Goose - 40

Cackling Goose – 18 

Northern Pintail - 5 

Green-winged Teal – 37

American Widgeon – 34

Eurasian Widgeon - 1

Northern Shoveler – 7

Mallard – 6

Common Loon – 2 on bay

Harlequin – 2 on bay

Common Murre – x on bay

Sandhill Crane - 7

Mew Gull – 30

Glaucous-winged Gull - 4

Bald Eagle – seen eating a duck

Peregrine Falcon – seen catching a sandpiper in the air 

Merlin – 1 heard

Ring-necked Pheasant -1

Lapland Longspur -1 

Next report in 5 days.  Keep on birding.

George Matz

Today around noon the Wildlife Birding platform on Boat Launch Road had daowithchers, peeps, gulls, waterfowl, geese, and even a sparrow.  

Over on Cannery Road the pond and adjacent wetlands had 3 Hudsonian godwits plus the above.  

These spots are really tide dependent.  Just an hour earlier it was bleak without a lot of birds and one hour latter it was great birding with the birds very close to the road.  So if at first one does not see much come back in an hour and try again.

Ken

Yesterday afternoon, on the low tide a friend and I walked 3 miles north from the Captain Cook beach access.  Didn't see much until we were a mile up the beach.  

Scattered along the mud flat,  feeding were:  20-30 Bonaparte's Gulls, a dozen Arctic Terns, 25-30 Whimbrel, 2 Yellow Legs, and 3 smaller light colored peeps. Later, near the mud a flock of 14 Surf Scotors drifted at rest on the incoming tide. There were also larger gulls on the mud.  Up the beach 2 eagles sitting in trees.

When we arrived at our turn around point we heard a loud wail in the distance.  After scanning the water with binoculars we saw it was a lone Common Loon calling its mate. They did get back together after quite a bit of wailing.

Shorebirds are building at the north bank of the Kasilof River.  Today at 4PM there were 5,000 or more shorebirds on the mudflats.  High tide was around 7PM but at 4:45 PM the birds were moving off the flats so one needs to be there 3 hours before high tide.  Birds present today were black bellied plovers, whimbrels, hudsonian godwits, dunlin, peeps, dowitchers, and various waterfowl.  Also red breasted mergansers in the river.

Seward Alaska Sporadic Bird Report

Thanks to a call from Robin C, and help from Jim H, I was able to photograph the female MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD that Robin spotted this afternoon at the beach near the old railroad car at Lowell Point.

The mostly gray bird, with a flash of blue on her wings, perched on top of lookouts including driftwood, posts, and short spruce tips, looking for insects (flies?) on the ground. After a thorough search, she quickly flew down and disappeared behind the dead beach rye grass for a moment while she ate. She soon reappeared to return to the same perch or another one close by, working her way along the beach.

I last photographed a Mountain Bluebird in Seward on December 25, 2004 through January 6, 2005. It's great to host one again!

If you come, please be alert for heavy dump truck traffic on Lowell Point Road and at the Point. CAUTION: there are several places along Lowell Point Road where rather alarmingly large rocks are scattered on the roadway; be alert to more rocks falling from the unstable steep slopes.

When you reach the Point, turn left at the Silver Salmon Derby Campground sign (just before the sewage lagoon) and drive slowly until you see the historic gold and blue railroad car. Park well off the road. Beach Drive is under construction just around the corner, parallel to the beach, and is closed except for all those dump trucks and heavy machinery. Good luck and safe travels!

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

for a few photos, please visit <http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com>
http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com/