Kenai Birding Festival

Today at 5:10 I noticed a long winged falcon fly by the Anchor River
estuary near the boat launch parking area.  Initially I noticed that it was
not a Merlin, too large and long winged, and not a Peregrine, too small
bodied and long winged and bodied.  It struck me as a Hobby which I
am familiar with from Japan.  About 5 min later it came back flying slowly
into the wind and relatively low to the marsh using relatively few wing
beats.  Two other birders (Brad M. and Wendy) arrived and were able to see
it at this point.  We had a distant view of it perched in some cottonwoods
on the bluff then good looks of it as it flew low to the river and out of
sight toward the mouth.   By this point its ID was clarified as a EURASIAN
HOBBY.  There are also a few Merlins in the area which fly on much shorter
wings with more rapid and frequent wing beats.  Other good field marks are
the light face with a thin black "moustacial" mark and white reaching well
behind toward the nape.  The under-tail coverts up toward the lower belly
were light rust in coloration.  The belly and chest were streaked looking
darker between the white chin and throat and rusty light under-tail.

Aaron Bowman

Good birding on the Kenai River flats this evening at high tide.  The birds were pushed into the marsh and the Hudsonain Godwits were putting on a good show.  Here is the species list for the night.

Greater White-fronted Goose 

Cackling Goose 

American Wigeon 

Mallard 

Northern Shoveler 

Northern Pintail 

Green-winged Teal 

Canvasback 

Common Goldeneye

Barrow's Goldeneye

Red-breasted Merganser 

Bald Eagle 

Sandhill Crane

Black-bellied Plover

Greater Yellowlegs Delete

2

Lesser Yellowlegs 

Whimbrel 

Hudsonian Godwit 

peep sp. 

Long-billed Dowitcher 

gull sp. 

Arctic Tern

Black-billed Magpie

Northwestern Crow

KACHEMAK BAY BIRD ALERT INFORMATION LINE
(235-PEEP)
May 9, 2013

The Shorebird Festival starts  today!  The following list  by area indicate birds seen in the last two days.

Anchor River: The evening of the 8th there were 3 WILLETS seen flying north.  This observation was made during Shorebird Monitoring and several people saw them.  This is a very rare bird here, not even on our Checklist of Birds of Kachemak Bay, although last year there were some seen near the Kenai River I was told.  Also at the Anchor River were SURFBIRD (8th report that it was singing, not just flight call!), YELLOW WARBLER near campground area, FOS warbler!  BLACK TURNSTONE (1), LEAST SANDPIPER (1), DUNLIN, WHIMBREL (48 seen on the 3rd), PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER (37 seen on the 5th). NORTHERN KINGFISHER, AMERICAN PIITS, EURASIAN WIGEON, GLAUCOUS GULLS, HERRING GULLS.

Mud Bay:  BAR-TAILED GODWIT (1), MARBLED GODWIT (3), AND PEREGRIN FALCON seen on the 6th. More recently, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERS, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERS,  WHIMBREL, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER,  LEAST SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN.

Mariner Park Lagoon: TRUMPETER SWANS, no nesting Cranes (yet); possible connection ??

Mariner Beach: RUDDY TURNSTONE, WHIMBREL, SURFBIRDS (40).

Louie's Lagoon/Green Timbers:  WHIMBREL, DUNLIN, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER.  PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BRANT (31),  RUDDY TURNSTONE seen on the 5th. 

Barge Basin: YELLOW-BILLED LOON, COMMON LOON.

Harbor: SURFBIRDS on the jetty, WANDERING TATTLER by the Harbor, MERLIN.

Out in the Bay/Cohen Is., etc.:  SURFBIRDS, BLACK OYSTERCATCHER, PIGEON GUILLEMOT, MARBLED and KITTLITZ'S MURRETLETS.

Beluga Slough: WHIMBREL, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, RUDDY TURNSTONE, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, DUNLIN, DOWITCHER sp., SANDHILL CRANES, far fewer numbers of geese --GREATER WHITE-FRONTED, CACKLING/CANADA.  AMERICAN PIPITS in the area just below Beluga Lodge.  There was another sighting on the 8th of the COMMON (or EURASIAN) TEAL in Beluga Slough. Note: this is a subspecies of the GREEN-WINGED TEAL, not a species itself, as previously reported.

Downtown Homer: RED CROSSBILLS seen on the Calhoon Trail on the 3rd and  on Mainstreet. Previously seen out Skyline Rd.

Please report Sandhill Crane sightings to Kachemak Crane Watch at 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org.

 
 IT'S  A GREAT DAY TO BIRD!! And a Great Time for a Shorebird Festival, too!!

Last night, May 8th, we had one Short-eared Owl, two Northern Harriers, a lone Eurasian Wigeon drake, and five Pacific Golden Plovers from Bowpicker and Seacatch as well as four Canvasbacks, and other diving ducks, out on the river. As the tide dropped there were large numbers of shorebirds on the river banks and mudbars. Whimbrels, Hudsonian Godwits, Black-bellied Plovers, and both dowitchers were especially plentiful there.

tidelands highlights:
Monday May 6: 1 FOS female CANVASBACK
Tuesday May 7: 6 RING-NECKED DUCKS, female CANVASBACK, 5 WHIMBRELS, 4 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS, 10 LAPLAND LONGSPURS.
1 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET in my yard in town

Wednesday, May 8: 1 FOS DUNLIN in breeding plumage, 1 FOS WESTERN SANDPIPER,
5 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 6 GREATER SCAUP, female CANVASBACK, RING-NECKED DUCKS
Robin C reported 1 FOS WANDERING TATTLER south of harbor uplands

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

Tonight at just pass high tide, which moves the shorebirds inland, off Boat Launch Road in Kenai there were at least 7 Hudsonian Godwits, a number of long billed dowitchers, numerous waterfowl, and the ever present eagles that get the birds up.  Was a great night for seeing Godwits close to the road with good light.

We saw one Northern Harrier on the Flats today and Northern Goshawks (adult and immature birds) have been straffing the waterfowl in the pond at Bowpicker and Seacatch by Inlet Seafoods. We had a Perigrine Falcon on the Flats five days ago but non since. The Golden Eagle observed the other evening was an adult, from Boat Launch Road. 

Seward Alaska Sporadic Bird Report

Sunrise 5:42 am, sunset 10:07 pm, length of day 16 hours, 24 minutes. Tomorrow will be 5 minutes and 6 seconds longer.

More migratory birds arrived this weekend despite yesterday's chilly north wind and hard, cold rain. Today remained mostly cloudy but the mid-40 temps and the calm made birding at the head of the bay very enjoyable.

The large flock of about 40 GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE was still here. I noticed a few GWF geese with a plain gray belly. The National Geographic Field Guide notes that immature birds acquire the white band above the orangish bill during their first winter, and get their black belly speckling by the second fall. These birds are on their first migration back north. If they are not yet adults, I wonder why they undertake such a long journey? Maybe they are imprinting the route and the mission with their families and will help defend the nesting grounds. Geese make excellent watch guards!

The number of CACKLING GEESE, identified by their small bills and short necks increased to about a dozen, intermixed amicably with the other geese.

A carefree, loose dog made them all stop momentarily and some flew, but most stayed put, watching. The oblivious owners managed to get the dog back, and ravenous and wary, the geese resumed eating sedges and other submergent vegetation. 

"Tew, tew, tew! Riddley-riddley-riddley!" Two GREATER YELLOWLEGS flew across the wetlands to land, then jerked their long necks backwards in a move that would make a chiropractor wince. The still water made a mirror reflection as one bird strode across the shallow water on its long yellow legs. The black spots and bars on the white body are impressive, but when the bird stretched its wings wide, I saw a masterpiece! Perfectly placed large white brush strokes decorated the edges of the darker feathers, and smaller white triangles edged the brown primaries and secondaries. The show was over in a second, but I was pleased to capture the art with my camera.

A dark shorebird with a long bill disappeared around a sedge tussock. I waited and two reappeared. First-of-Season DOWITCHERS! The warm reddish brown belly had no white, and the shoulder feathers were boldly outlined in white, identifying them as LONG-BILLED DOWITCHERS. They walked around on their dark legs, poking, probing, and gobbling edibles with their long tweezer bills. Something spooked them and four flew across the water, a long white patch on their back flashing open and shut.

Several male PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVERS poked around the slightly drier areas, occasionally chasing one another away. Like all plovers, they exhibited their characteristic stop-start behavior, moving rapidly, then pausing to listen and look (and pose.)  The gold, black, and white flecking on the back is another stunning abstract pattern made by Nature's finest brush. A white b*** from the forehead to the tail separates it from the anchoring black belly. What a showy bird!  

In the distance, too far to get a decent image, I found a male BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER. This large plover is a study in black and white, with a handsome white crown fit for a king balanced by a jet black face down to its belly, then white again. The back is sprinkled in black and white patterns.

I wish these beautiful plovers would stay, but they are headed to the high arctic and western Alaska to breed with many miles to go. 

Suddenly, I heard high peeping and stopped like a plover to search. There, not far ahead of me on the tideflats were the First-of-Season SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS.  How nice to see them back! This pair might be residents as some do stay to nest.

I happened to look up and saw five BALD EAGLES circling in a late afternoon thermal. Then I saw a few more higher up, and then a few more specks even higher. The more I looked, the more materialized like magic! There were FOURTEEN eagles spiraling upwards with a few MEW GULLS and RAVENS mixed in to harass them. I imagine as they looked down, they saw a smorgasbord of gulls, ducks, geese, and even the TRUMPETER SWAN, fattening up. But maybe they weren't hungry and were just enjoying the incredible view and the freedom of soaring on those giant broad wings.

Happy Birding!

Carol Griswold

Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter

for photos please visit my blog at

http://sporadicbird.blogspot.com/

Connie and I found a killdeer on the gravel bar below the Warren Ames Bridge over the Kenai River (river mile 5).  The bird was on the upstream end of the gravel bar along with whimbrels, dunlin, and yellowlegs.  It was a long shot with my small camera but I did get two really poor pictures of it.  

 Toby and Laura Burke observed the bird.  They also had found a golden eagle on the Kenai Flats which is rare for our area.