Kenai Birding Festival

I floated on the Kasilof River today starting at the boat launch at Tustemena and getting out at the Kasilof bridge. I saw a lot of birds: terns, golden eye, loon, eagles, magpies, double-crested cormorant, common raven, harlequin duck, swallows, kingfisher, yellowlegs, american wigeon, gray jays, canada geese. We also had a beaver swim alongside of us and I saw the rump of a bear running up the bank into tall grass. 

Max, who is 11 months old and now has glasses, saw the first bird of his life this weekend. There was a family group of Gray Jays in the yard.  Max was looking toward them, and turned his head and followed the flight of one juvenile Gray Jay as it flew off.  Yay!!

The kids have had colds, so we stuck close to home this weekend.  On Saturday we hiked around the boggy area b***ed by woods near our home, and managed to come up with just over 40 species.

We had 5 species of warblers: Orange-crowned, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Blackpoll, and Wilson's.

5 species of shorebirds: Semipalmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater Yellowledgs, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Wilson's Snipe.

3 species of swallows:Tree, Violet-green, and Bank.

On Friday at Spenard's Hardware parking lot justs yards away from the Refuge boundry I observed two Canada Geese and their five downy goslings. The Canada Geese appered to be of the parvipes race.

On Friday I stopped at Big John's gas station outside of Soldotna to see how the resident Cliff Swallows were doing. Instead of the usual 8 to 10 active nests under the canopy sheltering the gas pumps there were only 3.

I found the Parasitic jaeger in the normal location next to the Warren Ames Bridge yesterday.  The bird is on the north side of the river and typically seen on the bare ground.  To locate it park adjacent to the Kenai River sign about 100 feet or so from the Bridge on the north side and look out to the west.  Then scan the whole area.  The bird has been about 100 yards out from the road most of the time but I have seen it further out.

I received this from Akbirding.

This morning I went out with Karl Stoltzfus of Bay Excursions, http://www.bayexcursions.com/ searching for the Long-billed Murrelet seen by Karl last Saturday. We saw about 100 MARBLED and two KITTLITZ'S MURRELETS, alas no Long-billed. In Mud Bay and along the north side of the bay we had 4 YELLOW-BILLED LOONS, all young of last year, three adult PACIFIC LOONS, and three COMMON LOONS. Amongst the ducks were a flock of a hundred WHITE-WNGED SCOTERS, two individual SURF SCOTERS, a HARLEQUIN DUCK and a BARROW'S GOLDENEYE near Glacier Spit. In addition to the breeding PELAGIC and RED-FACED CORMORANTS, a DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT was roosting on Gull Island.

It's anybody's guess whether the Long-billed Murrelet is still around -- certainly easy to miss this kind of bird. Thank-you to Karl for communicating this rare sighting and for a great morning on the water

Seward, Alaska Sporadic Bird Report

Friday, June 10, 2011

It's hard to keep up with the Seward Nature Channel! It's on 24/7 with exciting action from the ocean to the mountaintops and beyond. All you need to do is get outside and tune in.

The first episode I was able to catch this morning featured a FOX SPARROW scratching furiously in the dirt, bouncing as he worked industriously. That chore done, he flew to the cable line to sing his cheerful song and answer a neighboring Fox Sparrow. His foxy reddish back and tail explained his name. I spied a red squirrel in the background, totally immobile on the branch and hoping I wouldn't notice it. Baby squirrels are probably nearby in their secret nest, their eyes about to open. Watch out, baby birds!

Next I tuned into the ocean and cruised the beach looking beyond the innumerable RVS for the humpback whales that were reported in the bay yesterday. No luck, but it's nice to know these mammoth mammals are around. Down at the beach south of the harbor uplands, a PIGEON GUILLEMOT repeatedly dove close to shore catching several long skinny fish, possibly gunnels. It was tricky to get the fish down, and required much whapping and submerging of dinner before it could be successfully swallowed. I wondered how it must feel to eat a thrashing, unwilling fish, wiggling all the way down. Oooo! Maybe that's why the pigeon guillemot paused after swallowing, to follow dinner's progress. Three MARBLED MURRELETS paddled and dove just beyond. It's great to see these ocean birds from the beach.

How wonderful to have Kenai Fjords National Park so close! A short time later I opened my car door at the Exit Glacier parking lot and immediately heard the exciting, spiraling song of a SWAINSON'S THRUSH, high in a tree, answering a more distant rival. This is the only woodland thrush whose lovely, complex song goes up in pitch. In Nature, the journey is the destination, not the advertised features. All those people hurrying to see the glacier missed a fabulous bird that flew all the way from as far as Argentina to be here.

ROBINS and HERMIT THRUSHES sang sweetly close by, a VARIED THRUSH whistled farther away. Then I heard the other thrush I was hoping for: the GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH. He was singing high in the cottonwoods, hidden by their green leaves. I did see a thrush hopping on the ground, but not well enough to get a photo. It is quite likely that this far north species nests here, in brushy willow-alder thickets and low spruce trees with dense undergrowth. Its natural history and ecology is not well known, but it flies thousands of miles to overwinter in South America from Columbia and Venezuela south to Peru and Brazil. 

Other bright tropical visitors serenaded along the trail: YELLOW WARBLERS, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, and WILSON'S WARBLERS. COMMON REDPOLLS blew their little raspberry calls as they swooped overhead. I found a redpoll nest in a small willow tree, the mom's little red cap giving her away as she kept her precious family warm and dry.

What a special natural area, and that's not even mentioning the walk-up glacier and big wildlife!

The next nature episode was just a short ways away at the Resurrection River trailhead. A sign on the trailhead bulletin board warned that a brown bear had charged a hiker on June 7th, just a quarter mile in. Yikes! Be careful! But just in the parking lot, I heard a PACIFIC WREN'S mile-long song, the impossibly loud song of the tiny RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET'S "see, see see? you you you! look at me, look at me, look at me!", the rapid trill of an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, and the sewing machine song of a WILSON'S WARBLER.

It is impossible to absorb all of Nature's gifts of beauty and understanding on her 24/7 show. But the more you look and listen, the more she will share with you. Just now, from the comfort of my chair, I saw a CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE flit from one spruce branch to another with a beak full of tiny caterpillars for his babies. The action rolls on!

Stay tuned to YOUR area and.
Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report reporter

This in from Carol.

Seward, Alaska Sporadic Bird Report

Thursday, June 8, 2011

Sunrise 4:36 am, sunset 11:18 pm, length of day 18 hours, 42 minutes. Tomorrow will be   2 minutes and 0 seconds longer, an ever-diminishing increase as the sun races to the Summer Solstice.

Weather: "Mostly cloudy with isolated showers" seems to be the default weather forecast for June so far with temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s interspersed with surprise blue-sky cameo appearances. In contrast to the usual gray skies, greens of every hue dominate the landscape from the ground to the treetops.  Mayday trees (aka Bird Cherry) and many shrubs such as red elderberry and high bush cranberry are flowering, starting the process of producing fruit for the birds. Sunny yellow dandelions, the cheerful invasive, are already going to seed, attracting hungry PINE SISKINS.

June 7th: The STELLER'S JAY babies are still in the nest, quiet as rocks until the dog barked and then they all sounded off, begging loudly. CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEES gleaned insects that were busily chewing holes in the new leaves, for their nestlings. Ava reported HAIRY WOODPECKER dads bringing their first fledged babies to visit her feeders. As each baby subsequently fledges, he will introduce it to her suet feeders while mom attends to the nestlings. A VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW peeked out of a nest box. DOWNY WOODPECKERS, SONG SPARROW pair, BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, PINE GROSBEAKS, and a bright VARIED THRUSH visited while I watched. A curious PINE SISKIN tried to land on my slippery camera while many others squabbled over the Niger seed sock. A dazzling RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD male zoomed into the yard, but did not linger.

Down at the pilings just south of the harbor uplands, I counted over 30 DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. The lucky ones sat on the pilings, preening and looking nonchalant, while the others futilely attempted to land, then overshot the mark and splashed into the water. Many appear to be this year's young with a lighter buffy neck and upper breast and darker belly. The breeding adults still sport their fancy white eyebrow plumes.

June 8th: While taking the good dog around the block for the morning walk, I heard an intriguing new bird song. It was not the usual ORANGE-CROWNED, YELLOW, TOWNSEND'S, or YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, all of whom were singing. This was a dry, flat, almost insect-like song. I finally managed to find a male BLACKPOLL WARBLER, singing in the thick willows. Perky black beret, white cheeks, streaky brown back, white wing bars, white belly, and golden legs and feet; he's a very handsome warbler. First time in the 'hood!

A VARIED THRUSH family of at least three fledglings hopped along the ground together near Second Lake. They flew fairly well so have probably been practicing for a week or so as their wings and tail feathers grow in. A pair of very determined BALD EAGLES chased a pathetic, squawking RAVEN overhead through the trees. I wonder what in the world precipitated that huge expenditure of energy? Also heard TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS, and the haunting forest flute of the HERMIT THRUSH.

DIPPER babies have started to fledge. They are round as a ball, all gray with stubby little wings and tails and big feet. Unlike other harried, unkempt parents, the sleek dipper parents seem perfectly groomed, elegant and relaxed. After countless trips to catch macro invertebrates and small fish to stuff into their babies' huge gaping yellow throats, they take time to sing a sweet little song of joy before dashing off once more. Some birds just have class.

NORTHWESTERN CROW babies are also starting to fledge. The babies have delightful blue eyes. While waiting for food service, they peck inquisitively at nearby bark, lichens, and leaves, wondering just where mom and dad find that delicious food. Watch out for their protective parents who will try to keep you away from their nests and fledglings.

June 9th: Hoards of shrieking BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, MEW GULLS, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS, and ARCTIC TERNS feasted on salmon smolt dashing down to the ocean from their natal streams and lakes and hooligan running up to spawn. BALD EAGLES lined the streamsides like combat fishermen, scattering the gulls into frenzied snow flurries upon takeoff.  The sheer numbers of seabirds molting a few feathers each created four distinct white-feathered tide lines at the beach, something I've never noticed before.

LINCOLN'S, SAVANNAH, and SONG SPARROWS picked between the feathers and wrack for tidbits, then sang lustily from the tops of nearby driftwood or grass stems. A pair of SPOTTED SANDPIPERS bobbed along the edge of a stream, very handsome with a black-tipped golden bill, sporty white eye-line stripe, and brown back. The matching brown spots on the bright white front looked lovingly hand painted with a brush. Check for their distinctive white notch just in front of the wing.

Keep those hummer feeders cleaned and filled. No red food coloring is necessary and may harm them. Watch for fledglings of all species in this very special time of year.

Happy Birding!
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report reporter

KACHEMAK BAY BIRD ALERT INFORMATION LINE
(235-PEEP)
June 8, 2011
 
A LONG-BILLED MURRELET was reported near Glacier Spit a few days ago.  Pictures were taken and a final confirmation of this species is underway.  This would be a very rare bird for this area!  Check AKBirding for updates in the next few days.

In Mud Bay many ALEUTIAN TERNS have been seen plus a YELLOW-BILLED LOON.  PACIFIC LOONS and many MARBLED MURRELETS also seen in the Bay.

East of Miller's Landing ALDER FLYCATCHERS and TOWNSEND'S WARBLERS have showed up! 

Nesting TRUMPETER SWANS can be seen from the end of the Calvin and Coyle Trail (starts at parking lot on Mariner Drive or from Paul Banks School).  Many songbirds reported in this area which is as yet not too buggy.

If you see or hear SANDHILL CRANES, please report them along with any specific information about the sighting to the Crane Watch: 235-6262 or reports@cranewatch.org