Birding Alaska

On 23 July 2011, while conducting murrelet surveys in Kachemak Bay, Kathy Kuletz, Liz Labunski, and Tamara Zeller of the US Fish and Wildlife Service found and photographed THREE Long-billed Murrelets. The birds were in the same area where Karl Stoltzfus photographed the Kenai Peninsula’s first record of Long-billed Murrelet on 4 June 2011.

Long-billed Murrelets Brachyramphus perdix, Kachemak Bay, 23 July 2011. In addition to the long bill, the dark nape which lacks a white collar, white throat, and white eye-ring separate these birds from the similar Marbled Murrlet B. marmoratus. Karl Stoltzfus also commented that the color of the bird he saw struck him as “charcoal, closer to black than to brown.” Click any photo to enlarge. Photos taken by Liz Labunski.

Long-billed Murrelet is a close relative of Marbled Murrelet and was formerly considered a subspecies of Marbled Murrelet, but was elevated to full species status in 1998. Prior to this summer there were only five confirmed records for Alaska. All of the previous Alaska records involved one day occurrences of single birds.

On 29 July 2011, Karl Stoltzfus of Bay Excursions, Homer, took a group of local birders out to try to relocate the Long-billed Murrelets–or at least one of them! In perfect glassy conditions we spent the morning slowly cruising and scanning the area. We didn’t conduct any sort of formal count, but by the most conservative estimates there were at least 400-500 brachyramphus murrelets near shore between Glacier Spit and Aurora Lagoon in Kachemak Bay. At least 100 of these were Kittlitz’s Murrelets. Our search did not produce a Long-billed Murrelet, but there were likely many more murrelets out there than the birds we were able to study. We also turned up Pigeon Guillemot, Common Murre, three Ancient Murrelets, one Thick-billed Murre (very rare in Kachemak Bay), four Arctic Terns, one Aleutian Tern, and one Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel.

It was a great morning of murrelet study and comparison and probably the best photographic opportunities that I’ve ever had for murrelets. As far as the Long-billed goes, with all the murrelets around and all the food in the water I don’t see any reason why there isn’t at least one still around. I’ll be trying to get back out there again soon and give it another try.

I just got home from a week of visiting friends and family in Cordova and had some time to get out birding. The Cordova area, including the Copper River Delta, is an incredible birding area and like much of Alaska under-birded. The delta itself is nearly 600 square miles of wetland habitat with only one road bisecting it. Who knows what birds are lurking away from the road!

Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas, mile 8.5 Copper River Highway, Cordova, 22 July 2011.

This male and a female were first found on 11 June 2011 by Milo Burcham. I found the male still singing on 21 and 22 July, but did not see the female and unfortunately could not confirm nesting. There is no record of Yellowthroats breeding on the Copper River Delta and there are only about three previous records of the species in the Cordova area.

Hooded Merganser Lophodytes cucullatus, Heney Creek, Cordova, 22 July 2011.

These two Hooded Mergansers were fishing in Heney Creek, just upstream of the Hartney Bay bridge. While Hooded Mergansers are somewhat regular in Cordova from the late fall through winter, I only know of two other mid summer records. Both of these were breeding records from the Copper River Delta.

Long-billed Murrelet Brachyramphus perdix, near Glacier Spit, Kachemak Bay, 2 June 2011. Photo by Karl Stolzfus of Bay Excursions.

Long-billed Murrelet Brachyramphus perdix, near Glacier Spit, Kachemak Bay, 2 June 2011. Photo by Karl Stolzfus of Bay Excursions.

On Saturday, 2 June 2011, Homer birder Karl Stozfus found and beautifully photographed this Long-billed Murrelet in Kachemak Bay. This fantastic find is the first documentation of the species on the Kenai Peninsula. There are about five previous documented sightings for the state. More information can be found here. If the bird sticks around and is relocated information will be posted on the discussion site AK Birding.

The Kenai Peninsula list continues to grow. In addition to this find, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Jack Snipe, Turkey Vulture and Western Meadowlark have all been addded to the Kenai Peninsula list since July 2009, and all of them from south of the Anchor River (Homer area)!

I just got back from Saint Paul Island and was craving some sunshine and a new bird, so I drove over to Kenny Lake and relocated the Eared Grebe that was reported last weekend by Paul Lehman. This makes three years in a row for Eared Grebe on Kenny Lake! The species is listed as casual on the Alaska Checklist. Kenny Lake is an ornithological oddity–an island of hay fields and pasture in a sea of boreal forest. Some really incredible birds have appeared at or near the lake over the years and an assortment of otherwise rare birds regularly nest there–Ruddy Duck, Blue-winged Teal and Chipping Sparrow.  Its one of my favorite birding spots in Alaska.

Eared Grebe Podiceps nigricollis, Kenny Lake, 25 May 2011.

It was no problem to see the Eared Grebe. I spent two hours at the lake and the entire time the grebe was out in the open and called for much of this time. The call reminded me of the deflected two-note call of a Sora. Several times when the Eared Grebe got too close to a pair of courting Horned Grebes the Horned Grebes would chase it away. Also on the lake were 9 Ruddy Ducks (5 male, 4 female).

Chipping Sparrow Spizella passerina, Kenny Lake, 25 May 2011.

This Chipping Sparrow was singing right at the Kenny Lake pull-out. Later in the morning I found two more Chipping Sparrows singing on private properties a few miles down the road. I wouldn’t be surprise to find even more Chipping Sparrows if I had time and permission to search all of the open grassy habitats in Kenny Lake. In at least 2006 and 2009 Chipping Sparrows nested at the lake.

Western Tailed-Blue Everes amynthula, mile 173.6 Glenn Highway, 25 May 2011.

Persius Duskywing Erynnis persius, mile 173.6 Glenn Highway, 25 May 2011.

Sunny and warm today so the butterflies were out. This is the first Persius Duskywing that I’ve seen and there were a few out today.

Here are a few photos of interesting birds from our May 12-19  Wilderness Birding Adventures trip to Adak Island in the central Aleutians.

Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes, Adak “National Forest”, Adak Island, 13 May 2011.

The Hawg was the bird of the trip. This bird was found by Adak’s lone resident birder, Isaac Helmericks, and was on island for the entire week we were there.

Smew Mergellus albellus, Shotgun Lake, Adak Island, 12 May 2011.

Smew Mergellus albellus (right) and Bufflehead Bucephala albeola Shotgun Lake, Adak Island, 12 May 2011.

Smew regularly winter on Adak and this bird likely is left over from the winter season. While watching three Buffleheads on Shotgun Lake on our first evening birding on the island this Smew flew in and landed in front of us. Despite the efforts of all the birders on the island it was never seen again.

Green-winged Teal Anas crecca carolinensis (right) with Aleutian Green-winged Teal A. c. crecca, Clam Lagoon, 15 May 2011.

Green-winged Teal? Yes, on Adak a carolinensis Green-winged Teal is an interesting bird! The tables are turned…just a few weeks ago I was at home in Homer trying to pick out a lone crecca from the flocks of carolinensis.

Eurasian Teal Anas crecca crecca, Mud Bay, Homer, 28 April 2011.

A drake Eurasian Teal (aka Eurasian Green-winged Teal, aka Common Teal, aka Aleutian Green-winged Teal) Anas crecca crecca was in Mud Bay, Homer today with a flock of about 150 (American) Green-winged Teal A. c. carolinensis. The drake is identified by the lack of the vertical white bar behind the breast and the strong white horizontal bar on the secondary coverts. Also, the green eye-stripe is very neatly outlined in fine gold trim. Females are not safely identifiable in the field. Another Eurasian Teal is currently being reported in Kenai. That’s a pretty good showing for the Kenai Peninsula.

The American Ornithologists’ Union currently recognizes crecca and carolinensis as subspecies of Green-winged Teal. The British Ornithologists’ Union and other authorities have split the taxa into two species.

Eurasian Teal Anas crecca crecca (left), with two Green-winged Teal A. c. carolinensis, Mud Bay, Homer, 28 April 2011. Click any photo to enlarge.

In flight note the stronger white secondary covert bar of the Eurasian Teal.

Originally found in Homer on 4 February 2011 by Jackie McDonough, and found later that day by only a few others, this Western Meadowlark then disappeared and was not seen again until Jackie spotted it in her neighborhood again last week on 8 March. The third sighting of this bird came today (15 March) when Toby and Laura Burke and family spotted it feeding on the lawn south of the Ocean Shores motel around 11:30 AM. They called me up and I was able to find it in the same area and watch it from about 4:45 to 6:00 PM today with Trae Lohse and Mossy Kilcher.  All of the sightings of this bird have thus far occurred within a few blocks of today’s sighting.

Western Meadowlark is casual in Alaska (nearly 20 records), with almost all of the records coming from Southeast Alaska in fall or winter (about half of these are from Ketchikan). The only records for the state away from the fall and winter seasons are two records of Western Meadowlark, and one of an unidentified Meadowlark, from interior Alaska that occurred during the summer months. This is the first record of Western Meadowlark from the Kenai Peninsula!

Photo 1. Western Meadowlark Sturnella neglecta, the lawn of the Ocean Shores Motel, Homer, 15 March 2011. Click on any photo for a larger image.

Identifying meadowlarks out of range is very difficult and before today this meadowlark was probably best left identified only as a meadowlark species. However, today it showed well on the lawn and gave prolonged views of several key marks. Also, the bird called! While it was perched in this birch tree Mossy Kilcher, Trae Lohse and I heard it call four times. It’s call was a loud, clear and rich “Tuke” or “Tchuke”.The call of an Eastern Meadowlark is described as a metalic and buzzy “dzrrt” in the 5th edition of the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. On all recordings that I’ve been able to listen to, the calls of the two species are very easily distinguished from one another. For examples of the calls of both species, check out the excellent Macaulay Library website.

Interestingly, when this bird perched in the tree a flock of Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted Nuthatches, and Pine Siskins began to mob it as they would a small owl. It was during this mobbing that the meadowlark called.

In photos 1-3 the features that help identify this as a Western Meadowlark are the yellow feathers intruding into the lower malar region. An Eastern Meadowlark would have no yellow in the malar region. Also note the tannish, low contrast eye-stripe and crown stripes and spotted (not streaked) flanks.

Photo 2.

Photo 3.

Photo 4. In addition to the yellow in the lower malar region, note the finely barred (not dark centered) secondary coverts, tertials and lower scapulars. Overall, the upperparts are uniformly pale, lacking any rich tones shown in the northern races of Eastern Meadowlark.

Photo 5. On this photo note the barred (not dark centered) central tail feathers, with the tannish bars continuing all the way to the feather shaft. It also appeared that the white in the tail feathers was limited to only the outer three tail feathers (R4-R6). On R4 (the third tail feather counting inward) the white appeared to be mostly limited to the outer web. Photos 5-8 show the tail and the relatively limited white. Unfortunately, on all of them the shutter clicked a nanosecond too early or too late and the none of the photos capture the tail spread to its full extent.

Photo 6. The uppertail coverts are also finely barred, not dark centered.

Photo 7.

Photo 8.

Meadowlark (probably Western) Sturnella (neglecta), Homer, 4 February 2011. Click on a photo to enlarge.

Jackie McDonough today reported a Meadowlark foraging under her neighbor’s deck at 1:10 pm in the neighborhood behind the Best Western in Homer. When I eventually relocated the bird late this afternoon, around 5:15 pm, it was sitting under a different deck in the same neighborhood. The bird is probably a Western Meadowlark based on what I could see of the yellow extending into the lower half of the malar region, however, I had only very brief views of the bird at close range before it flew farther away into some dense spruce, so I could not study this feature for more than two or three seconds.  I waited near the stand of spruce for about 30 minutes before the bird flew out to an exposed branch and I was able to get these distant photos. Unfortunately, the photos that I took do not clearly show the facial pattern. At 5:50 pm the bird flew down to Bishop’s Beach and appeared to land in an alder thicket on the bluff just below the Ocean Shores Motel. The sun had just set, so I decided to call it a day and look again tomorrow.

Western Meadowlark is casual in Alaska (nearly 20 records), with almost all of the records coming from Southeast Alaska in fall or winter (about half of these are from Ketchikan). The only records for the state away from the fall and winter seasons are two records of Western Meadowlark, and one of an unidentified Meadowlark, from interior Alaska that occurred during the summer months. This is the first record of a Meadowlark from the Kenai Peninsula! There are no records of Eastern Meadowlark for Alaska.

Thank you, Jackie, for getting the word out so quickly! I’ll be looking again tomorrow (4/5) and if it’s still around will hopefully get some better photos.

UPDATE 5 February 2010: I and a number of other people looked for the bird throughout the morning today and into the afternoon but could not relocate the bird.