Birding Alaska

With a new year and a new year of birding in Alaska upon us, I’ve been thinking about which species on the Alaska Checklist are due or overdue to occur again. With long 18-hour nights this time of year I had plenty of time to go through the checklist and compile this list of 16 species that have not been recorded in Alaska since 1985.

• Species (year of last record) number of records (source)

1. Fieldfare (1985) 4 records (American Birds 39:(5) 951-953).
2. Siberian Blue Robin (1985) 1 record (Gibson and Kessel 1992; Gibson and Bird 2007).
3. White-throated Needletail (1985) 4 records (Gibson and Byrd 2007).
4. Lesser Nighthawk (1985) 1 record (Gibson and Kessel 1992).
5. Magnificent Frigatebird (1985) 1 record, but there are four other reports of frigatebirds not identified to species between 1957 and 1984 (Gibson and Kessel 1992).
6. Tricolored Heron (1985) 1 record (photos at UAM; P. Bethel).
7. Cook’s Petrel (1983) 2 records (Gibson and Byrd 2007).
8. Oriental Scops-Owl (1979) 2 records (Gibson and Byrd 2007).
9. American Black Duck (1977) 4 records (Kessel and Gibson 1978).
10. Eurasian Hoopoe (1975) 1 record (Kessel and Gibson 1978).
11. Chinese Egret (1974) 1 record (Kessel and Gibson 1978).
12. Canada Warbler (1974) 1 record (Kessel and Gibson 1978).
13. Eastern Whip-poor-will (1972) 1 record (Kessel and Gibson 1978).
14. Eurasian Coot (1962) 1 record (Kessel and Gibson 1978).
15. Black-throated Green Warbler (1941) 1 record (McCaskie 1968).
16. Scarlet Tanager (1934) 1 record (Gibson and Kessel 1997).

The list begins with the most recent record and ends with the oldest; the Scarlet Tanager holds the record for the “oldest” account on the list. 1985 was a big year–six of the birds on this list occurred in 1985 and eleven of the birds on this list have been recorded in Alaska only once. With four records each for Fieldfare, White-throated Needletail, and American Black Duck it seems like there are decent odds they’re overdue to occur again.

Sources cited:

• Gibson, D. D., and Byrd, G. V. 2007. Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Nuttall Ornithological Club and the American Ornithologists’ Union. Series in Ornithology 1.
• Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1992. Seventy-four new avian taxa documented in Alaska 1976-1991. Condor 94:454-467.
• Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western Birds 28:45-95.
• Kessel, B., and Gibson, D. D. 1978. Status and distribution of Alaska birds. Studies Avian Biol. 1.
• McCaskie, R. G. 1968. A specimen of the Black-throated Green Warbler from Alaska. Auk 85:320.

The highlight of the Homer Christmas Bird Count (18 December 2010) was a yellow-faced Horned Lark of the Asian breeding race flava found by Lisa Matlock, Kathy Eagle, Dave Rosseneau and Vernon Byrd. It was with a group of three Alaskan breeding arcticola Horned Larks. I believe this is the first mid-winter record of Horned Lark for Homer (there are several records in recent years from the Kenai River flats and at least one from Seward). Also, this is the first record of a yellow-faced flava for the Kenai Peninsula. With help from Gary Lyon I relocated the flock on 19 December and got a few photos.

Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris flava, Fishing Lagoon, Homer Spit, 19 December 2010.

The yellow supercilium, throat and sides of face identify this individual as the Asian breeding race flava.

Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris arcticola, Fishing Lagoon, Homer Spit, 19 December 2010.

A typical Alaskan breeding arcticola lacking any color to the face.

The Asian form flava is a rare fall migrant to western Alaska, including the islands of the Bering Sea. In Southcoastal Alaska, there are two specimen records for Middleton Island and a sight record from Middleton Island on 25-27 September 1991. In Southeast Alaska a flava was photographed at Juneau, 6 December 2007 and this year at Gustavus on 31 October 2010. Thanks to Steve Heinl and Gus van Vliet for information on other Southcoastal and Southeast Alaska records.

Click here for photos of a flava from the Bering Sea earlier this year.

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura, near the mouth of the Anchor River, 19 November 2010. Photo by Lauren Trimble.

This fantastic bird was found and photographed by Lauren Trimble on 19 November on her property near the mouth of the Anchor River, Anchor Point. The bird has not been seen since. It is the first record for Kenai Peninsula and only about the 10th for Alaska! It is also the third species to be added to the Kenai Peninsula bird list in 2010! Lesser Black-backed Gull (July, also the Anchor River) and Jack Snipe (October, Homer) are the other two 2010 additions.

Turkey Vulture records in Alaska

1. One, 9-10 May 1979, Delta Junction is the first documented record for Alaska (Gibson and Kessel 1992).
2. One, 3 May 1987, Tok (sight record Richard Rohleder; Ritchie and Ambrose 1992).
3. One, 9 May 1995, mile 1252 Alaska Highway, east of Northway Junction (FN 49:291-294).
4. One, 23 May 1996, Delta Junction (FN 50:318-321).
5. One, 25-27 April 1996, Ketchikan (FN 50:318-321).
6. One found dead, 24 October 1996, Nome River mouth, Nome (specimen at UAF; Gibson and Kessel 1997)
7. One, late May-early June 1997, Ketchikan, possibly the same bird as in April 1996 (photo; Heinl and Piston 2009; FN 51:910-912).
8. One, 19 June 2004, Barrow (NAB 58:583-585).
9. One, 24-27 September and 3 October 2008, Juneau (NAB 63:138-142).
10. One, 19 November 2010, near the Anchor River mouth (photo Lauren Trimble, Lynn Whitmore).

Additionally, the Alaska Report from Field Notes 49 (291-294) states, “There are several [other] scattered but uncorroborated reports from the Region between May and September, which may have been correct.” And Gibson and Kessel (1992) add, “There have been several other reports subsequently of lone birds, each seen briefly in flight, from Cordova and Dillingham to the Tanana, Porcupine, and Yukon river valleys, May-September, and most or all of them might well have been accurate identifications.”

Much thanks to Gary Lyons and Betty Siegel for passing this information along and to Lauren Trimble for finding and photographing the bird.

Abbreviations: FN (Field Notes), NAB (North American Birds), UAF (University of Alaska, Fairbanks)

Literature cited:

Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1992. Seventy-four new avian taxa documented in Alaska 1976-1991. Condor 94:454-467.

Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western Birds 28:45-95.

Heinl, S. C., and Piston, A. W. 2009. Birds of the Ketchikan area, Southeast Alaska. Western Birds 40:54-144.

Ritchie, R. J., and Ambrose, R. E. 1992. Status of selected birds in east-central Alaska. Canadian Field-Naturalist 106:316-320.

Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola, Homer Spit, 5 December 2010.

It’s turning into a very interesting fall and winter birding season in Homer! Martin Renner and I were birding the Homer Spit on Sunday when this Black-bellied Plover flew in and landed on the beach in front of us. This is the first winter record of Black-bellied Plover for Homer and one of only a few late November-December records for Southcoastal Alaska. The bird was still on the spit as of 7 December.

Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus, Homer Boat Harbor, 5 December 2010.

This is probably the same Northern Harrier that Lani Raymond reported from the spit on 27 November.  There are a few other mid-winter records for the Homer area. These two birds added to a very interesting weekend of birding in Homer. Hopefully some of these birds can be relocated for the Homer Christmas Bird Count on 18 December.

More information on these and other Homer birds can be found here.

Thede Tobish and I beat the bushes in Homer today for passerines and found three interesting birds. We started with a Pacific Wren (formerly known as Winter Wren), which although common on the south side of Kachemak Bay, is a very good find in Homer. Most reports from this side of the bay come from the fall and winter. A sparrow flock in town produced a White-throated Sparrow, making two years in a row for this rare winter visitor in Homer. The bird of the day was an unseasonal Hermit Thrush at Mossy Kilcher’s Seaside Farm. I believe this is the first winter record of Hermit Thrush for Homer. Elsewhere in Southcoastal Alaska there are two previous mid-winter records of Hermit Thrush from Seward (30 December 2000 and 31 December 2004-17 January 2005) and one from Cordova (16 December 2000-11 January 2001).

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicolis, Homer, 4 December 2010.

Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus, Seaside Farm, Homer, 4 December 2010.

Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum, Portlock Drive, Homer, 1 December 2010.

Prior to 2004 Cedar Waxwings were considered casual fall and winter visitors to Southcoastal Alaska, with only a few reports from Seward, Anchorage, Kodiak, Valdez, and Middleton Island. The first reports of Cedar Waxwings in Homer came from the fall and winter of 2004-2005. At about this time regular reports from Southcoastal Alaska began to build and Cedars have since occurred in small numbers nearly every fall/winter since fall 2004. (The  fall and winter of 2008-2009 was the only winter they went unrecorded in Homer or anywhere in Southcoastal).

Instead of spending time with the related and more abundant wintering Bohemian Waxwings, in Homer they are more often seen in the company of American Robins. Fruiting mountain ash and bird cherry trees are excellent places to look. This Cedar Waxwing was one of two with a group of about 35 American Robins and fed in my neighbor’s mountain ash tree off of Portlock Drive. This is the third report of Cedar Waxwings on the Kenai Peninsula for the fall/winter 2010. It was previously reported this fall from Homer (nine on 8 November 2010) and Seward (four on 23 October 2010; Todd Eskelin pers. comm.)

I found these birds on a walk around the neighborhood and was even able to get in my yard–a new species for the growing yard list.

I returned home this afternoon from birding only to find more birds in the yard than I found on the outing. The bird of the day was this Townsend’s Solitaire, a new addition to our yard list. It is probably one of the two that I saw yesterday as our property is situated squarely between both of yesterday’s sightings and, as the Solitaire flies, within a mile of both.

Townsend’s Solitaire Myadestes townsendii, Alpenglow Circle, Homer, 21 November 2o10.

Townsend’s Solitaire Myadestes townsendii, Waterman Road, Homer, 20 November 2010.

November in Homer means it’s time to check the fruit trees. The south facing slopes of Homer and East End Road are loaded with mountain ash, European bird cherry, and a number of varieties of apple and crab apple trees. Each winter this fruit attracts a large gathering of American Robins, Bohemian Waxwings, Pine Grosbeaks and smaller numbers of rarities like Cedar Waxwing (now annual in winter since the winter of 2004-2005), Townsend’s Solitaire, and Mountain Bluebird (one record, see here).

Despite being a rare breeder at treeline in the mountains of the Kenai Peninsula, the first Homer record of Townsend’s Solitaire wasn’t until 1992. All Homer records are from the late fall and winter (see below). Yesterday I found two Townsend’s Solitaires in two different birdy neighborhoods. One on Waterman Road and one on Fernwood Drive. Fernwood Drive hosted the Solitaire last year and the bird cherries on Waterman attracted the Solitaire from the winter before. Yesterday’s sightings mark four consecutive winters for the species in Homer.

Townsend’s Solitaire Records from Homer:

• One on 22-30 January 1992 (American Birds 46:301-303)
• One on 11-22 November 1994 (Field Notes 49:84-87)
• One on 18 January joined by four more on 5 February 2005 (North American Birds 59:308-310)
• One on 5 January 2008+ (North American Birds 62:288-291) A bird reported on the PEEPS bird alert from late November 2007 may pertain to the same individual.
• One on 20 December 2008 (North American Birds 63:309-312)
• One on 3 December 2009-3 January 2010 (see here)
• Two on 21 November 2010