Birding Alaska

Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica baueri, near Green Timbers, Homer Spit, Homer 24 October 2009.  In addition to the barred tail, note the grayish plumage, checkered back pattern, distinct supercillium, shorter neck and legs, more compact shape and smaller size than the Marbled Godwit also present in Homer.

One species of godwit in October is good–two is crazy!  At best a casual fall migrant through the region, this juvenile Bar-tailed Godwit was found in Homer yesterday by visiting birders, Brian and Julie.  There are a handful of August and September records for Homer, but none of the previous fall records have been later than 20 September.  This bird was feeding at the mouth of the small creek between Louie’s Lagoon and Green Timbers on the Homer Spit.  It will need to fatten up for the non-stop 6,000 mile overwater flight to its wintering grounds in Australia or New Zealand.

A bit further down the beach the Marbled Godwit, present since the 18th, was in Mud Bay with a nice flock of shorebirds that included 29 Long-billed Dowitchers, 7 Dunlin, 6 Rock Sandpipers and a Sanderling.  Pretty nice shorebirding for late October.

Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa beringea, Mariner Lagoon, Homer, 19 October 2009.

The beringea subspecies of Marbled Godwit breeds near Ugashik Bay, on the north side of the Alaska Peninsula.  It is an uncommon spring migrant in Homer and other south coastal Alaska locations.  In the fall, however, there are very few Alaskan records of the species after the birds leave their breeding grounds, suggesting that their southbound migration is a direct overseas flight from the Alaska Peninsula to their wintering grounds in the Pacific Northwest.  This Marbled Godwit, present in Homer at the base of the spit since the 18th and seen again today (21 October), is the first fall record for Homer and one of very few for the Kenai Peninsula.  It is probably the latest fall record for Alaska.

• Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1989. Geographic variation in the Marbled Godwit and description of an Alaskan subspecies. Condor 91:436-443.

Leucistic Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca sinuosa, Seaside Farm, Homer, 24 August 2009.

The breeding race of Fox Sparrows in the Homer area is P. i. sinuosa, part of the “Sooty” group of Fox Sparrows occuring along the coast of Alaska as far west as Unimak Island in the eastern Aleutians (Gibson and Kessel 1997). Sooty Fox Sparrows are supposed to be just that, sooty in color, but there’s always an oddball. This leucistic individual is identified as a Fox Sparrow by size, shape and voice.  It shows the large, round head and thick, bicolored bill of the species. Mossy Kilcher called me to tell me about this bird which has been hanging around her feeders most of the summer; Mossy’s feeders have a knack for attracting unusual birds! I stopped by this week and was fortunate to see it and get a few photos–a sharp looking bird.

A normally pigmented Sooty Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca sinuosa, Hornaday Hillside Park, Homer, 26 August 2009.

Juvenile Sooty Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca sinuosa, Seaside Farm, Homer, 24 August 2009.

These last two photos are examples of normally pigmented Sooty Fox Sparrows. The downy feathers on the head, breast and sides of the bird in the last photo identify it as a juvenile.

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

Left to right: Wilson’s Snipe Gallinago delicata, Red Knot Calidris canutus, Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus, Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca and Short-billed Dowitcher (just barely in the shot) at Beluga Slough, Homer, 14 August 2009.

Foul weather last night and today seemed to bring a few shorebirds into Beluga Slough and Mud Bay, Homer. The culvert where Beluga Lake enters Beluga Slough hosted a nice roosting flock of shorebirds.

Juvenile Red Knot Calidris canutus, Beluga Slough, Homer, 14 August 2009.

Red Knot is a rare fall migrant in Homer and this bird was one of two in Beluga Slough this morning. The crisp fringes and dark sub-terminal lines on the scapulars, tertials and coverts identify it as a juvenile. Here is a photo of a  breeding plumage Red Knot passing through Homer in May.

The diversity and numbers of shorebirds moving through Homer were impressive this weekend for the 17th Annual Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, May 7-10.  Here are a few shots from the weekend.

Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola, Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus, Dunlin Calidris alpina and Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica, Green Timbers, Homer, 10 May 2009.

This photo captures one of the most incredible mixed flocks of shorebirds I’ve ever seen. In the flock but not photographed here were Red Knots, Western and Least Sandpipers, a Marbled Godwit and a Pacific Golden-Plover.  Black Turnstones were on the same beach just a bit further down.

Red Knot Calidris canutus, Green Timbers, Homer, 10 May 2009.

Red Knots are uncommon to rare migrants through Homer.  A single bird was reported on Saturday and at least 13 were on the Homer Spit today, 10 May.

Bar-tailed Godwit with Black-bellied Plover and Short-billed Dowitcher at Green Timbers, Homer, 10 May 2009.

This Bar-tailed Godwit was first found on the Homer Spit on Thursday and seen daily through the weekend.  Marbled and Hudsonian Godwits were also seen during the festival.

A lone Sanderling Calidris alba, Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri and Dunlin, Mud Bay, Homer, 8 May 2009.

This Sanderling (the larger pale bird in the center), still in winter plumage, was the only one reported for the weekend.

Black-bellied Plovers, Green Timbers, Homer, 10 May 2009.

There was no shortage of Black-bellied Plovers along the Homer Spit this weekend.

Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa, Black-bellied Plover, Dunlin, and Western Sandpipers at Green Timbers, Homer, 10 May 2009.

This Marbled Godwit is seperated from other godwits by it’s uniform cinamon brown coloration.  Here it dwarfs the much smaller Westerns and Dunlins but it’s also larger than both Hudsonian and Bar-tailed Godwit.