Birding Alaska

Jack Snipe Lymnocryptes minimus, Beluga Slough, Homer, 16 October 2010. In the last photo (which is terrible) the bird is flying to the left with the wings below the body. I posted it to show the tail, which was dark centered, paler on the edges, but which lacked an orange subterminal band. Click on any photo for a larger version.

Found in Beluga Slough today by my dog, Hartney.  My dog flushed the bird and it flew from the dog and past me, dropping in tall vegetation about 40 feet away. On this first look I saw a silent and smallish snipe with a broad white trailing edge to the secondaries and a plain gray underwing. This naked eye look was intriguing so I flushed the bird again and got a long and good look at the bird as it flew directly away. It flushed from a distance of only 1 meter and flew straight away. In this view I saw a small, brightly marked snipe (approximately 2/3rds the size of a Wilson’s or Common) with a short and stout bill. Two sets of bright yellowish braces were obvious on the back and continued to the base of the tail where the mantle and scapular stripes on each side merged together. The tail was dark and pointed. I did not discern any colored band on the tip of the tail.  At this point I was pretty sure I had a Jack Snipe so I got out my camera and walked to where I saw the bird land, but did not immediately find the bird. I zig-zagged around in this area for a few minutes and with the help of my dog eventually flushed the bird again and obtained a couple of photos of the bird in flight. On the first two flushes the bird was silent. On the third flush I may have heard it call. If I did (there was traffic) the call that I heard was a low and muffled “shhhhhh” about twice as long in duration as the “scape” call that a Wilson’s/Common Snipe utters upon being flushed. The sound was muffled and and very unlike the call of a Wilson’s. At this point I began calling other birders, and so waited about 10-15 minutes before moving in on the bird again.

I did not see the bird again until just before 7pm  when Dave Sonneborn, my brother-in-law and I relocated the bird in the same area and got three views of the bird in flight. Each time it flushed at very close distance and flushed silently. Even in low light the boldly patterned back stood out, as did the small size and bill length. We left the bird at dark in the same area we found it.

October 17th update:

Thirty birders combed Beluga Slough today and did not see the bird. I’ll be checking the slough daily this week and will post if I refind it.

First cycle Thayer’s Gull Larus thayeri, Homer Spit, 25 February 2010.

Thayer’s Gull is a good find in Homer in the winter.  This first cycle bird was in a flock of 4,000 gulls at the offal discharge site on the end of the Homer Spit.  It was first reported by Martin Renner on 21 February.  Rich MacIntosh and I found the bird again on 25 February and got these photos.  Most of the gulls were Glaucous-winged L. glaucescens, and Mew Gulls L. canus brachyrhynchus.  Also present in the flock was one first cycle Glaucous Gull L. hyperboreus and an adult Herring Gull L. argentatus smithsonianus.

Structurally this Thayer’s Gull is identified by it’s smaller size, more rounded head, smaller and narrower bill, and wings that are proportionately longer than the abundant Glaucous-winged Gull.  Also, on this Thayer’s Gull the outer primaries, tail and tertials are darker than the rest of the upper parts–this is evident on both the sitting an the flying bird.  Note that the primaries of this Thayer’s Gull are dark brownish with pale fringes.  A first cycle Herring Gull would have more blackish primary tips lacking the pale fringes.  The upperparts of a first cycle Glaucous-winged Gull is very uniform in tone and the primaries, tail and tertials do not contrast with the rest of the upperparts.  See the next two photos for comparison with Glaucous-winged Gull.

First cycle Glaucous-winged Gull Larus glaucescens, Cordova, 30 December 2005.

First cycle Glaucous-winged Gull, southern Bering Sea, 26 February 2009.

On both of these Glaucous-winged Gulls note the completely uniform tone of the upper parts.  There is no contrast between the tail, outer primaries, tertials and the rest of the upper parts.

Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus, Seaside Farm, Homer, 14 February 2010.

There have been quite a few reports of Saw-whet Owl from Homer this winter, many coming from Seaside Farm.  This bird was quietly sleeping in a spruce tree in the middle of the day.  Unlike the Saw-whets seen at Seaside Farm earlier in the winter, this bird was sitting in the open on the lower branches of the tree and we spotted it from a distance of 50 yards or more.

Emperor Goose Chen canagica, Homer, 1 January 2010.

Originally found on the Homer Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on 19 December 2009, this Emperor Goose was a dandy way to ring in the new year. It is of less than annual occurrence on the Kenai Peninsula.

Other Alaska CBC totals for Emperor Goose this year include: Adak–102; Unalaska/Dutch Harbor–1368; Kodiak–588; Narrow Cape/Kalsin Bay (on Kodiak Island)–114; and Homer–1.

Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus, two of three present at Seaside Farms, Homer, 12 December 2009.

The migratory habits of Northern Saw-whet Owls are far from understood.  A banding study in Homer this fall captured and banded 179 Saw-whets from one site!  It’s clear that many Saw-whets do move further south for the winter months, but it’s also clear that some do remain in southcentral Alaska throughout the winter.  However, during the mid-winter months these birds are most often silent and detecting their presence is not easy, usually requiring luck.  These owls were two of three at Mossy Kilcher’s Seaside Farm in Homer today.  Both birds were roosting quietly in dense spruce but were given away by the scolding calls of mobbing chickadees, nuthatches and others.

Townsend’s Solitaire Myadestes townsendi, Homer, 7 December 2009.

Townsend’s Solitaires are uncommon to rare breeders at treeline on the Kenai Peninsula.  They are rare and erratic winter visitors to Homer.  This individual has  been frequenting chokecherries and mountain ash trees on Fernwood since at least 3 December.

Cedar Waxwing Bombycilla cedrorum, Seaside Farms, Homer, 5 December 2009.

This hatch-year Cedar Waxwing was one of two present at Mossy’s Seaside Farm on 5 December.  She’s seen up to six Cedars in her fruit trees, usually with a flock of American Robins, sporadically since mid-September.  Cedar Waxwings are relatively new arrivals to the Homer list.  The first reports for Homer came from the winter of 2004-2005; they have since occurred in small numbers nearly annually in the fall and winter.

Other frugivores currently in Homer include Homer’s first record of Mountain Bluebird present since 18 November and still present on 7 December, and hundreds of American Robins and Bohemian Waxwings.  What will be next?

Mountain Bluebird Sialia currucoides, Homer, 18 November 2009.

Perched alone on the top of a birch, I pulled over to take a look at what I was expecting to be an American Robin.  Instead, this Mountain Bluebird made for a big surprise on my way home from town today.   It moved around frequently, but finally settled down in a choke cherry on the west side of the Church of Christ, East End Road.  There is a lot of fruit on the trees in town right now so maybe it will stick around.

Anna’s Hummingbird Colypte anna, Homer, 9 November 2009.

The Anna’s Hummingbird seems to have left my yard in Homer.  It was last seen around noon on 14 November, the 8th day since it appeared at the feeder on 7 November.  There have been at least five other reports of Anna’s Hummingbirds in Alaska this fall–four from Juneau and one from Haines.  Homer is probably the westernmost site where this species has been recorded.