Birding Alaska

On March 6th I left Kodiak on the USCG icebreaker, Polar Sea.  We transited west to Unimak Pass and north to St. Lawrence Island as part of the Bering Sea BEST project, a partnership between the North Pacific Research Board and the National Science Foundation.  We rolled back into Kodiak on April 7th after 33 days at sea.  Here are a few photos from the trip…

Spectacled Eider Somateria fischeri, St. Lawrence Island Polynia, Bering Sea, 23 March 2010.

A flock of Spectacled Eiders from 1000 feet up.  The entire world’s population, about 370,000 birds, winters in the limited open water of the St. Lawrence Island polynia in the Bering Sea.

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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.