Birding Alaska

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.

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.

Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica with Black-bellied Plover Pluvialis squatarola at Mud Bay, Homer, 7 May 2009.

This male Bar-tailed Godwit made an appearance at the Homer Shorebird Festival yesterday and today.  Bar-tailed Godwits are trans-Beringian migrants that breed in Western Alaska, but it’s a very good bird for the Kenai Peninsula.