KACHEMAK BAY BIRDERS

December 12th  Dave Erikson’s “Winter Bird Identification” Class, 5:30 pm at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters (formerly: Islands and Ocean Visitor Center)
The “Winter Bird Identification” Class is excellent for volunteers who are going to participate in the CBC to review the birds that are in Homer in the winter.  The class is valuable also as an introduction to our winter birds for new birders as well as anyone who wants to brush up on our winter birds.
 
December 14th CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT (all day)

2024 CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

By Dave Erikson – Kachemak Bay Birders

Once again, it’s time to start planning for the annual Homer Christmas Bird Count (CBC), which will be held on Saturday, December 14, 2024.

Count Circle: The area used for the Homer CBC is a 15-mile diameter circle centered at the base of the Homer Spit. The eastern boundary is near Fritz Creek on East End Road and the western boundary is near Virginia Avenue on the Sterling. Southern boundary is in offshore Kachemak Bay. The northern boundary is in the roadless area of Anchor River Drainage.

Count Day: Count Day will start with a pre-count meeting at 8:30 AM at the USFWS Maritime National Wildlife Headquarters (formerly Islands and Ocean (I&O) Visitor Center). Hot drinks, such as coffee, tea and hot chocolate will be available along with and breakfast snacks. Following a short meeting, count area teams will head out to the respective count areas at about 9:00 AM. Teams will methodically survey their areas and count all bird species seen or heard and numbers of individuals until 4:30 PM. Owling can also occur during the hours of darkness on count day. Following the cutoff period for daylight counting, all volunteers will meet back at the Headquarters to discuss the results of the count and tally the number of species observed.

Count Week: Three days before and three days after the count day (December 11-13 and 15 -17) is referred to as Count Week. Any bird species (no numbers) seen or heard by count participants within the Count Circle area during these time periods needs to be recorded and reported to the compiler as count week species.

Count Area Teams: Prior to the count, a list of field team leaders for each area will be posted on the KBB website with contact information so interested team members can contact them directly. Count Area maps, Homer CBC checklists field form and the CBC Rare Bird Form will also be posted on the KBB website. If counters observe a species that is not on the Homer CBC Checklist, a Rare Bird Form should fill out. Rare Bird Forms and the 2024 Homer CBC Checklist Field Forms are available on the KBB website.

Count Data: All count data should be recorded either on an eBird Checklist and shared with the compiler, Dave Erikson (eBird user ID: Derikson48a) or by hand on our regular Homer CBC checklist field form, scanned and emailed to the compiler, Dave Er ikson (derikson@alaska.net; 907 441-7931).

Feeder Watchers: On Count Day, feeder watchers should record the species of bird, maximum numbers of each species at the feeder at a specific time, and the amount of time spent observing the feeder. Results should be submitted to the Feeder Watcher Coordinator, (Kathy Eagle; kathyeagle@gmail.com; 907 232-3789).

Winter Bird ID Class: A Winter Bird ID class will be given on Thursday, December 12, 2024 from 5:30 to 7:00 at the Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters. The class will go over field marks and basic plumages of common birds which can be found in the Homer area in winter. There is no charge for the class.

We have been very fortunate to have many dedicated birders in Homer who have repeatedly volunteered their time and resources to make the Homer CBC a success over the past 50 years and I’m confident, with everyone’s help, we can get a good count again this year.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Dave Erikson, Homer CBC Compiler

 

***MEETINGS/PRESENTATIONS   LAST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH

January 28th Meeting and Presentation by George Matz: N.W. Passage

Meetings at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Headquarters, (formerly:Islands and Ocean Visitor Center), begin at 5:30 pm (unless otherwise indicated). All meetings and events are cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Masks encouraged and all trips will comply with FWS covid-safe practices.

 

September 24th Presentation by Bruce Lyon: Gray-crowned Rosy Finch Study on the Pribilofs.
 

 

***TRIPS/Events

 
All Kachemak Bay Birding trips are cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. All trips are free and everyone is welcome to attend. Masks encouraged and all trips will comply with FWS covid-safe practices.
 
 
 
***Trip Reports–
 
Trip Report from the Anchor River: 11-23-24 (Kristine Sowl)
It was a nice day with light winds but below freezing temperatures so wind was quite chilly. There were 6 of us. We birded mostly from the parking lot using spotting scopes, but also walked around the campground to look for songbirds. We saw 19 species of birds in about 2 hours of birding:
 
Harlequin duck
Surf scoter
White-winged scoter
Black scoter
Long-tailed duck
Pigeon guillemot
Murrelet sp.
Glaucous-winged gull
Gull sp.
Horned grebe
Red-necked grebe
Red-throated loon
Loon sp.
Pelagic cormorant
Cormorant sp.
Bald eagle
American crow
Common raven
Golden-crowned kinglet
Redpoll
Pine siskin
Snow bunting
 
Kristine
 
Seaside Farm: 10-26-24
Nine birders (include the tour leaders) showed up at Mossy’s to bird.  Jim and Michelle asked how many had seen the Western Tanager.  No one had, but everyone wanted to.  So instead of birding Mossy’s farm, we headed to Cannonball Circle (out East End Road) to find the Western Tanager.  And we weren’t disappointed.  The bird, a male, showed it self well for all to see.  What a beautiful, rare bird for the Homer area.  We also spotted four juvenile Cedar Waxwings, also a rare bird here.   
 
In addition to those great finds, we also saw:
  • Steller’s Jay
  • Black-capped Chickadee
  • American Robin
  • Northern Shrike
  • Black-billed Magpie
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch.
From Cannonball we headed to Kaleen and the mouth of Fritz Creek.  From the bluff we could see hundreds of waterfowl – Mallard, Great Scaup, American Wigeon, and Bufflehead.  There were also Glaucous-winged Gull, Song Sparrow, Black-capped Chickadee, and Golden-Crowned Kinglet.  
 
It was a beautiful, but cold day.  No one complained however.  In the end, Michelle and Jim left for other commitments, and most finished up birding at Mossy’s Farm.  
 
It was truly a GREAT DAY TO BIRD
 
Michelle and Jim 
October Field Trip Leaders/Guides

**Links to previous Presentation**

December 4th Presentation by Aaron Lang: “Birding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” was recorded and the link is on the Friends of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuges website:

https://alaskarefugefriends.org/category/events/special-events/

 

2024 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival:  Species Tally Below

Loader Loading...
EAD Logo Taking too long?

Reload Reload document
| Open Open in new tab

Download [321.23 KB]