Category: Shorebird Festival

Preliminary Shorebird Festival Summary and some great stories!!

Sunday morning during the Festival event at the lower platform at the end of the FAA Rd, a lynx crossed above the end of Beluga Lake heading toward the platform at the end of the Calvin and Coyle trail! A wonderful opportunity for folks to see a lynx–no one remembers ever seeing a lynx there before in spite of many wildlife viewers in that area over the years. (I am going to attach the video I was sent. I believe this was taken by Lisle Gwynn. I also do not have permission to send it so am on shaky ground there also. It is such a fantastic glimpse of wildlife right here in Homer! If someone else took it, please let me know and I will send out a correction.)

On previous days in that same area, a nesting TRUMPETER SWAN was seen chasing off groups of geese that rest in that area. On four occasions it was reported that the swan would chase the group of geese up into the air and then target one goose to follow. One version of a chase on Saturday said the swan was maybe five feet behind the goose for several circles above the lake, getting closer and closer (the swan with his mouth open at times), seemingly snapping at the tailfeathers of the goose, he said! Usually the chase then went out of sight, the swan returning a while later… and the goose? Some other birder might have seen what happened there or we’ll never know.

It seems interesting that there is a pair of nesting SONG SPARROWS on the top of Gull Island. Never been reported before. (Spit real estate at a premium, perhaps?)

There were 124 species seen during the four days of the Festival. There are still some reports trickling in, so this number may go up. Last minute additions: HORNED LARKS near the Harbor and POMARINE JAEGER and SOOTY SHERWATER at the Anchor River. Overall, there was only one warbler (YELLOW-RUMPED) seen and one owl (GREAT HORNED); no flycatchers, no eiders. A highlight for many was seeing several CASPIAN TERNS on Saturday in the Mud Bay/Lighthouse Village Platform area.

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There were 131 species seen at the Festival this year. This list is on the Kachemak Bay Birders’ website http://kachemakbaybirders.org/.

If there are other species that you are sure were seen during the Festival, please let me know. I did not get many reports of raptors and woodpeckers and some others possibly seen.

A RED KNOT was seen at the end of the Spit by the Harbor and in Mud Bay on.

BAR-TAILED and MARBLED GODWITS were seen in several places on the Spit. (No Hudsonians were seen here during the Festival but were at the Kasilof River.)

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS were seen on the 4^th out East End Rd about 6 miles and then again at the Lighthouse Village Platform and in Beluga Slough the next day.

A KING EIDER pair was seen off “the bluff” west of Homer on the 4^th. Great photographs posted.

A WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE was seen at the end of the FAA Rd. by the lower platform on the Lake on the 6th.

RING-NECKED DUCKS, GADWALL, and CANVASBACKS were seen in Beluga Lake.

A THAYER’S GULL was seen at the Lighthouse Village, Green Timbers and a few other places. Also an An ICELAND GULL was seen near Green Timbers on the 6^th.

GREAT BLUE HERONS were seen on the 4^th near Bishop’s Beach.

CASPIAN TERNS were seen on the 6^th in Mud Bay.

An OSPREY was seen near Beluga Slough/Bishop’s Beach before the Festival and again on the 7^th.

There was a report of BRISTLE-THIGHED CURLEWS at Anchor Point on the 6^th but attempts to refind them were unsuccessful.

Always nice during the Festival to have some swallows back, HERMIT THRUSH, ORANGE-CROWNED and YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS, terns, and TUFTED PUFFIN. And this year a hummingbird and a flycatcher, too! The Festival means many happy hours being out birding and enjoying the beauty and diversity of all those wonderful birds!  It was a Great Festival to Bird (as our motto tells us)!

Post-Festival

Shorebirds still arriving since the Festival…

The following is an amazing report from Toby and Laura Burke:

“On Wednesday evening, May 10, between 5 and 6 PM, on the falling tide in the greater Mud Bay area of Homer we encountered the largest aggregation of shorebirds we’ve ever seen in 12 years of birding the Kenai Peninsula… During the previously 12 years the most shorebirds we had ever counted in the larger Mud Bay area approached 15,000. Wednesday evening from the intertidal mudflats from below the airport, across the east side of the Mud Bay spit, across the mouth of the inner Mud Bay, along the gravel bars working south, and toward Green Timbers – a distance of 1.4 miles – where we roughly stood nearest the center – we counted 150,000 WESTERN SANDPIPERS and 6,000 DUNLIN along this shoreline with peak numbers between 5:30 to 5:45 PM.”

View or download the complete festival species checklist:

Homer/Kachemak Bay Festival Bird Report: 5-6-17

Kachemak Bay/Homer Festival Bird Report: 5-5-17 (Friday)

Another nice sunny day here in Homer! Many exciting new birds were found today: CANVASBACK and RING-NECKED DUCK in Beluga Lake this morning, TUFTED PUFFIN at Gull Island, and ALEUTIAN TERN at Green Timbers, and a THAYER’S GULL. The KING EIDER from yesterday was confirmed with a beautiful photo, checkout our website if you haven’t seen it. It was a Great Day to Bird!

King Eiders – photo by Max Schwenne

Has anyone seen a BLACK OYSTERCATCHER or an EURASIAN WIGEON? So far no reports of them during the Festival. Some reported a few days earlier…

Western Sandpiper/Dunlin/Least flock in Mud Bay was estimated to be ~4-5,000 today at 8:00 am; later estimate near noon was ~1500-2000.

Mud Bay

SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, MARBLED GODWIT, BAR-TAILED GODWIT, WHIMBREL, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, LEAST SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, BONAPARTE’S GULL, BRANT, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, NORTHERN PINTAIL, GREATER SCAUP, HORNED GREBE, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, MEW GULL, HERRING GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL, SAVANNAH SPARROW, AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARD, NORTHERN SHOVELER, GREEN-WINGED TEAL.

Lighthouse Village

ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WIDGEON, NORTHERN PINTAILS, MALLARDS, SANDHILL CRANES.

Green Timbers/Louie’s Lagoon (mid-spit)

LONG-TAILED DUCK, RED-THROATED LOON, NORTHERN SHOVELER, BONAPARTE’S GULL, COMMON REDPOLL, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER,WHIMBREL, SURFBIRDS, BLACK TURNSTONE, LEAST SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, DUNLIN, DOWITCHER (sp), BRANT, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, LEAST SANDPIPER, ARCTIC TERN, AMERICAN PIPIT, SAVANNAH SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, SONG SPARROW.

End of the Spit

HERRING GULL, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, RED-NECKED GREBE, PELAGIC CORMORANT, PEREGRINE FALCON, SURFBIRDS on Harbor Jetty with Turnstones, RUDDY TURNSTONES, BLACK TURNSTONES, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, WANDERING TATTLERS (in Harbor), SONG SPARROWS, SAVANNAH SPARROWS, ROCK PIGEONS, NORTHWESTERN CROWS, BALD EAGLES,

Out on the Bay

TUFTED PUFFIN on Gull Island, SURFBIRDS, BLACK TURNSTONES, HORNED GREBE, SCOTERS (WHITE-WINGED, SURF, BLACK), RED-NECKED PHALLAROPE, PIGEON GUILLEMOT, COMMON MURRES, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, LONG-TAILED DUCK, COMMON LOON, PACIFIC LOONPELAGIC CORMORANT, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES.

Beluga Slough and trail down from Islands and Oceans

ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, FOX SPARROW, AMERICAN ROBIN, AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN PINTAIL, WESTERN SANDPIPER, NORTHERN SOVELER, BALD EAGLE, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, NORTHWESTERN CROW, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, SANDHILL CRANE.

Beluga Lake Lower Platform

TRUMPETER SWAN pair, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, CACKLING GEESE, CANADA GEESE, RED-NECKED GREBE, BUFFLEHEAD, MALLARD, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, NORTHERN PINTAIL, RING-NECKED DUCK, CANVASBACK, NORTHERN SHOVELER, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREATER SCAUP, WILSON’S SNIPE, RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and LEAST SANDPIPER (both flying), MEW GULL, SANDHILL CRANE (heard) NORTHERN HARRIER, BALD EAGLE, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, BOREAL CHICKADEE, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, AMERICAN ROBIN, VARIED THRUSH, AMERICAN PIPIT, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, DARK-EYTED JUNCO, LINCOLN’S SPARROW, BROWN CREEPER, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, COMMON RAVEN, GREATER YELLOWLEGS.

Calvin and Coyle Trail

BROWN CREEPER, PINE GROSSBEAK, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, AMERICAN ROBIN, VARIED THRUSH,.

Anchor River

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE, NORTHERN SHOVELER, CACKLING GEESE, GREEN-WINGED TEAL,

HARLEQUIN DUCK, WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, LONG-TAILED DUCK, COMMON MERGANSER, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, PACIFIC LOON, RED-NECKED GREBE, DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT,BALD EAGLE, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, WHIMBREL, RUDDY TURNSTONE, DUNLIN, MARBLED MURRELET, NORTHWESTERN CROW, AMERICAN WIGEON, MALLARD, GREATER SCAUP, SURF SCOTER, COMMON LOON, PELAGIC CORMORANT, SANDHILL CRANE, PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, BLACK TURNSTONE, LEAST SANDPIPER, COMMON MURRE, PIGEON GUILLEMOT, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, MEW GULL, GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, BELTED KINGFISHER, BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, AMERICAN PIPIT, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, FOX SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW.

Kachemak Bay/Homer Festival Bird Report: 5-4-17 (Newest in BOLD)

Nice sunny day and not even much breeze until noontime. Many good birds (of course they’re all good birds) and many happy birders at our Festival.  Estimated Western Sandpiper/Dunlin flock in Mud Bay estimated to be ~1500 today.

Super fantastic Festival birds:

A RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD was reported out East End Rd., with photos!

GREAT BLUE HERON in town near Bishop’s Beach on Jenny Way.

Unconfirmed report of a KING EIDER seen from a boat off “The Bluff” west of town, but unconfirmed at this time.

Mud Bay

SURFBIRDS, MARBLED GODWIT, BAR-TAILED GODWIT, WHIMBREL, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, BONAPARTE’S GULL, BRANT, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPER.

Lighthouse Village

GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPER, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, GREEN-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN WIDGEON, NORTHERN PINTAILS, MALLARDS.

Green Timbers/Louie’s Lagoon (mid-spit)

COMMON EIDER and KITTLITZ’S MURRELET (scoped to the west), RED-THROATED LOON, NORTHERN SHOVELER, BONAPARTE’S GULL, COMMON REDPOLL, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER,WHIMBREL, SURFBIRDS, BLACK TURNSTONE, LEAST SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, DUNLIN, DOWITCHER (sp), BRANT, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, LEAST SANDPIPER, ARCTIC TERN, AMERICAN PIPIT, SAVANNAH SPARROW, FOX SPARROW, SONG SPARROW.

End of the Spit

PEREGRINE FALCON, SURFBIRDS (150 on Harbor Jetty with Turnstones), RUDDY TURNSTONES, BLACK TURNSTONES, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, WANDERING TATTLERS (in Harbor), SONG SPARROWS, SAVANNAH SPARROWS, ROCK PIGEONS, NORTHWESTERN CROWS.

Out on the Bay

SURFBIRDS (800), BLACK TURNSTONES, HORNED GREBE, SCOTERS (WHITE-WINGED, SURF, BLACK) RED-NECKED PHALLAROPE (200), PIGEON GUILLEMOT, COMMON MURRES (most in breeding plumage), HARLEQUIN DUCKS, LONG-TAILED DUCK, COMMON LOON, PELAGIC CORMORANT, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES.

Reports of 5-8 BALD EAGLES on Gull Island, another of 15 in the area!

Beluga Slough

BELTED KINGFISHER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (sp.), GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, CACKLING GEESE, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS, AMERICAN WIGEON, GREEN-WINGED TEAL.

Beluga Lake Platforms

TRUMPETER SWAN pair apparently nesting across the water, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and DARK-EYED JUNCOS singing away, also PACIFIC WRENS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS in the area.  VARIED THRUSH, WILSON’S SNIPE.

(Coyote seen at noon across in the grassy area.)

Calvin and Coyle Trail

NORTHERN GOSHAWK, BROWN CREEPER, PINE GROSSBEAK, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET

Other parts of town…

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER at Seaside Farms. RING-NECKED PHEASANT nearby.

Anchor River

SNOW GEESE (3), CACKLING GEESE, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BELTED KINGFISHER, DUNLIN, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, WHIMBREL, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, RUDDY TURNSTONE, BLACK TURNSTONE, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, LEAST SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, ARCTIC TERN, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.

Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival Bird Report: 5-3-17  9:00 pm—UPDATE

Pair of GREAT BLUE HERON in Beluga Slough (reported this evening).

YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS at Seaside Farms (5 miles out East End Rd.).

Omitted earlier but seen on Wednesday: LAPLAND LONGSPUR (3) at Green Timbers.

Also don’t forget to report crane sightings and their nesting activities to reports@cranewatch.org or call 907-235-6262.  Be sure to include your own contact information in case they need additional information.

Kachemak Bay/Homer Festival Bird Report: 5-3-17

A strong wind blew late yesterday and that was what it took to blow us in a super great group of species just in time for our Shorebird Festival which is starting!  Fantastic to spot a BAR-TAILED GODWIT flying over Green Timbers this morning and find a MARBLED GODWIT in Mud Bay.  Probable FOS: LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, WANDERING TATTLER, and OSPREY! George Matz will post an in-depth account of the shorebird monitoring this morning, but some of the highlights are below.

Mud Bay

WESTERN SANDPIPER (~1000), DUNLIN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, MARBLED GODWIT, WHIMBREL, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, BONAPARTE’S GULL, GLAUCOUS GULL (im.), BRANT, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPER.

Lighthouse Village

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST SANDPIPER, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS.

Green Timbers

BAR-TAILED GODWIT (flyover), LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, WHIMBREL, DUNLIN, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, LEAST SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PEREGRINE FALCON, SAVANNAH SPARROW, AMERICAN PIPIT, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, ARCTIC TERN, RED-THROATED LOON (one group of 7; total 14 seen!).

Bar-tailed Godwit photo by Aaron Lang

Louie’s Lagoon

SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, PACIFIC GOLDEN PLOVER, WHIMBREL, SURFBIRDS (~350), BLACK TURNSTONE, LEAST SANDPIPER, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, DUNLIN, DOWITCHER, BRANT.

End of the Spit

SURFBIRDS (~300 probably same group as in Louie’s), RUDDY TURNSTONES, BLACK TURNSTONES, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, WANDERING TATTLERS (in Harbor).

Beluga Slough

GREATER YELLOWLEGS, WESTERN SANDPIPERS, DUNLIN, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, OSPREY, GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE, CACKLING GEESE, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOWS

Anchor River

DUNLIN, BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, WHIMBREL, GREATER YELLOWLEGS, RUDDY TURNSTONE, BLACK TURNSTONE, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, LEAST SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, ARCTIC TERN, VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW.

Beluga Lake Platforms

TRUMPETER SWAN pair apparently nesting across the water, RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and DARK-EYED JUNCOS singing away, also PACIFIC WRENS, GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLETS in the area.

Out East End Rd

Over the weekend the following were seen: SHARP-SHINNED HAWK and ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK (~Mile 3), NORTHERN HARRIER (~Mile 5).  Songbirds singing and building nests at Seaside Farms and elsewhere.  GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS and FOX SPARROWS singing; SAVANNAH SPARROWS not singing yet.

In the past few weeks, groups of SANDHILL CRANES have been seen on the beach just east of Miller’s Landing, in the evening mid-tide.  Often they don’t feed there until the fall but speculation that maybe there was less food up higher?  A large group of 150 was seen out in the Fernwood Rd area, (~7 miles out).