newsminer.com

Photo by Sam Harrel

What a difference a week makes. Last week we had 10 inches of new snow and it felt like winter was hanging on as long as possible, and this week temperatures soared into the high 50s with lows overnight just below freezing. These warm, spring-like temperatures in combination with more than 16 hours of daylight make for great migration conditions — as well as a fast spring break-up — and the birds have responded.

The big story has been the arrival of waterfowl, with mostly Canada geese into the area. As of Tuesday, there were 600-plus Canada geese, as well as three greater white-fronted and a lone snow goose was spotted at Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge on Monday mingling with the Canadas.

Snow geese are smaller and stockier — not to mention much whiter — than Canada geese. They have a white body with black wing tips, a pink bill and pink legs. Snow geese are rarely seen in Fairbanks unless bad weather disrupts their migration and they are forced to land to wait it out, according to Dan Gibson, ornithology collections manager at the University of Alaska Museum.

“It’s only nasty weather that puts them on the ground here,” he said.

The snow goose was likely en route to Russia’s Wrangell Island, which is northwest of Alaska in the Chukchi Sea. Most of the snow geese that pass through Alaska nest on Wrangell Island, Gibson said.

Trumpeter swans are starting to migrate into the area, as are gulls.The first herring gulls were spotted flying along the Chena River near Pioneer Park on April 15, with large flocks seen roosting along the Chena, the gravel pits along Lathrop Street and 23rd Avenue, and also at Creamer’s Field. A glaucous gull, a not-so-common visitor to the Interior, was seen among a flock of 100 herring gulls here on Sunday. Other waterfowl being seen in the Fairbanks area include: mallards, common goldeneye, common mergansers, American widgeon, northern pintails and canvasbacks.

An American kestrel was seen along Chena Hot Springs Road on Sunday. The dark phased red-tailed (Harlan’s) hawk is still being seen along Sheep Creek and Goldhill roads. Northern goshawks are still being seen in the area as well.

On the songbird front, the first northern flicker of the year was seen along the Gilmore Trail on April 14, while the first slate-colored junco was possibly heard Sunday on the west side of Sheep Creek Road near Sheep Creek Extension. Common redpolls and large flocks of snow buntings are still active in the area.

The first day of banding at Alaska Bird Observatory’s migration station at Creamer’s Field netted 66 birds, the majority of which were redpolls. These guys are nesting right now, so be on the lookout for breeding behaviors such as nestbuilding and incubation. You might see birds flitting about with nesting material (i.e. fireweed fluff from last year, bark or grasses) or else you might spot a female already sitting on eggs. Also, males will be mate-guarding their females, so seeing pairs of redpolls is quite common as well.

No other songbird migrants were seen or heard at Creamer’s Field as of Tuesday but this will change quickly with the warmer temperatures and the snow melting to expose open water and fields.

Down the Richardson Highway, the Tanana River is slowly freeing itself of ice and the birds are taking advantage. Twelve common mergansers and a bufflehead, as well as a few bald eagles were seen over the weekend. Raptors are still making a fine showing in the Delta area. A trip to the area Sunday yielded a great-horned and northern hawk owl, a northern harrier, and a bald eagle. The buteos are still in force here with 19 red-tailed (Harlan’s) hawks, 12 rough-legged hawks and 33 buteos too far away to get a known species identity.

Clearwater Lake on the same day had loads of Canada geese as well as 12 greater white-fronted geese, 20 trumpeter swans, six common mergansers, six common goldeneye, two northern pintail and one lone mew gull among 50 herring gulls. Resident passerine species were also seen in the area, including gray jays, black-billed magpies, boreal chickadees, and common redpolls.

Down the Parks Highway, the town of Cantwell had a flock of 20 snow buntings, while Denali National Park and Preserve yielded five snow buntings and a gray jay on April 13. The big news from this area was a gray-crowned rosy finch that visited a birdfeeder in Healy on April 16.

Please contribute to these reports by calling in your bird sightings to the Alaska Bird Observatory (451-7159) or the Arctic Audubon Society Birding hot line (451-9213).