Date: 4/17/26 11:32 pm From: George Matz via groups.io <geomatz41...> Subject: [AKBirding] Shorebird Monitoing Session #2
Kachemak Bay Shorebird Monitoring Project
2026 Session #2
The Thaw Begins
On Thursday, April 16 the Kachemak Bay Birders had its second of nine
scheduled shorebird monitoring sessions for this year. Our sessions last
two hours. This session started at 4:30 PM For consistency, starting time
is when the outgoing tide approaches 15.0 feet, or high tide if less than
that. This morning when we started monitoring, the high tide was 15.2 feet.
High tide was 18.9 feet at 2:46 PM. This is our 18th consecutive year of
monitoring, following the same protocol each year. Because our monitoring
dates try to bracket the spring shorebird migration, the first and last
sessions tend to have just a few shorebird sightings. All observations are
submitted to eBird and the ISS portal.
Despite the cold drizzle, once again the intrepid Kachemak Bay Birders
showed up for the count! We had 18 birders at Spit sites, 3 at Beluga
Slough, 1 at Seldovia, 5 on a boat across the bay, 5 at the Anchor River,
and 2 at the Kasilof River. We cover most of the Cook Inlet side of the
Kenai Peninsula. The total was 34 birders, which included 3 from KBC’s
Semester by the Bay Program.
With temperatures in the 30’s and low 40’s most of the past couple of days,
plus some light rain, ice in the intertidal areas is quickly melting away,
exposing grassy areas that foraging waterfowl are attracted to. According
to the NWS at the Homer Airport at the base of the Spit (
https://forecast.weather.gov/data/obhistory/PAHO.html ), at 3:53 PM winds
were calm, the sky was overcast with a light rain, the temperature was 43°,
and the barometric pressure was 29.79”. At 6:53 PM, there was a light wind
from the W at 6 mph, the overcast skies and drizzle continued, the
temperature was 42°, and the barometric pressure dropped a bit to 28.78”.
One of the objectives of this project is to note disturbances to shorebirds
as well as waterfowl. During our two-hour observation period, there were a
couple of times that the entire flock of ducks (about 250) took flight, as
if they were trying to evade an avian predator. We searched the sky but
didn’t see any. Two Bald Eagles that were in the area were still sitting in
their trees. Then, just as the session was ending, all the ducks took
flight once again and a Northern Goshawk landed on the top of a small
spruce not far from where we were sitting. It certainly appeared as if it
were responsible for the ducks taking flight. It could have been
responsible for the other flights.
An earlier disturbance we observed is when the ducks and geese that were
foraging on the grassy areas took flight each time a C-130 did a touch and
go (about 3 times) at the airport. The go (departing) part of the flight
was right over Mariner Lagoon. These planes are much noisier and disturbing
than the single engine and prop-jet planes, which are the usual traffic for
Homer Airport. Based on my observations at Mariner Park Lagoon over the
last 17 years, I haven’t seen that the typical airplane traffic, which
follows a predictable flight pattern, has triggered much disturbance to
waterfowl or shorebirds. However, helicopters are an exception. A safety
issue that may need to be looked into is whether these C-130's should be
taking off (when the engine noise is much greater) going to the west. The
plane wasn't that much above the ducks and geese. In fact, some of the
earlier duck flights would have been right in the flight of this plane. It
might not be an issue if the plane landed from the west and took off to the
east over water. Another solution to this risk is to not schedule these
training flights during spring migration.
A few years ago, I tried to connect with the FAA about another potential
Homer Airport aircraft risk. I was standing at the observation platform on
Beluga Lake watching a flock of about 300 Greater White-fronted Geese come
in for a landing at Beluga Lake. Then I noticed a small plane on almost the
same flight pattern, but fortunately a few hundred feet parallel. I tried
contacting the FAA about this but got nowhere past their automated-reply
system. Frankly, I was interested in getting the FAA to detect and record
migrating birds. I mentioned this to a friend of a friend who was an
engineer that designed small airports. He said that the FAA was well aware
of birds near airports but found the bird radar signal was confusing to
pilots, so they squelched their signal, making it not noticeable. Based on
the difficulties I was having trying to contact the FAA, I gave up. But
maybe it needs to be resurrected. If anyone knows how to raise this issue
with the FAA, or maybe the military who owns these ancient C-130’s, have at
it.
Our Mariner Park Lagoon monitoring site is a stationary site. Basically, we
are probably going to see more birds by just sitting in an advantageous
spot (like the Doyon property) and watch for whatever comes and goes. This
gives time to just sit and talk. So, Thursday, during a lull, we were
resolving worldly issues and I thought, being an observer of the incredible
athletic ability of birds, about a probing question. I asked that if God
appointed you, when mammals were just evolving, to the Homo
sapiens evolution committee and wanted your opinion as to whether humans
should have wings or arms, what would be your choice. Because they have
wings, birds live in a 3-dimension world, rather than the 2-dimensional
world that humans are limited to. Also, they fly much faster than we can
walk or run. And, in going through the woods they don’t trip on logs or
slip on ice. It's a close call. Which would you prefer?
Getting back to shorebirds, those seen during session #2 include the
following. Numbers indicate the count for the respective site.
· Black Oystercatcher; Islands and Islets (1), Seldovia (2), Anchor
River (3).
· Black-bellied Plover; Mud Bay (9), Green Timbers (11), Louie’s
Lagoon (6). The FOS report was just a couple of days earlier.
· Rock Sandpiper; Mud Bay (260), Green Timbers (153), Louie’s
Lagoon (120). This is still a high count, indicating a slow start for their
spring migration, probably because of still wintery conditions on breeding
grounds.
· Surfbird: Islands and Islets; (3). FOS. We should learn a lot
more about this species when F&WS continues their capture and tagging
project they started in Kachemak Bay last year.
· Greater Yellowlegs; Mariner Park Lagoon (1), Green Timbers (1),
Beluga Slough (12), Anchor River (24), Kasilof River (10). Migration in
full force for this shorebird.
· Sanderling; Louie’s Lagoon (1).
Listed below are non-shorebird species seen during session #1.
