Date: 7/19/26 9:50 pm From: rainyday via groups.io <c_griz...> Subject: [AKBirding] Sunday, July 19, 2026 Catch-up
Sunday, July 19, 2026 Catch-up
Seward, Alaska
Sunrise 5:10 am, sunset 11:00 pm for a total day length of 17 hours and 50 minutes. Tomorrow will be 4 minutes and 6 seconds shorter.
NOAA issued two severe Weather Alerts for Seward from Sunday morning until Tuesday morning: a Flood Watch (be prepared) and Flood Warning (take action). It rained hard all day with only a few brief breaks. Up to 6” of rain and increasing wind are forecast due to an “atmospheric river” moving up from the Kamchatka Peninsula across the Gulf in a succession of lows. Temperatures remained cool this week, in the mid 40s to low 50s.
Two bright spots in this otherwise dismal and gloomy day: RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS have not yet migrated and continued to come to feeders. It’s such an inspiration to watch these tiny but intrepid jewels zipping fearlessly through the deluge. Their raincoat is far superior to mine.
“My” VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW family is still in the nest box after a late start. At least two babies begged in their charming but insistent staccato baby voices. One baby plugged the opening, watching alertly for the food service delivery, then ramped up the excitement as dad appeared, yellow beak wide open. It’s a wonder how the parents found any insects in the downpour. I hope the babies can wait until these storms pass for their first flight into the wide world.
On July 15, I found momma GADWALL paddling along with her seven adorable ducklings in tow. An immature BALD EAGLE nearby showed a suspiciously keen interest in the young family.
SHORT-BILLED GULLS dive-bombed an “innocent” adult Bald Eagle perched on a driftwood log, hanging his wings out to dry. No doubt, fledgling gulls were in the area and potentially on the snack menu. Danger lurks everywhere for the young and vulnerable.
14 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS stitched industriously in the estuary pond with about 20 GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS. Nine flew overhead, resembling pieces of an M.C. Escher tessellation just waiting to be arranged.
The ragged clouds provided just enough veiling to allow me to once again capture sunspots on the Sun, 93 million miles away. There were two active regions this time, one on each side of the earth-facing disk. Incredible!
The TRUMPTER SWANS at Mile 1 Nash Road continued to paddle and preen, sometimes near, sometimes far. The cygnet is now about 3 weeks old and growing dramatically. When one parent stretched her enormous wings, I could see that her primary feathers are just unfurling. No wonder they preen constantly.
Note to self: get outside when you can; life goes on despite the challenging weather.
