Loons Displaying

The warm weather continues and even the big drifts around the house are shrinking fast.  The lake level is still high but it is draining and many of the small ponds have their polygon ridges out of the water now.

Today started out with light rain for a few hours then cleared and we reached a high of +56F, the warmest day we have had so far.  Also, it was the first day with fair weather cumulus clouds, a sure sign of a warm day. Being close to the frozen Arctic Ocean, as the wind turned to the north, we were slowly enveloped by coastal fog.  The photo shows our home as you look back towards the South.

The loons are starting to get quite active and some were seen doing their courting display, running on top of the water side by side, much like photos one sees of grebes.  At least three pair of Red-throated Loons were in the river by the house or calling from the nearby ponds.  For the first time the male Yellow-billed Loon was heard giving his territorial yodel, as well as their more mournful cry.  Right is the Yellow-billed Loon just landing in the open water around the edge of our lake.

From my evening walks, it looks like it is going to be an excellent year for Semipalmated Sandpipers, as there is a very high density of them on the island this year.  Pectorals seem to be the next most common, then Red-necked Phalaropes, with a few Dunlin, Long-billed Dowitchers, and Red Phalaropes about.   I did see one pair of Black-bellied Plovers this afternoon, so maybe we will have them nesting locally.

Left is one of the many pairs of Brant nesting around the local area.

Break-up Over

This morning (May 27th) the last of the up-river channel ice drifted by and the river is open to boating above the Lodge.  The channel is still plugged with ice on down stream of the house to the ocean.  It was a long, drawn-out process this year, but in the end the only thing that was impacted was the runway being under water for several days.  Depending on weather, it could take up to two weeks for all of the runway to dry out and be usable. 

Yesterday morning we awoke to 4.5 inches of fresh and very wet snow on the ground and the area was back to 100% snow cover.  This brought the Ruddy Turnstones and Lapland Longspurs back to the feeders in large numbers.  Many of the longspurs were just staying by the feeders, roosting out of the wind and snow and not going back out to their territories.  With over 50 turnstones feeding with the Snow Buntings and longspurs it took lots of seed and fish to get through the stormy day.  By late evening, clearing skies warmed up the day and with the ensuing melting the feeder birds started moving back out on the tundra.

Even with all the stormy weather, more birds have arrived and we now have over 250 pair of brant.  They, along with the other geese (white-fronted and snow), are busy checking out nesting spots in the surrounding nesting areas.  New birds are American Golden Plover, Long-billed Dowitcher, Red Phalarope, Northern Pintail, Long-tailed Duck, Savanna Sparrow, and today our first pair of King Eiders.

Pair of Red Phalarope’s  just returned to the Arctic. 

Male Lapland Longspurs waiting out the storm near the feeders.

Break-up Underway & More Birds

Break-up continues as the river rises enough to cause minor flooding on the lower sections of the island, including our runway. With the early flooding, none of the geese that are around have started nest building, so we won’t have any nests being washed away this spring.

Since the last post, more birds have arrived early with Sabine’s Gulls, Brant, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope feeding locally. Also a Sandhill Crane, and two Whimbrel were seen flying by, headed in a easterly direction.

More Lapland Longspurs have arrived and the females are becoming more numerous. The males have dispersed out around the island and have started their territorial flights, singing as they glide down to earth. I have seen them coming from as far away as 1.5 miles to feed from the feeders I have out. Several are banded from past seasons, but I haven’t started the banding for this season yet.

At last count, we had 12 nest boxes being used by Snow Buntings this year. I watched the female to the nest box by the kitchen window trying to carry several ptarmigan feathers at the same time. The wind was giving her a bad time as it kept blowing the largest one out of her bill as she went to pick up some of the smaller ones. Persistence paid off and she finally headed up to the nest box with all her selected feathers. Now that she is adding feather lining to the nest bowl she is getting close to start laying.

After two days of strong east winds and freezing fog, a switch to a southwest wind has brought warmer temperatures and the birds have been spending more time out on the tundra. I haven’t seen a large movement of Brant yet, but as the day continues (24th), more and more pairs are seen out in the nesting areas. Already there are some pairs fussing over the better nesting mounds and small islands.

A big dark Snowy Owl had the ground squirrels on alert this morning. The owl was using their mound as a look out and they weren’t too happy about it.

Jim