By Joseph Robertia
Photos courtesy of Carol Griswold. A Siberian
Accentor — a small bird with a brown-streaked back and yellowish eyebrows and
underparts — showed up in Seward late last month.
 |
| Wikipedia |
Redoubt Reporter
While lightning rarely strikes the same spot
twice, an equally unusual occurrence has been happening on the Kenai Peninsula
this winter as not just one, but two more rare bird sightings have taken place
in a winter already marked by a number of odd avian identifications.
A Siberian Accentor — a small bird with a
brown-streaked back and yellowish eyebrows and underparts — showed up in Seward
late last month, while several small groups of bramblings — long-winged,
long-tailed birds with orange to their breasts and shoulders — have been seen
in not just Seward, but several other locations, since their November arrival.
“The Siberian Accentor is really exciting. The
last observation of one was in Hope back about 20 years ago, so this is a big
deal,” said Ken Tarbox, of the Keen Eye Birders, a retired Alaska Department of
Fish and Game biologist, and one of the organizers of the Kenai Peninsula
Wildlife Viewing Trail Guide.
Seward birders Kit and Janet Durnil first
spotted the Siberian Accentor on Jan. 22. They knew they had never seen a bird
with a mask like the accentor, but they weren’t entirely sure what they were
seeing. They called Carol Griswold, an avid Seward birder who leads bird-watching
trips to see unusual species, such as this.
Griswold said that the bird has been a little
tricky to spot. It’s been moving a bit and also traveling with other birds,
including varied thrush and fox, golden-crowned, white-crowned and song
sparrows.
No comments:
Post a Comment