With the strong winds of last night, I thought it might be fruitful to go out to Starrigavan and look around for birds. We didn’t end up getting started as soon as I might have liked and only ended up having time to walk around the Estuary Life trail. Several Song Sparrows and Lincoln’s Sparrows were scattered around the estuary (throughout the sedge/grass area for the former, and mostly along the upper margin for the latter). While leading the way, Rowan noticed a deer walking away from the boardwalk at the upper end that I was able to get a glimpse of before it disappeared into the brush and forest. Connor was far enough back that he didn’t see it, but he decided to see if he could find its trail. While he was doing that, Rowan wanted to see if she could figure out why a couple of squirrels were making a racket.
There were probably 100 or more crows along Starrigavan Creek in the section down from the trail bridge. They were actively calling, sometimes flying up into the trees, and other times back down to the river banks. I first noticed them from the far side of the estuary, but didn’t realize just how many there were until they all flew off in a large flock as we were walking along Nelson logging road. It was interesting to hear the different calls (especially in terms of pitch) coming from (presumably) different crows.
Around 7pm this evening, Connor pointed out a flock of about 100 Greater White-fronted Geese flying south. They’re the first I’ve seen this fall.
This afternoon I recorded a conversation with Nancy Huntly for use on a future radio show.
This evening we went to a talk about mushrooms by Kate Mohatt, who works in the Chugach National forest.
After the talk while headed to the car I noticed a sort of cricket sounding chirp several times (sounding like it coming from different places each time). I wondered if it might have been a storm-petrel. While visiting with a couple of folks, I also heard shorebirds fly by (and not very high) – I think they may have been Dunlin, but I’m not sure. Connor said he saw a couple of sparrows fly by while he was waiting in the car for me (we were parked near a light).
