Winter bird count tallies Asian lark, vulture

• Horned lark edges out turkey buzzard as rare species among birds inventoried
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

Horned Lark

A new record was set in the annual Kachemak Bay Christmas Bird Count with 67 species tallied by a new record number of participants, a day that dawned sunny and cold.
An Asian subspecies of Horned Lark was among the day’s biggest surprise – a lark now sitting on the wrong continent far from its normal migration route. Another migrant, the short-eared owl, spotted on the Homer Spit and likely feeding on voles found in grasses, proved a rare sight. By now, this owl species should be further south, said Dave Erikson,  a Homer resident who has helped organize or participated in the Christmas bird count since the 1970s.
The slaty-backed gull, an Asian species that occasionally wanders over to North America, was among the species counted, as was the unusual presence of the white-throated sparrow.
Birders were on special alert also to scrutinize eagle sightings with an eye toward spotting a rare red hood. The turkey vulture could be mistaken from a distance for an eagle. This is one of North America’s only buzzards but its route doesn’t normally include Alaska. In fact, the first documented sighting of one was in Delta Junction in 1992. It was spotted for the first documented time in this area on the Anchor River Nov. 19 by birder Aaron Lang.

Short-eared Owl

“I was shocked to hear it was here,” said Dave Erikson, “As far as we can tell, it looks like this is a record for southcentral Alaska. It could very well have come north because they can travel long-distance and are migratory in general. It probably got disoriented and ended up here.”
Christmas bird counters typically include the Homer landfill in their search area, fortunate for this year because it provides a possible place to find the rare scavenger guest. But the vulture wasn’t spotted again beyond the initial reports, Erikson said.
As birders began their 111st Annual Christmas Bird Count across the nation Saturday, Homer observers had a long roster for tallying the usual resident and visiting birds. The most species ever counted was 65. This year’s count spotted at 67 species meant for a banner year, with many interesting species to reward birders.
The annual count covers a 7.5-mile radius, with the center at the corner of  Spit Road and Mud Bay. It then extends out into Kachemak Bay and west to the Diamond Ridge and Sterling section to include Homer’s back country.  
This year’s counters had several uncommon species to try and find, like the willow ptarmigan. This game bird, considered tasty eating by some, has a cyclical population in the area, Erikson said. “Its habitat has changed over 20-30 years. There is less quality habitat for them with increase in forest habitat. The higher country above Homer might still have some ptarmigan left.”

Turkey Vulture

Since they reproduce at a high rate, ptarmigan aren’t considered rare. But birders found it puzzling to find one at Bishop’s Beach, and another possible siting at Mariner Park Lagoon.    
One distinguished visitor noticed a few times this winter is the white-throated sparrow  that doesn’t naturally come to Kachemak Bay. “They don’t live here but sometimes end up in Homer. We have just a handful of records of them,” Erikson said.
Another is the black-bellied plover, a migrant who comes though in spring and then again in late summer or early fall. “It was delayed somehow. A number of times the migrants that are coming through stop and don’t leave. This one was spotted on the outside of the Spit,” Erikson explained.
This plover is a medium sized shorebird, short billed for a shorebird and brownish with some black plumage. It is currently hanging out in the sandy beach area of Homer Spit.
Typically, the number of birds tallied from the Christmas count is around 9,000 individuals, with big flocks like black scoters counting at more than 1,000, white-winged crossbills, at 956 last year, and the pine siskin at 942, along with the northwestern crow, 867. Steller’s eiders, classified as threatened, have counted as high as 750 individuals in the past.
“Steller’s used to be more common in the past, but now their whole population is down. We’re at the western edge of their wintering area,” Erikson said.
This year’s numbers will be made available, when tallied, on the Alaska Birders website.
Other interesting species included the northern harrier, a medium size hawk which migrates through this area. This species of hawk has not been seen on the count for many years, Erikson said.

white throated sparrow

All across the country, Christmas bird counts are yielding interesting, solid data for ornithologists. Erikson gave a talk Thursday night at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center to educate birders on what to look for as they head out in the all-day count to specific spots.
“You have a lot of people looking at a lot of areas and you come up with interesting birds in the Christmas count,” Erikson said. “They see the rare bird that would normally be missed. We really want to document what is here.”
Counting birds in winter takes stock of the stable populations since this is where they are going to be for a period of time. “The count is not held during spring or fall migration. In summer, all kinds of birds are coming or going. Winter is  a good time for comparisons of bird distribution over time. You get a picture of this winter distribution and then you can compare that-year-to year, looking at all these species over a range of time.”
Population increases and decreases can then be compared across North America.
“A lot of times, bird populations shifted and you can tell this from the Christmas count results. Even though the observers are amateurs, when they have enough of them, the data is very robust,” Erikson said.