Submitted by: Deborah Brocke
The 32nd annual Talkeetna-Trapper Creek Birdathon was held under sunny skies, with 30 participants to the gathering bearing short lists of bird species. The group total was 59 species, a below-average count, but enthusiasm for early spring birding seemed to be at its usual high. More snow cover than average limited human access to a few birding spots, except to those willing to ski or snowshoe, but frozen lakes and ponds concentrated waterfowl on the open water of inlets and outlets.
The best represented group of birds were swans, geese, and ducks, with 17 species seen out of 34 listed on past Birdathons. Notably absent were Northern Shovelers, which have been seen nearly every other year.
Dale Saunders’ Crane Sanctuary in Trapper Creek was lively with the loud bugling, dancing, and comings-and-goings of over 100 Lesser Sandhill Cranes and three Greater White-Fronted Geese, but it wasn’t a year for flocks of ducks, shorebirds or longspurs in the fields, or hawks overhead.
Bill FitzGerald, with the highest number of species for a birder traveling non-motorized, saw two flocks of Snow Geese flying down the Talkeetna River, which is only the second time they’ve been recorded on Birdathon, 2021 being the first time.
Mary Ostermick spotted some Red-necked Phalaropes on one of the Numbered Lakes, bringing the shorebird species up to 5 out of 17 on the Birdathon list.
Jim and Kathy Trump were in the right place at the right time for a fly-over of an Osprey at the Fish Lake outlet, and 12-year-old Jasper Marder reported the only Belted Kingfisher to be found.
The only owl seen or heard on Birdathon was a Northern Saw-Whet Owl, at the opening of its nest box.
In the songbird department, Adam Bartles added a new species, Cliff Swallows, to the Birdathon list. Otherwise, early-arriving songbirds were scarce this year, with 14 species out of 36 reported on other Birdathons. Few were singing besides Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Juncos. For the second year in a row, no one identified a Boreal Chickadee, after 30 years of listing them.
Mammals seen over the 24 hour count were several otters, beavers, and a moose.
Kathy Ernst won the magpie pin, and Deborah Brocke and Jeff Robinson had the highest individual or team count of 38 species. A shorter Birdathon list means there are that many more birds to find in the coming weeks!
