Birdathon features above-average count, one missing regular, and predator-prey drama

This report on the 2021 Birdathon was contributed by Deborah Brocke.

The group of area birders who participated in the 31st annual Talkeetna-Trapper Creek Birdathon tallied 71 species over the 24 hour event.  That count beats the average by about five species.

The location with the most variety of species over the weekend was the public access at Little Montana Lake. Spread across the remaining ice and water of the lake were a variety of ducks and a couple species of gulls, a swan, and a loon. Overhead were an Osprey, Bald Eagle, and an uncommon passerine, the Rusty Blackbird, which added its “rusty gate” sounds to the ever-present energetic song of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Chris and Barb Mannix took home the trophy and a crown, with 49 species. Green birders Billy and Sean Fitzgerald biked and hiked their way to 40 species, and Wade Hopkins, birding from his home at a remote lake north of Talkeetna, texted his top birds to the group around the fire. He had several notable sightings: the first Snow Goose to the Birdathon list, some Redheads, which had only been listed one other time, Canvasbacks, and a Savannah Sparrow. Other unusual birds on the group list were a Semi-palmated Sandpiper, a Saw-whet Owl, a Swainson’s Thrush, and a Song Sparrow.

Roger Robinson was the winner of the magpie pin, having spotted the first magpie just minutes after Birdathon started.

Some birders watched struggles between predator and prey. As evening light faded, Hopkins saw Great Horned Owls kill at least two ducks, and Shelby and Carson Whitecar told of a protracted bald eagle vs. duck and gull drama.

Absent from the Birdathon list this spring, for the first time, were any sightings of Boreal Chickadees.

Residents are looking ahead to more weeks of good birding as migrants continue to arrive and start nesting.