Red Squirrel

Looks like I'll be cleaning under the couch today
A Red Squirrel! Alva brought this in when Ross and I were making lunch. I was getting a picture of the squirrel with Alva when she threw the squirrel out from under and towards me making me scream as Ross described "like a little girl"

Red squirrels are active year round and are the only tree squirrel active during the day. Alaska has only one other tree squirrel, the northern flying squirrel, active only at night. There are no chipmunks in Alaska. The Red Squirrel's diet is mostly made up of conifer seeds. In the summer they collect thousands of green spruce cones to stash for the winter. Though they have been seen eating bird eggs and mushrooms.

Winter Wren

Just when I thought that Alva and Ivor had giving up hunting for the season....

I came home to a winter wren. If the legs look weird that is because they are not attached to the bird.

Wrens are small, about 4'', all brown with a short tail and dusky bars on belly and flanks.

When approached, wrens usually bob up and down nervously

They are commonly found on the ground nesting on roots of upturned trees, old stump or brush piles.

The last green bird left destroyed!

The last green bird was destroyed. The Christmas tree was put up the day after Thanksgiving and the kitties have been very interested in breaking all remaining ornaments that did not get broken last year. They have about twenty more to break, maybe then we can get into some real posting.

This happened at 5:00am. Big crash. Ross looked at me and said calmly, lets plug it in."

Oh but they are so cute!

Turduckin

Ross and Jess brought home a bird today, a turduckin.

Turduckins are rare in Ketchikan, Alaska. There are about

ten a year made by the local butcher

Turduckins are large birds, this one weighed 23lb!

No feathers or bones makes for easy identification

Fox sparrow

Alive Fox Sparrow

First Snow! Thought this would slow hunting, note Alva wearing bell.
So this was a tricky one. I sent a picture to ADF&G and they identified it as a Fox Sparrow. I thought it was a gray cheecked thrush which is a species of concern and wanted to double check if it was, but it wasn't. Fox sparrows have a conspicuous buff eye ring (check) and this ring rules out Gray-cheeked Thrush because they have a indistinct eye ring. Fox sparrows also has a speckled area in front of eyes. Their beeks are a yellow/brown in color as well, unlike the thrush.

ADF&G also noted cats are effective hunters (even when de-clawed and belled.) Also noted was that I should keep my cats inside and walk them outside on a leash and be careful not to let them too close to birds even then.

Common in southeast Alaska in fall

Habitat mixed deciduous conifers, shrubs, thickets. Nests low in tree or bushes.

Darked eyed Junco 3

Another dark-eyed Junco, male (black hood), diffently caught by Ivor. Sorry about the blood, fresh kill. I did notice though Varied Thrushes have orange legs and Juncos have black. Junco's upper back is also a dark brown, not really coming up well in the photos. Ross is getting tired of juncos and thrushes

Varied Thrush 3

Not sure who caught this one, but I'm guessing Ivor

It's a male varied thrush because of the black band around neckIts been a week since the last bird was brought home. I was starting to think that birding may be over for the season. Ross and I were leaving to get a bottle of champagne for Saturday morning mimosas when Ross discovered the bird. "You have another blog posting"

Alva's Dark eyed Junco

Arrow pointing to Dark eye Junco

Ross and I were eating breakfast when Alva brought in her bird. Note she was wearing her bell.

Dark-eyed Junco 'Oregon Race'

When I came home from work today I did not think there was any birds in the house until Ross came home. He thought there was only one bird till I told him there was two heads and four legs.

Flashy white tail feathers with a pink bill. Juncos breeding south of Yakutat Bay have (males)black hood and (females) gray hood. This is a male, I mean they are males. There are four related 'races' all have a dark hood and light outer tail feathers.

Nests on ground. Common in southeast Alaska in Fall months

Varied Thrush 2

Another Varied Thrush today. Notice the black band around the next indicating this is a male. After identifying the thrush yesterday I have noticed there are many in the area right now, they must be migrating through.

Varied Thrush

Field Markings:9 1/2", orange stripe behind eye, males have black breast band females have grey. (This is a female)

Life Notes: Forests from sea level to Alpine, prefers damp forests and nests in conifers from 5 to 15 feet above ground. It migrates in a east-west pattern. Usually very elusive feeding on the ground in dense vegetation. Tosses leaves around in search of fallen berries and insects.

Common in fall in Southeast Alaska

1-2 broods per year, 3-5 eggs pale blue with brown markings, 12-14 days incubation

Meet the Kitties

Ivor and Alva joined our family in 2009. They were adopted from Haukness who didn't like to clean litter boxes. The kitties stayed inside till the spring of 2010. When exploring the outside world they discovered a fondness towards birds and mice. Both cats are collared with bells but seem to beat the odds and bring home their prey. I wanted to learn something from the fauna brought home and decided to identify them to lean more about the migration patterns here in Southeast Alaska. I posted my findings so that others could learn more as well.