This is the quietest spring I’ve experienced. It’s not my hearing. The Merlin app is hardly picking any bird songs up.

"Swallows usually show up in the spring time or when winter months are over in Alaska."

October flew by leaving us with a couple of light snowfalls. November came around with something slightly more impressive, but it wasn't the same. Mid December decided to make up for all of the snowfalls that we missed all at once, it seems like.

Between the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2022, APU students observed a dramatic decrease in the number of Peregrine Falcons between Eagle and Circle, Alaska.

The cormorants moved in when the peregrins did not return this year. "We believe (they did not return) because of the bird flu."

A cormorant was observed in White Mountain. See also recent report from Golovin.

"Since about May 25, crews have been seeing multiple species showing what we believe are signs of highly pathogenic avian influenza. The signs we are seeing widespread is a headshaking that we equate to "getting the cobwebs out", like a person may do when they first wake up. This behavior occurs regularly every couple minutes. This behavior has been observed in: black brant, cackling geese, bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, lapland longspurs, spectacled eiders, emperor geese, greater white-fronted geese, sabines gulls, glaucous gulls, and red-necked phalaropes."

"This is the first time in our lives that we have seen a cormorant in Kotzebue Sound."

Over the past five days there have been increasing reports of unusual behavior in a variety of bird species including brant goose, snow goose, white-fronted goose, and Canada goose.

This brant was seen at Mile 16 of the Nome-Council Road exhibiting spinning behavior.

This video shot on Thursday May 19th, shows the erratic circling behavior of a Canada goose. Although the cause is unknown, this type of behavior is according to USGS, "highly suggestive" of an infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

A passenger on a small commercial plane flying between Nome and Golovin reported seeing 5-6 swans all motionless, floating on a pond. The reason of the behavior is unknown.

A number of sick and / or dying songbirds were reported in McCarthy including pine grosbeaks and red polls. A sickly golden eagle was reported ten days earlier. "It flew up to a tree top but appeared weak and a bit awkward."

I was watching a flock of redpolls at my feeder when I noticed one unusual member with a huge white body. See photo.

This small owl was sighted perching under a building. LEO Network looking for some help on an identification.

On a hiking trip, observer sees a lone pair of Flamingos at Sidi Boughaba Lake National Park. This was not expected from a sociable bird species that travel in large flocks.

Double-crested cormorants have been observed in the St Lawrence River region, with record-breaking numbers, in recent years.

Swallow populations are fluctuating as the environment changes. In 2016, the Alaska Songbird Institute began studying changes in swallow populations and formed the Alaska Swallow Monitoring Network. This is an opportunity for participation for community members to participate in a structured monitoring program.

A flock of Speckle Belly geese re-visit Seldovia.

Unidentified birds may be Pine Grosbeaks (Pinicola enucleator), whose species range extends to some parts of the Alaska Peninsula.