A mid-May surge of spring migration brought snow geese through Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, where their stopover timing and numbers vary widely year to year depending on environmental conditions.
An unusual growth was found in a snow goose (Anser caerulescens) while it was being butchered. The growth may be related to a previous injury or illness that the bird healed from.
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.
Warming temperatures and declining ice cover at Izembek Lagoon are leading thousands of Pacific black brant to overwinter in the Bering Sea instead of flying to southern wintering grounds.
In May and June, dead birds, mostly murres, have been washing up on beaches on St. Lawrence Island, Shishmaref and east Norton Sound.
Hundreds of birds washed up on the shores of St. Lawrence Island.
The Nome Nugget
Observations From Members