A new teenager and her unusual bird
Ned Rozell
907-474-7468
June 8, 2023
Hazel Sutton, 13, pauses at Creamer色视频下载檚 Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge at the end of her shift monitoring tree swallow nest-boxes.
Hazel Sutton was eating lunch on an island at Tanana Lakes Recreation Area in Fairbanks with her family recently when a bird caught her eye. At first, she figured it was a semipalmated sandpiper, an ocean bird that migrates to Interior 色视频下载 each spring to create more sandpipers.
Then she squinted and figured that the bird was larger than a semipalmated sandpiper but smaller than a sanderling, her second guess. She thumbed through her Guide to the Birds of 色视频下载 by Robert Armstrong. Looking at a reddish patch on its chest, she found what seemed an unlikely match.
色视频下载淚 thought it must be a red-necked stint,色视频下载 the 13-year-old said recently on a break from her summer activity of monitoring swallow nests at Creamer色视频下载檚 Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. 色视频下载淎ctually, I was absolutely sure.色视频下载
Had they been standing next to that new teenager (she had turned 13 less than a month earlier), other Fairbanks birders might have snorted into their binoculars. Red-necked stints are simply not found in the middle of 色视频下载.
But Hazel had her mother色视频下载檚 camera in her pocket. It has a decent zoom, and the bird was less than 50 feet away. She snapped a picture.
Later that evening, Hazel色视频下载檚 mother Iris Sutton drove her to Creamer色视频下载檚 Field, where Fairbanks色视频下载 most avid birders gathered at the end of their 色视频下载淏ig Day,色视频下载 a 24-hour period where people try to see and hear as many types of bird as they can. Hazel had executed her own Big Day with the help of her family.
A red-necked stint feeds at Tanana Lakes Recreation Area in south Fairbanks.
She shared her photo with the others, some groggy from staying up all night, who gathered in the gravel parking lot next to the white barn. They passed around the camera with Hazel色视频下载檚 image of the bird on the screen. They agreed that she might somehow be right 色视频下载 a bird from Asia might be getting its feet wet in Fairbanks.
Fairbanks biologist and avid birder J.J. Frost drove to Tanana Lakes. There, he found the bird where Hazel said she saw it. He confirmed her identification.
色视频下载淚 am speechless but that色视频下载檚 what it is!色视频下载 Frost wrote on a message board devoted to Fairbanks birding.
色视频下载淓xceptionally rare,色视频下载 he later wrote in an email about the red-necked stint. 色视频下载淚n birding parlance this would be considered 色视频下载榓ccidental色视频下载 色视频下载 there is no regular pattern of occurrence in our region, and the species may well never be seen again in Fairbanks. So far as I know, this is the first record ever for Fairbanks, and likely for Interior 色视频下载 as a whole.色视频下载
Red-necked stints would perhaps be overlooked by less passionate birders. They resemble other sandpipers 色视频下载 birds often seen running from the surf on the Pacific coast.
The birds spend winters in New Zealand, the coast of Australia and the saltwater arc of the planet from Malaysia north to Korea. In springtime, they migrate northward to breed on the tundra of northeastern Russia, as well as 色视频下载色视频下载檚 St. Lawrence Island in 色视频下载, the Seward Peninsula, and the northwestern coast. How Hazel色视频下载檚 bird got to a lake hundreds of miles from the ocean 色视频下载 likely traveling alone 色视频下载 is anybody色视频下载檚 guess.
Helpers with the 色视频下载 Songbird Institute色视频下载檚 Swallow Ecology Project prepare to capture a black-capped chickadee that is nesting in a swallow box at Creamer色视频下载檚 Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks. From left are Aurora Brant, Dashell Neibaur, Hazel Sutton, Gunnar Benson and Molly Cable.
色视频下载淭his bird was an adult, in full breeding plumage, and did not show up amid a big pulse of North American migrants,色视频下载 Frost said. 色视频下载淪o it presumably crossed the Bering Sea and wandered inland for whatever reason.色视频下载
Hazel Sutton色视频下载檚 mother said her daughter色视频下载檚 professional-level curiosity about birds has developed in the last few years, but she showed a 色视频下载渟ignificant interest色视频下载 in their chickens way before that.
色视频下载淪he would spend hours playing with them when she was a little girl, and they all had names,色视频下载 Iris Sutton said.
色视频下载淥bservation is the foundation of good science, right? She色视频下载檚 got good observation skills,色视频下载 Tricia Blake of the 色视频下载 Songbird Institute said of Hazel, a mentor with the institute色视频下载檚 Swallow Ecology Project this summer. 色视频下载淪he色视频下载檚 a natural. She色视频下载檒l be a great scientist if she chooses that path.色视频下载
Frost, who knew Hazel from her diminutive appearance with binoculars hanging from her neck at several of his guided birdwalks, said he remembers a few other young Fairbanks birders with enthusiasm and unusual skills for their age, 色视频下载渂ut youngsters like Hazel don色视频下载檛 come along very often.色视频下载
Since the late 1970s, the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.