Day 1, September 7, 2006. Arrival in Anchorage & Field Trips. Sep 07—24, 2006
Posted by Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff
Marshall Iliff, a lifelong nature lover, began birding at age 11 after attending a National Wildlife Federation Camp in the mountains of North Carolina. He attended VENT...Related Trips
Although today is the official "arrival" day for our Attu Cruise, approximately 50 participants arrived yesterday, and today took part in field trips exploring the Anchorage area. Our six vans headed first to Arctic Valley, a short distance north of Anchorage, where we drove uphill to treeline and birded along the way. The very first bird seen was a stately adult Bald Eagle perched along the roadside. The woods were quiet, but we were able to find a few breeding landbirds: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Robin, a single Yellow Warbler, and some Pine Siskins.
On our ascent, some vehicles were rewarded with great looks at a singing male Varied Thrush perched on a dead spruce snag. The lead vehicles had the find of the day—two male Spruce Grouse collecting gravel in the road—and dutifully waited for all six vans to catch up. After lengthy scope looks at the grouse, we continued uphill for a brief hike on the alpine tundra. Although there were few fall colors near sea level in Anchorage, fall has arrived higher up the mountains and the highlight for many was the foliage—bright golden aspens and burgundy blueberry leaves painted a wonderful palette at these elevations. In addition to the colors, our various parties found several species of sparrows still in their breeding areas here, including Lincoln's, Savannah, "Sooty" Fox, White-crowned, and Golden-crowned.
The groups then headed for Ship Creek, which empties into Knik Arm just north of Anchorage. It is a staging area for gulls, so we tested our skills at separating Bonaparte's, Mew, "American" Herring, and Glaucous-winged, as well as various hybrids between Herring and Glaucous-winged. Participants in four vans were treated to a third-winter California Gull, a real rarity for the Anchorage area!
Nearby Westchester Lagoon was our next stop and noteworthy for its confiding Red-necked Grebes, which breed in numbers on this small pond system adjacent to downtown. The stripe-faced juveniles were still begging food from the adults and kept us entertained while we picnicked. A variety of waterfowl, along with Horned Grebes (and a Hudsonian Godwit for the two earliest vans) boosted the variety of our day.
After lunch our vans headed in several different directions. Four vans went to Ship Creek Fish Hatchery, where an American Dipper methodically worked the shoreline along the turbulent creek waters. Close studies of a Wilson's Snipe along the pond edge there provided good practice for the Common Snipes that we hope to find later in the trip at Attu. One pair of vans headed to the hills above Anchorage at Upper Huffman Park, where the beetle-killed trees eventually produced a cooperative male American Three-toed Woodpecker. Other birds provided ample distraction, including four raptors: singles each of Osprey, Sharp-shinned, "Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk, and Northern Goshawk. The juvenile goshawk appeared suddenly in the middle of a tail-chase with the Harlan's, but peeled off quickly and disappeared.
One of the other teams visited Delong Lake, where a breeding-plumaged Pacific Loon gave stunning, up-close looks at point-blank range. Yet another van had great Trumpeter Swan looks, as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglets exposing their oft-concealed crown patch. A notable grand finale for one tandem of vans was a migrant flock of 130 Sandhill Cranes flapping and wheeling over the highway at the onset of their southbound migration.
At the end of the day, everybody was in agreement that this was a promising start to our highly anticipated trip.