Day 2, September 8, 2006. Anchorage area and departure from Whittier. 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
After a 6:00 a.m. buffet breakfast, most of the group boarded two buses for a morning of birding around Anchorage. Although some of the areas were repeats for those that had joined us yesterday, we still managed to find some new birds. Chief among them was a late lingering juvenile Hudsonian Godwit at Westchester Lagoon. Hudsonian Godwit, one of the rarer breeding shorebirds in North America, breeds in four widely separated areas in subarctic North America. One of those areas is right around Anchorage, and the flats off of downtown are one of the best places to see this species during its breeding season. Most have migrated south by early September though, so we counted ourselves lucky to find one roosting with Short-billed Dowitchers and Greater Yellowlegs on the small island in the lagoon.
Ship Creek had more gulls at high tide than it did yesterday on a falling tide, but we were unable to refind the California Gull. One bus headed from there back to Ship Creek hatchery, where the dippers were again cooperative. The other bus birded Kincaid Park, where certain foot parties found Spruce Grouse, and others had Boreal Chickadee, Northern Flicker, and Hermit Thrush.
After a buffet lunch, three buses headed east towards Portage and Whittier at 13:10. A stop at Potter's Marsh produced a distant Pacific Loon. Trumpeter Swans were seen there and farther down the road near Girdwood. Once the vans made it through the Portage—Whittier tunnel, we found ourselves with some time before boarding. I think we drove every last road in that tiny town and got a quick history from our drivers and tour guides. Birding highlights may have been the Northwestern Crows and Steller's Jays, but the overall highlight may have been the espressos that some explorers managed to uncover near the docks.
After boarding the ship, some birders braved the light rain and sea-watched as we moved south in Prince William Sound, finding kittiwakes, gulls, two Parasitic Jaegers, 100+ Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels, and two curious Steller's sea lions before dark.
Species of greater interest seen between Anchorage and Whittier September 6-8 include:
Trumpeter Swan
Greater Scaup
White-winged Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Spruce Grouse
Pacific Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Bald Eagle
Northern Goshawk
"Harlan's" Red-tailed Hawk
Merlin
Sandhill Crane
Hudsonian Godwit
Wilson's Snipe
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Gray Jay
Steller's Jay
Northwestern Crow
Boreal Chickadee
American Dipper
Varied Thrush
"Sooty" Fox Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Common Redpoll