This will be my last entry until late August whilst I’m on holiday with the family!

21st July

Still the drizzle continued as we headed back to Anchorage, a stop at a roadside lake produced 20 Arctic Terns and several depressed looking juvenile Mew Gulls. We continued and whilst travelling around the coast just before Anchorage we saw 4 Dall’s Sheep up on the rocky sloops above the road. The weather finally cleared to leave a dry end to my time in Alaska and our final hike was one to the top of Flattop Mountain where great views over the city could be had. On the road up to the hill I was stopped in my tracks as a cow Moose was happily feeding away on the roadside verge.


Dall's Sheep

The hill was actually very quiet for birds but a couple Pika and Ground Squirrels were reward enough. On the decent however a large grey bird was seen in flight briefly before being seen again as it darted into a low bush. On close inspection it was a large female Goshawk that allowed us very close as she hide in the bush before taking to the air again. Bedtime came as I boarded my plane that departed 15 minutes before midnight heading back for Toronto after having a truly great time in Alaska, enjoyed ever minute!


Moose

20th July

The famous Seward drizzle remained as we spent the morning exploring the Alaska Sealife Center where we managed to see our first Steller’s and Spectacled Eider ducklings! These little cuties have been successfully hatched in their breeding program that is still in the trial stages. We then headed into town where we found 8 Northwestern Crows and a warbler flock containing 2 Townsend’s, Orange-crowned, Tennessee and Myrtle’s in the suburbs.


Bald Eagle

Following the coast south we counted up to 8 Bald Eagles that just rest on the street telegraph poles! Approaching Lowell Point we had a look along the coast where a flock of Glaucous-winged Gulls and Kittiwakes where washing. Ben immediately picked out a group of 12 Wandering Tattlers hiding in the rocks. Out at the gulls some ducks emerged from dead trees that were resting in the water. It was a group of 16 moulting Harlequin Ducks further out was a single male Surf Scoter and several Marbled Murrelets. Back at the car were a couple Steller’s Jays moving along the wooded hillside.


Wandering Tattler

For the evening we headed up to exit glacier that we couldn’t get anywhere near to due to the glacier being unstable and the river flooding the path to the toe! But whilst driving back down the road Ben spotted a Porcupine roosting in a roadside tree.

19th July

On the road again we travelled down the coast to Seward on a wet dull day seeing just a Varied Thrush and a Goshawk on route. Once in Seward we collected our tickets from Major Marine Tours for our full day pelagic out to Holgate Glacier in the Kenai Fjords. We boarded for our departure just prior to noon and started our journey out into a very sheltered, damp and misty Resurrection Bay straight away we pulled alongside a pair of Sea Otters minding their own business. Heading further out we started to see Marbled Murrelets followed by many Tufted Puffins, a group of 5 Ancient Murrelets (4 more later), then the first Horned Puffins that were only slightly less numerous than the Tufted of which both seem massive compared to our little Atlantic cousins! As we crossed the mouth of the bay we hit some noticeable swell that got a few people turning green but we carried on as a few ocean going birds appeared first a Short-tailed Shearwater rapidly followed by a Fork-tailed Petrel (minimum of 2 seen) and then a Northern Fulmar. As we approached the sheltered bay heading around towards the glacier I was a little upset that we had left the rough seas behind. On the bright side though I could try and get some photographs again that was proving very difficult with the dull grey light.


Sea Otter


Tufted Puffin


Horned Puffin

As we cruised into the bay we came across Pigeon Guillemots, Rhinoceros Auklets. Icebergs appeared, as we got closer to the Holgate Glacier as numbers of Marbled Murrelets increased before finally we picked up 3 Kittlitz’s Murrelets! Sadly they were a little distant and flew well before the boat got anywhere near them. Arriving at the shockingly blue glacier we watched in amazement as we witness a calving of the glacier take place. After that spectacle we headed back out to open water but sadly the swell meant that we had to change our plans and headed over to Barwell Island where there were 60+ Steller’s Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks as well as thousands of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Common Murres (guillemots) nesting up the cliffs.


Marbled Murrelet

Heading a little past the island we saw the distant blow of a whale, investigation revealed it to be a Humpback Whale but sadly it only surfaced infrequently in the rough water! As did the agile, amazingly fast Dall’s Porpoise with its black and white body. We saw an estimate total of 18 with animals usual in 2’s-6’s with some even enjoying a bow ride, what fantastic creatures. Our final little adventure brought us into a bay where Glaucous-winged Gulls were feeding on a bait ball along with a few Pelagic and 4 Red-faced Cormorants. To finish off an amazing trip whilst travelling back to the harbour a Bald Eagle gave great views has he rested on a rocky point.


Dall's Porpoise

18th July

A partly cloudy start to the day as we cruised down Denali Highway well pottered down the rough dirt road may be more realistic. Not really knowing any hotspots we just made random stops every now and again reaching a tally of 35 species. As we passed small lakes and pools we found a total of 2 White-winged Scoters, 8 Lesser Scaup, Greater Scaup, 2 Bufflehead, Pintail, Long-tailed Duck, Common Loons, 6 Trumpeter Swan and 6 Red-necked Phalaropes.


American Tree Sparrow

Travelling through the forests passerines included 8 Bohemian Waxwings, Boreal Chickadees, Hermit Thrushes, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Wilson’s and Myrtle Warblers, American Tree Sparrows, Common Redpolls, etc. Mammals were few and far between but first on our list was a Moose crossing the road, then amazingly another Lynx briefly on the roadside before disappearing into the scrub and finally a small stream held a River Otter.


Bohemian Waxwing

For the last section of the road the terrain became hillier with tundra here we found 2 Golden Eagles, 1 Bald Eagle, Whimbrel, 4 Long-tailed Jaegers, Horned Lark, Buff-bellied Pipit and numerous Savannah Sparrows. Despite having a thorough search for Smith Longspur we drew a blank finding only 8 Lapland Longspurs. Finally finishing the long drive along the highway we just had a short 4.5+ hour drive back to Anchorage.

17th July

An early rise as we caught the 6am shuttle bus into the park heading to Eielson Visitor Center a 8 hour return trip. The bus is a great place to look for wildlife from but birds were hard to see. On the way out we got off to a good start with a cow Moose, then a distant Grizzly Bear followed by an exceptional view of a Lynx walking alongside the bus but sadly all to brief. Also seen were 6 Caribou, 18+ Dall’s Sheep, 4 Red Foxes and many Snowshoe Hares.


Caribou



Once at Eielson we left the bus to admire the amazing views of the majestic Mount McKinley on one of those rare clear days. We then took the hike up the alpine trail for even better views from the mountaintop where we got great views of 4+ Golden Eagles cruising along the ridge followed by 3 Long-tailed Jaegers. By time we had made our decent the mountain had been engulfed in cloud as the rest of the valley remained in glorious sunshine. We boarded a shuttle bus for the journey back on which we saw 3 distant Wolf cubs, a very distant sleeping Grizzly Bear, 2 Moose but the most excitement came when a Golden Eagle was seen being mobbed by a pair of Gyrfalcon’s. Back at base a walk in the woods found a couple Boreal Chickadees.


Golden Eagle

16th July

Eventually we made our minds up and headed out on the highway heading northeast, as we travelled we spotted an immature Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, 2 Trumpeter Swans, 2 Sandhill Cranes and a Hermit Thrush. After 4 plus hours we arrived at the entrance gate to Denali National Park with the sun still shining we carried on down the road as far as the public vehicles are allowed. The park road was relatively productive with 4 Gray Jays, Mew Gulls, stag Caribou and a few Snowshoe Hares.


Gray Jay

Once at the Savage River car park we hiked up to a rocky peak where 4 Arctic Ground Squirrels and a couple Pika lived. On the slope up were a family of Willow Ptarmigan dust bathing in the trail with 9 juveniles and higher up the mountain slopes we could see 7 Dall’s Sheep.


Willow Ptarmigan

15th July

Today Ben and myself left Barrow on the morning plane heading to Anchorage where we picked up a rental car and headed straight to downtown where we pulled up at Westchester Lake. The lake was covered with Red-necked Grebe families, Lesser Canada Geese, Greater Scaup and many Mew Gulls. Walking through to the coast we could view over the mudflats where lots of Long-billed and a few Short-billed Dowitchers were feeding on the waters edge along with 2 Hudsonian Godwits. Also roosting on the mud were Arctic Terns and Bonaparte’s Gulls.


Mew Gull

For the lovely sunny evening we headed south to Potter’s Marsh where we walked out on the Boardwalk where salmon could be seen in one of the rivers as were Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a Musk Rat. Flying around we small numbers of Violet Green Swallows and the bushes held Lincoln’s Sparrows and Alder Flycatchers. At the end of the eastern boardwalk rested a pair of Bald Eagles in the large trees on the perimeter of the marsh.