More Alaska Birds

Its been a great birding fall so I've been out birding and not posting.  Thought I'd share a few more photos from Alaska.  The sceneary was amazing. 

 

 

Mountain west of Seward Alaska

Adult Bald Eagle in Seward

Adult bald eagle

Immature bald eagle chomping on the spin of a salmon

Boreal Chickadee

 

 

 

Funny sign in men's room. 

Moose

Pure Beauty

Salmon

Rivers on the Kenai were filthy with salmon.

You could have walked across 

 

 

Orca pod

Barrow's Goldeye

Cackling Goose

Common Raven

Glaucous Winged Gull

Green Winged Teal

Hermit Thrush

Horned Puffin

Still More to go

Alaska Birds-My Adventure

Wow what a trip.  I joined two of my birding buds in Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula for a week of September birding.  The birding season for most of the migrating species is really short in Alaska, but we knew going in that our species list would be abbreviated.  Given that my birding on the west coast is pretty limited, almost any bird would be a new one for me.  Scenery, animals both land and sea were definitely going to be amazing.  That show was almost guaranteed.

I departed out of Logan Airport in Boston on September 1 for a very long day of flying.  I flew to Dallas on my first leg.  Flight wasn't so bad-4.5 hours to Dallas.  I don't do well sitting still.  The second leg was worse 6.5 to Anchorage.  I landed at 1845 and met Mike Mandracchia of Mandrake Birding and Mike Zarella of Hillcountry Naturalist.  We checked into the hotel and immediately went birding.  It was poring but who really cared.  We got a great sample of ducks at a local lake, but with the rain and the heavy clouds quickly put a damper on things as it got too dark to bird by 2100.  I would have birded till sun up and kept on going. 

The next morning as soon as we got on the highway we saw an enormous male moose.  What a great start with so many amazing possibilities.  I'll have a few posts from this trip.  Enjoy!

American Wigeon

Black bear (youngster only 200 to 350). 

Didn't want to ask him to step on the scale.

Immature Bald Eagle (great eye shot)

 

Kenai Song Sparrow 

Distinctly darker than Eastern Song Sparrow. 

I really got into the sub-species on this trip. 

Black-legged Kittiwake 

I've only ever seen these from a long distance off Cape Cod in Massachusetts.  I was like a little kid in a candy store with all these new species and even common species close up and smiling for a photo. 

Alaskan Brown bear

Fishing for salmon.  Not smiling at us BTW!

Fox Sparrow

Golden Crowned Sparrow

New species for me.  Yay me!

 

Stellar Jay

Jovial like all Jays, but distinctly different then the Stellars that I saw during my trip to Rocky Mnt National Park in July (photos to be posted later)

Sandhill Crane

Just hanging out on someones front lawn like the pink flamingos at my moms.  Bahahaa

2 adults and 4 young eating bird seed.  So cool!

I'll post more in a few days.  Hope you enjoy looking as much as I did taking them.