We arrived in Anchorage on Wednesday, did our shopping, birded a little bit and settled in for the night.
Thursday morning, we headed up to Arctic Valley Ski Area. We didn’t see anything unusual on the way up, but found a pair of Northern Shrikes up at the top.
Northern Shrike, Arctic Valley Road, Anchorage, Sept 17, 2015
One was young and the other an adult. On the way back down, we found a Boreal Chickadee.
Boreal Chickadee, Arctic Valley Road, Anchorage, Sept 17, 2015
We headed down to Potter Marsh. It had started to rain, so we decided to forgo the boardwalk and drove around instead. We found a pair of Trumpeter Swans with an American Wigeon.
Trumpeter Swan and American Wigeon, Potters Marsh, Anchorage, Sept 17, 2015.
Next, we went to West Chester Lagoon and the Audubon Bench (a viewing area just up the coastal trail from the lagoon). I walked up to the bench, while Barb scanned the lagoon. When I got there, a Great Blue Heron flew out and towards the lagoon. I phoned Barb and she managed to get a photo with her cell phone as it flew by.
Great Blue Heron, West Chester Lagoon, Anchorage, Anchorage, Sept 17, 2015.
I also had an Osprey and Bald Eagle flyover, and two Sandhill Cranes bugling.
Sandhill Cranes, Audubon Bench, Anchorage, Sept 17, 2015.
There were many Bonaparte’s Gulls on the lagoon.
Bonaparte’s Gull, West Chester Lagoon, Anchorage, Anchorage, Sept 17, 2015.
We headed to the airport. The plane left a little late, but arrived at the scheduled time (5 pm). We met Bob Schutsky and his group and a few birders from Tennessee at the Adak airport and got updated on what they had found the previous week. They were all departing today.
None of the rarities found had been seen in recent days (Little Stint, White-winged Crossbills, Slaty-backed Gull).
We headed to the lodge to unpack. As Estrella (the current lodge manager) was showing us how she had cleaned the windows in the sunroom, a flock of small birds appeared outside. They were Common Redpolls — six of them! We hadn’t even unpacked our binos or camera, yet! A nice start to the trip.
We did a quick trip up to Clam Lagoon, with the only birds of note being 3 Pacific Golden-Plovers.
The Northern Shrikes and the Great Blue Heron were new state birds for us.
21 species to start.
More tomorrow.