After arriving in Anchorage on Saturday, we did our food shopping and then did some birding. A Red-throated Loon had been reported from Lake Hood, so we looked for it. It was there, and VERY cooperative! In Pennsylvania, Red-throateds are usually seen out in the middle of a lake during rain storms in migration, so this was a real treat.

Red-throated Loon, Lake Hood, Anchorage, May 14, 2016.

Red-throated Loon, Lake Hood, Anchorage, May 14, 2016.

This was a state bird for us. At Ship Creek, Frank spotted a Greater Yellowlegs, which was also a new Alaska bird for us.

On Sunday morning we headed up to Arctic Valley and added Townsend’s Warbler to our state list.

Townsend’s Warbler, Arctic Valley Road, Anchorage, May 15, 2016

A Fox Sparrow up at the ski area posed nicely.

Fox Sparrow, Arctic Valley Ski Area, Anchorage, May 15, 2016.

At Potter Marsh, we added Downy Woodpecker to our list and ran into the High Lonesome tour group, which were also flying out to Adak today.

We flew out to Adak and arrived in rain. John Puschock had seen a Black-crowned Night-Heron earlier in the day, but it had flown away. This was a first record for Adak. We hope it is still in the area.

After unpacking, we headed out to do a little birding. We had received a report from a resident that some swans were hanging around a lake on the road up to Bering Hill. Being that there are several roads going up Bering Hill, we started driving around several of them, checking all of the lakes and ponds. We didn’t find any swans, but after 11 years and 18 trips to Adak, we finally saw some Caribou! They normally are only found in the southern end of the island, where we never have gone (it is accessible only by hiking or ATV). So it was nice to finally add them to our Adak list.

Caribou, Bering Hill, May 15, 2016

At Clam Lagoon, we had 13 Bar-tailed Godwits. By this time (8:40 pm), we were pretty tired and called it quits.

More tomorrow.