Alaska Part 4: Seward to Anchorage

We had an exhausting week. It was amazing, but we were so tired from going all day every day. We planned on working our way up to Anchorage from Seward by stopping a few places on the way to try to pick up some more species. A mega rare Falcated Duck was being seen at Potter Marsh, so that was our primary goal. Everything else was extra, and we didn't want to waste time.

Outside of Falcated Duck, there were a few other species of note. Arctic Tern was one we hadn't seen yet, Trumpeter Swan, Aleutian Tern, Pine Grosbeak, Red Crossbill, and Common Loon. eBird reports for some places in Alaska are VERY hard to come by, and they lack a lot of info. In hindsight I would have put a little more effort into today, but we were tired and really at our limits. There are tons of really good hikes right off the highway, but it's hard to gauge which ones are good for both the sights and the birds. Plus we were looking for strolls, not high elevation climbs.

But the eBird reports did give us a few stops. First stop was Tern Lake. As we drove we saw a flash of red cross the road. I really think it was a Pine Grosbeak. Like 95% sure. But since I'm not 100% I couldn't count it. Pine Grosbeak is a bird I've really wanted to get, but they're fairly hard to get. Part of it is they are so far north even in winter.

Common Merganser

We arrived at Tern Lake to birders being about, a really good sign. Arctic Terns were flying overhead, a lifer that I was really pumped to get. Any bird with the name arctic or boreal is going to get my attention because to a Texan it sounds exotic. Arctic Terns are actually really common on the west coast, but we don't get them in Texas at all. A pair of Trumpeter Swans paddled silently way to the back of the lake, and Common Loons in their beautiful breeding plumage could also be seen. It sure beats their drab winter plumage that we see down south. We also had a lifer Varied Thrush and great looks at Black-legged Kittiwake. This was a pretty productive 20 minutes.

This is when I asked a question that I wished I never asked. I asked a local birder if Aleutian Terns had been seen. He said "no, but about an hour west of here in Soldotna I had them at Kenai NWR earlier this morning." I had to make a tough decision. We had an hour to spare, but that would be one less hour to look for Falcated Duck. I stuck to the plan and we continued north. I wish I had gone west.

Red-necked Grebe

Our next stop was Tenderfoot Campground, a USFS campground a little ways up the road. Pine Grosbeak was the goal. But Pine Grosbeak was nowhere to be found. We did get Lincoln's Sparrow, a bird already on the year list, and that was about it. I hoped for a possible American Dipper in the stream but no luck. We quickly walked back to the car to keep moving, but a duck caught my eye in the lake. It was for sure a merganser, but what kind? It looked Red-breasted, but Red-breasted doesn't have the white patch on the wing. That only left one other: COMMON MERGANSER! This was a very unexpected lifer but a welcome one. As we drove back down the road we flushed another colorful bird, but in the bad light we missed an ID. It could've been another Pine Grosbeak. I was really disappointed, but through the brush around the river we got a consolation prize from the birding gods. Goldeneyes were down there, but which ones? There was only one male, and it had a crescent white patch instead of a circular one. Boom, BARROW'S GOLDENEYE! What turned into a disappointing location ended up get nabbing 2 lifers, one unexpected and one I had given up on.

Barrow's Goldeneye. Females are on the left, and unfortunately the male's crescent shaped white spot on the bill is being covered by the leaf. Common Goldeneye is an uncommon winter visitor to Texas, but Barrow's stay way north.

After lunch we made our last stop at Potter Marsh, an outstanding birding location on the outskirts of Anchorage. Lots of shorebirds and waterfowl migrate through or stop at this marsh, right against the Cook Inlet. A Code 5 ABA rarity, Falcated Duck, had been reported for about a month. It was definitely out there. I wasn't really in a rush as the directions were pretty accurate. Unfortunately we missed one critical piece of information: the bird was inactive in the afternoons. Given our departure from Seward we were guaranteed to get there in the afternoon. Our hope was to get the duck and head out, stopping at other spots before our flight to Fairbanks.
We arrived to a ton of birders, but no duck. We didn't see it, and it was pretty disappointing. But, like the Great Black Hawk in Portland last winter, the Falcated Duck was a gravy bird. It happened to be there, and we didn't make any plans centered around it. We would have stopped at Potter Marsh regardless, so I didn't get down about it. There were still a lot of great birds out, including an Arctic Tern that swooped down and showed off its popular aggression when you get too close to a hidden nest. We also got to compare Greater and Lesser Scaup, the Greater Scaup being a lifer, and Cackling vs. Canada Goose. I got a breeding plumage Red-necked Grebe and a lifer Rusty Blackbird as well. But the real highlight was a lifer Red-necked Phalarope. We had 2 fly-bys, allowing me to get another very unexpected lifer. We didn't have time to go to some ponds by the airport, but it was fine because we got Pacific Loon at Kenai Fjords.

Arctic Tern

We flew back to Fairbanks for a quick night before our flight our flight departed for Houston. I'd like to offer a few final thoughts regarding our Alaska experience.

1. We got some amazing birds. The highlights were definitely Arctic Warbler, Kittlitz's Murrelet, Parakeet Auklet, and Pacific Loon.

2. Whatever you do, visit Denali. It is the crown jewel of our country. But it is not a great birding destination. There are no specialty birds and every bird can be found in more accessible places. But the mammals and scenery are the most stunning things you can see. Everyone should go at least once.

3. We missed some really good birds. Boreal Chickadee is a stunning miss that I thought would be easy, but we also missed Red Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, Falcated Duck, Aleutian Tern, Red-throated Loon, and Thick-billed Murre. A lot of why we missed them because of number...

4. There is too much to do in Alaska. We ran ourselves ragged in a week, but we didn't go fishing or kayaking. As a result we also didn't have time to chase some of the birds we missed. An extra 2 days would have probably gotten us all of the Kenai Peninsula birds including Falcated Duck and we may have been able to snag a Northern Wheatear somewhere in Denali. We did so much, and we didn't even scratch the surface.

5. This was a life-changing trip. The beauty is astounding. The animals are near mythical. I came back with my mind refreshed and my stresses gone. I'm trying to figure out a lot of things in life at the moment and this was important for removing any stresses. That's what birding fever and untouched scenery will do for you. I now understand why people like Steve Jobs will go meditate in remote places. Anthony deserves a huge shoutout for being the perfect travel buddy and a very tolerant birding partner/photographer. It was actually depressing to get back to Houston because all I wanted to do was be back on that mountain looking down on the pristine land.

With 222 species down this year, where should I go next?

Cackling Geese look similar to Canada Geese but they have a shorter bill, head, and neck. They are also overall much smaller.

Alaska Part 3: Seward and Kenai Fjords

Leaving Denali was bittersweet. Without a doubt it is my favorite national park that I've been to, although Big Bend is a very close second, so it was tough to leave. The physical part of our trip was over, and our second leg was a flight to Anchorage and drive to Seward for a Kenai Fjords glacier cruise. This was a little more familiar territory for me because I have been to Seward once before, but that was back when I was just getting into the whole birding/naturalist lifestyle.

After an afternoon of canoeing in Fairbanks, which yielded Yellow Warbler, Alder Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, and Bank Swallow, we flew to Anchorage. We got in very late, and after a super late dinner we started our 2 hour drive south along probably the most beautiful drive in America.

We left the bustling (292,000 people) city of Anchorage behind as we meandered our way down the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. Having just finished a book about Captain James Cook I felt like I was traveling through history because Cook actually explored and mapped the inlet on his last voyage when he looked for the Northwest Passage. It was honestly a trial to pay attention to the road. Waterfalls cascaded down on the side of the road and stunning snow capped peaks towered over a temperate rainforest. This landscape was vastly different than Fairbanks and Denali. We arrived at 1:30 AM and had to wake up less than 6 hours later, but it was again tough to sleep because we knew our world was about to get rocked.

You know you're in for a treat when the day begins with Harlequin Ducks

Anthony made a mistake letting me be in charge of picking the glacier cruise. I chose the longest one possible, a 9 hour, 120 journey. We would embark across the Gulf of Alaska to Northwestern Fjord to try to see whales, sea lions, and of course, incredible birds. The main target was Kittlitz's Murrelet, a rare and declining seabird that loves to be near tidewater glaciers. This small bird would be dwarfed in a vast fjord. Little is known about it, but it listed as "Near Threatened" by the ICUN and between 5-10% of the population was killed during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. But of course there were plenty of other good birds to see like Tufted and Horned Puffin, Rhinoceros Auklet, Parakeet Auklet, and many more.

We made our way into Resurrection Bay at 8:30 and were immediately captivated. Glaucous-winged and Mew Gulls flew overhead while Harlequin Ducks swam along the rocks. A lone Bald Eagle eyed the mouth of the river waiting in hopes of a salmon meal. But the star of the show was the sea otter. We saw many curious otters relaxing in the near freezing water.

Lounging in 50 degree water, casual

Rain started to fall, which normally would be bad on a trip, but it made it more of an adventure. The boat rocked in the waves as we made our way to the Gulf of Alaska. Horned and Tufted Puffins sat at the exit of Resurrection Bay as if to warn us that we were about to get into trouble. But the good omen of a lifer Pigeon Guillemot beckoned just into the gulf, convincing us that it was worth the risk.

Pigeon Guillemot

Seasickness was an epidemic on board. Many people were leaning over the sides vomiting as we crossed into some pretty rough waters, and Anthony started to feel bad. Slowly the numbers on the bow dwindled as the drizzle continued and as the boat heaved in the waves. But I think I discovered the cure for seasickness: Birding Fever. I was front and center on the bow (that had maybe 3 people on it by now, and 1 remained because he was so sick he couldn't move). Binoculars in one had and the other on the icy rail had me feeling like a pirate on the high seas, looking for my avian treasure. And it was there. Common Murres (and definitely a Thick-billed Murre was mixed in but I can't count) mixed with both puffin species to provide many bad attempts to ID distant birds. Believe it or not, it's near impossible to ID distant sea birds in rolling waves, one handed, while your surface is unstable. I held out hope for Ancient Murrelet, a really hard to find species, but it wasn't happening.

But Mother Nature smiled on my attempt, and our boat was promptly rewarded by a small pod of Humpback Whales extremely close to the boat, offering fantastic looks. Unfortunately we were at the roughest water we would see, so we had to skedaddle to calmer waters.

We were absurdly close to these giants

We entered Northwestern Fjord and its calm waters, much to the relief of everyone on board. It was beyond cold outside, but we had entered the area that offered our best shot at Kittlitz's Murrelet. How that bird survives with icebergs floating in the water is a mystery to me. We inched closer and closer to Northwestern Glacier without any in sight, but we did tons of Black-legged Kittiwakes, another lifer. There were also hundreds of Harbor Seals watching us float by, probably wondering what these mammals with such little blubber were doing near a glacier.

Harbor Seals at Northwestern Fjord

The majesty of the fjord was overpowering. The only noise that could be heard was the calving glacier. Waterfalls trickled down and the water was a gorgeous shade of light blue from the melted ice. Our hour long stop produced little birds of note, but it did give us the sense of adventure that James Cook had to have felt when he explored the surrounding area.

The fjord itself was still and there were no waves at all

I started to get nervous as we headed back. Birders actually worked the cruise company that we were with, and all eyes were on the water for a pint sized brown bird. But telling it apart from a Marbled Murrelet is tough. You can see the eye on the Kittlitz very well, but not as much on the Marbled because there is a dark patch around its eye. There are also white stripes on the edge of the tail that give it away.

Our cruise zig zagged through the fjord, and I once again represented 1/3 of the bow members, each of us looking in difference directions. I was nervous, remember how my old article on all of the dips I've had? This would be a tough one to miss given the remoteness of the bird.

Kittlitz's Murrelets

Then we heard a shout. One had popped up right by the boat before flying off, but I missed the identifying stripes. It wouldn't matter in the end, because 2 more came into view a few minutes later. The skittish birds flew off and there were the white stripes! I'm sure a lot of the non-birders on the boat were shaking their heads at some dude in a Texas flag fanny pack jumping around excitedly on the bow, and I would bet Anthony tried to hide his association with me. In total we would see about a dozen of them, and in a picture I took we even got a Marbled!

Marbled Murrelet. Notice the dark patch around the eye.

We continued out into the Gulf of Alaska where a steady rain was falling, but of course I was out on the bow. Rhinoceros Auklet, another bird that I was a little nervous about. Looming on the horizon was one of the places I was most excited to see: the Chiswell Islands. The Chiswells are a seabird rookery where a lot of seabirds were breeding. And a rookery in breeding season makes for some stellar birding.

A cacophony of noise greeted us. Black-legged Kittiwakes covered the rocky islands while Tufted and Horned Puffins looked down on us. Common Murres were everywhere, but again a Thick-billed could not be found. But a large flock of small seabirds flew overhead. This was a bird we had not yet seen, and it's call gave it away. PARAKEET AUKLET! By this point birds were flying everywhere. Steller's Sea Lions lounged on rocks and we even got a breaching Humpback Whale! We hoped for a Red-Faced Cormorant, but we could only safely identify a Pelagic Cormorant.

Parakeet Auklets

This was where another surreal moment of the trip happened. We were in the middle of picturesque islands while birds that people dream of hovered above us. We were miles offshore and getting soaked while we struggled to identify the birds around us. This was an adventure, and it was an almost intoxicating feeling.

The low clouds really added to the scenery

We started our way back Seward, making an extended stop for a very active Humpback, as well as stops at waterfalls and a cove called God's Pocket, one of the best sights I have ever seen. I cannot recommend Kenai Fjords enough. Even on a day of "bad" weather it is absolutely stunning. It's places like this that remind us how important it is to protect and appreciate the national parks that we have.