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.