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| Wandering Birder | Alaska | Comments |
|
Alaska Summer 2005
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 Four Bald Eagles in a single tree in the campground in Valdez. |
About The Trip
I have now been wandering North America in my camper for a whole year. I went half way across the country and back in the first year. Now it is spring and I am off to Alaska. I drove across the country again taking the southern route and stopping in Arizona to visit my brother and San Francisco to visit my sister. Now I am heading north to Alaska.
I have been
very fortunate to have visited the state of Alaska four different times. The
first trip my daughter and I flew to Anchorage, rented a car and toured Valdez,
Cordoba, and Denali. The second trip was a Bill Drummond trip that took in the
Pribiloffs, Nome, Denali and some areas around Anchorage. The next two trips
were business trips to Anchorage for two weeks in November and another week in
Feburary. I did little birding on these trips.
This time I wanted to
drive my camper and explore of the areas accessible by road. In addition I
wanted to see Ancient Murrelet and Whiskered Auklet for which I
scheduled a trip to Dutch Harbor. The trip started with a ride on the Alaska
Ferry up the inside passage from Washington State to Skagway. I then drove the
Alaskan Highway to Tok. This is no longer the legendary gravel road built
during WWII called the Alcan Highway. It is now a paved two land highway with
gas stations, campgrounds, restaurants. There are several areas of severe frost
heaves that require slow travel and road construction causes delays. I had
planned to dawdle along the road doing about 100 miles a day, but discovered
that in mid May many of the campgrounds were still closed so I ended up
stopping only in Whitehorse and Lake Kalaune.
From Tok I drove south
stopping to drive part of the Nebesna Road into Wrangnell St Elias National
Park and the other road to McCarthy/Kennicot. I continued south to Valdez. Next
I visited Denali National Park in early June to beat the crowds. Then it was on
to Anchorage and the flight to Dutch Harbor. I did the Kenai Peninsula visiting
Seward for an excellent seabirding trip into Kenai Fjords National Park and
Homer for another short seabirding trip. I drove the Denali Highway from Paxson
to Cantwell. On a short side trip to Talkeetna I took a flight to the summit of
Mt. Denali (expensive and awesome). A mid July return to Denali National Park
and then on to Fairbanks. At the end of July I started home returning to Tok
and then on to Chicken and the gravel Top of the World Highway to Dawson
City in the Yukon. I returned going through Whitehorse and down to Dawson
Creek. On this leg of the trip I saw and photographed the Stone Sheep (
subspecies of Dall Sheep) and the Woodland Carribou. The Alaska Highway ends at
Dawson Creek.,
This report covers only the birding highlights of the
trip and as usual some hints for anyone wanting to experience any part of the
trip themselves. I continued the trip into Alberta visting Elk Island outside
Edmonton to see both Plains and Woodland Buffalo outside Edmonton and the
Canadian Rockies in early August. The best bird in the Canadian Rockies was
Clark's Nutcracker. I also saw Elk and Big Horn Sheep. Southern Alberta has
several sites for dinosaur fossils including the Royal Tyrell Museum in
Drumheller which is certainly worth a visit.
| Inside Passage May 17-21 |
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The Alaska Ferry system is the budget alternative to a large cruise with two big advantages. You can take your car or camper to continue the trip to Alaska and meals are extra so you won't gain lots of weight trying to eat your way to more bang for the buck. The breathtaking scenery is the same for both. I took this shot just after we left Bellingham.
You can board the ferry in either Bellingham, Washington or Prince Rupert in British Columbia. You can get off at any stop and spend a few days and then catch the next ferry north. I stopped only in Juneau for two nights. I wish now I had stopped at least at Sitka. I was scheduled to depart on May 13, but arrived at the terminal on May 12 to learn that the ferry was broken and the trip cancelled. I was rescheduled on the next boat which left May 17. Fortunately I was not under any time pressure so I could linger in Bellingham for four days without any problem. I spent my time taking a ferry trip to Victoria and another trip billed as a whale watch hoping to see the resident pod of Orcas in Puget Sound. These trips were not cheap and we did not see any Orcas. I did see lot of Rhinoceros Auklets.
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Sleeping Since the trip will take 3 or more nights you need to plan for some sleep. I rented a cabin with full bath and two bunks. The budget alternatives are to rent a recliner in the lounge or the really budget minded can bring ar sleeping bag and sleep on a plastic chair in the Solarium pictured at left. The solarium is open on one end and has bathrooms at the back. Many of your traveling companions will be young and noisy. Count on someone to have a guitar and stay up most of the night. During the day you have access to the rest of the passenger areas included the enclosed observation lounge, the decks, and the dining room. At certain times the car deck is open so that people traveling with pets can walk their dogs or have access to their vehicles. You cannot sleep in your camper. |
There is no naturalist aboard at least not on my trip in mid may, but you will see some birds if you stay out on one of the many decks or when it is raining sit in the observation lounge. Birds seen included: Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaeger, Marbled Murrelet, one Sabine's Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Glaucous-winged Gull. There were also Dall Porpoise, Stellar's Sea Lion, Humpback Whale, Harbor Seal, Harbor Porpoise. I was disappointed not to see any Orcas.
| At times the inside passage is quite narrow with forrested slopes on both sides of the channel. You have a chance Moose and Black Bear along the beaches. There are many Bald Eagles. In one port I counted 26 eagles sitting on trees. Most were full adults. |  |
The trip up the Alaskan Highway was uneventful. I stopped in Whitehorse to tour the excellent Beringia Center for the study of the Berring Land Bridge which allowed Asian animals and eventually man to migrate to the new world. The center displays copies of the many fossils of Wooly Mammoth, Horse found in the area. The placer mines expose the fossils and some times even the frozen remains of the whole animal.
Trumpeter Swan pairs were seen in many of the ponds along the road along with Red-necked Grebe, Common Loon, American Widgeon, Barrow's Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler. I saw one pair of Tundra Swans. Land birds included: Gray Jay, Black-billed Magpie,Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler.There were female moose along the road and high on the mountain Dall Sheep.
| Prince William Sound
Valdez |
 Stellar's Sea Lions |
I took the Stan Stephens glacier cruise on Prince William Sound out of the port of Valdez. This was an expensive trip $120 that included a nice lunch and a cup of soup on the way home. The boat is brand new(2005) and very comfortable. There is a large enclosed lower deck and upper deck with outdoor uncovered seating on the back of the upper deck and in the bow. Since it was rather chilly most passengers stayed inside for most of the cruise. There were only 25 passengers on my trip on a boat that can hold 150.
Wildlife
I saw: Common Murres,Tufted Puffins, Horned Puffins, Pelagic Cormorants, Bald Eagles, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Bald Eagles, Belted Kingfisher, Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Arctic Tern. Unfortunately the captain maintains control of the microphone and is not good at giving directions. He does not use the clock system nor is he diligent at pointing out birds. Most of the time he would announce that something was on the right or left side, other times the only directions were "over there" or "there it is". Experienced pelagic birders will not have much trouble. You will probably end up as I did showing the rest of the passengers where the animals are. We saw more than 100 Sea Otters on this trip some in rafts of 25 or more animals. Sea Otters were badly hurt by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, but seem to be making a recovery. Incidentally the oil from the Exxon Valdez actually floated away from Valdez so that the area we visited was not impacted. We also saw Humpback Whales, Stellar Sea Lion, and Harbor Seals. I spotted a Black Bear walking on the beach, but by the time the captain believed me and swung the boat around it had disappeared into the woods so that only the people standing near me were able to see it.
Highlight of the trip is a visit to the face of two tidewater glaciers. The Columbis Glacier is retreating. The ship drifted through braze ice and small chunks of ice not large enough to be even bergie bits. The Mears Glacier is still advancing despite global warming and we spent time watching chunks of ice break off the face. A tide water glacier groans, thunders and at times we heard what sounded like gunshots.
There was also a group of Salmon Sharks around the boat at one time. This was the first time I had seen this species.
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Orcas At Last We saw three Orcas on this trip. Here a Mother with calf . |
| Close by although not seeming to be associated with the
mother and calf was this larger male Orca The day before this trip saw a pod of 7 Orcas. The next day this same trip did not see any so this was a lucky shot for me. Later I saw 3 more Orcas on a boat trip from Homer, Alaska. |
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While birding various roads outside Valdez I had
Townsend's Warbler, Downy Woodpecker, Pine Siskins, Orange-crowned Warbler,
Hermit Thrush, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song
Sparrow, Varied Thrush, Common Merganser, Spotted Sandpiper.. I found a
small, paved road that ran about 1/2 mile between the main highway and the
stream that was very birdy. I parked at the far end and birded all the way back
to the road before returning to the truck. On reaching the truck I was very
surprised to find a Black Bear behind me. He gave me a disgusted look and
continued on his way.
On the way out of Valdez, I stopped at Blueberry
Lake which is relatively high in the mountain. There were Mew Gulls,
Barrow's Goldeneye, White-crowned Sparrow, Wilson's Warbler, Spotted
Sandpiper. I also saw Hoary Marmots here. At Thompson Pass:
Golden-crowned Sparrow, Gray-cheeked Thrush.
On the Nebesna Road
into Wrangnell - St. Elias which travels through spruce muskeg I had :
Bohemian Waxwing, Which-crowned Sparrow, Lesser Yellowleg, Olive-sided
Flycatcher, White-winged Crossbills, Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush. On a
guided trip down the road to McCarthy/ Kennicot Mining Town there was a pair of
Pacific Loons as well as various ducks including Common Merganser,
Bufflehead, White-winged Scoter, Barrow's Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup.
Arctic Terns were common in many locations.
| Denali National Park June |
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In the campground outside the park and other places in the spruce forest were Boreal Chickadees and the dark form or juvenile Gray Jays. There is one road into the park. The first part of this road runs through spruce forest and transition zone. One morning I had Northern Hawk Owl perched at the top of a spruce tree along this road near the park headquarters. A woman I met on the bus told me she lived at park headquarters and had been watching a nesting pair. At Savage Creek there are many nesting Mew Gulls and one pair of Harlequin Ducks.I looked in vain for a Dipper which I remember finding here on a Bill Drummond trip ten years ago. I did see Dippers in other locations such at Ship's Creek in Anchorage and at Seward near the salmon run.
Past Savage Creek the road climbs into the tundra. Animals here are very visible and you can expect to see Grizzly Bear, Moose, Barren Ground Carribou. If you get lucky and I did twice on two different trips you will see Wolf. I first saw a very dark wolf very close to the road. The second wolf was a small gray female carrying a carribou leg to the den.
All bus drivers are not equal. The two best I had on five trips were Scott Richardson and Darlene Huss. Scott has driven in the park for many years and points out everything including birds, flowers and big mammals. If you get on a shuttle bus with a rather mediocre driver you can get off and walk a ways and hope the next bus that comes along has a more experienced driver. Even with a poor driver you can expect to see the big mammals. One special thrill was seeing a Grizzly Bear nursing 3 cubs very close to the road. From the bus I saw:Willow Ptarmigan and Rock Ptarmigan.
Approaching what used to be the Eilson Vistor Center, I saw the Long-tailed Jaeger flying over the road. Later in the summer I got off the bus at Fish Creek and walked back toward the entrance. I had a Golden Plover with a chick and an Upland Sandpiper that seemed very upset.
In the lakes before Wonder Lake were: White-fronted Goose, Red-necked Grebe, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, Northern Shoveler, At Wonder Lake there was a Common Loon on a nest. Later in July there were Bonapart's Gull and Red-throated Loon. One late afternoon on the way back and in the spruce forest again I saw a Spruce Grouse walking slowly across the road. The bus driver had to stop because the bird was right in the road.
One afternoon I got off the bus at Tatler Creek and walked along the road following Igloo Creek. I had Tree Sparrow, Arctic Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Hermit Thrush.
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Gyrfalcon Nest Ten years ago when I visited Denali National Park in mid July, the highlight of the trip was a pair of Gyrfalcons with their fledgling at Polychrome Pass. The birds (or maybe one of their offspring) are still nesting in the area. This picture was taken by Noel Benkman of Orinda, California www.lushtone.com (Photo remains the property of the photograph.)The nest (red arrow) was on the side of Marmot Rock and clearly visible if you walked about 400 yards past the Polychrome cliff stop. |
| Noel took this picture through my telescope. You can see one adult bird on the left and at least one fuzzy baby on the right. That day we were sure we saw two fuzzy babies and perhaps a still unhatched egg. Later in July I went back and there were two babies about the same size as the adult. The adult was sitting on a nearby rock eating something and the babies were calling loudly. He or she just went on pulling apart the prey and eating it. A second adult was seen harassing a Golden Eagle. What a wonderful show. |  |
The Denali Highway is 130 mile gravel road that runs from the
Richardson Highway to the Parks Highway. There is gas along the road and at one
stop a restaurant. On a summer day you will encounter traffic as the Princess
Tours runs bus trips along the road and there are fishermen and other sportsmen
on the road. There are two primitive campgrounds which means they have
outhouses and a water pump. The road is well maintained and if you drive slowly
(about 30 miles per hour for me) you will enjoy a beautiful, relatively
solitary trip.
Birders come here to see Smith's Longspur and I saw this
bird after a long trek across the tundra on a trip ten years ago with Bill
Drummond. The bird is no easier to see now and I did not really attempt to find
it alone. I did see Red-necked Phalaropes, Trumpeter Swans and many
ducks. There is a colony of Bank Swallows in a mud bank close to the
road. There are Cliff Swallows under many bridges. The scenery is
spectacular and I recommend a day devoted to this trip.
This trip was
not just for birding and I made a side stop at Talkeetna to take a flight to
the top of Mt. Denali/ McKinley. Talkeetna is the jump off point for climbers.
They come here to take a flight to the bottom of the glacier from which they
begin their climb. The flight around the summit cost $125 and was worth every
penny. It was the end of the climbing season and some tents could be seen at
the highest camp. The climbers were inside the tents because the wind was too
high to attempt to summit. Talkeetna is supposed to a unique town which was the
subject of the TV program Northern Exposure. The series however was actually
filmed in the lower 48. As far as I am concerned except for the flight around
the mountain, Talkeetna is worth missing.
| Dutch Harbor Unalaska Island Aleutian Islands June 17-21 |
 Dutch Harbor and the town of Unalaska as seen from the summit of the overland trail. |
My trip started with a beautiful flight that was on time leaving Anchorage. For some time we had beautiful views of the Kenai Peninsula and the start of the Alaska Peninsula before the clouds shut us out. Head winds caused the flight to be a half hour late. Not bad start, but then things went a bit downhill. First PennAir had decided not to put any baggage on the flight. It was very warm when we left Anchorage. I was dressed very lightly and worst of all had worn sandals on the plane.
| Then our guide Forest
Davis met us at the plane with the news that big storm was
expected the next day and we needed to take advantage of an
open window to get out on the water. Our boat trip to see
the Whiskered Auklet would be as that night as soon as we
could get ready. Now not having any luggage was now a real
problem. At this time of the year it stays light most of the
night. Fortunately High Lonesome's contact at the hotel was able to
find boots and a white all rubber suit used by cannery workers. So here
I am discized as
a fish cannery worker with binoculars . As you can see, I had a
hooded sweat shirt on under the white rubber suit. Even in all this I still got
cold that night. I guess the lesson is to never trust the airlines.
|
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This is photograph of a Whiskered Auklet through glass in a
display at the Cincinnati Zoo. This is the only collection of Whiskered Auklets
in captivity. The display also contains Crested and Least Auklets along with a pair of Smew and Spectacled Eider. Certainly makes a trip to the zoo worth while for any birder. Photo by Emmalee Tarry using a Cannon Powershot. |
| Usually trips to Dutch Harbor do two boat trips the second
out on the banks. Since the storm was expected to keep us ashore for the rest
of our trip, we elected to extend this evenings trip to the banks. This was
possible since it doesn't get even partially dark until about 2 AM in the
summer. Out on the banks our boat was surrounded by hundreds of Northern Fulmars all but one of the dark morph seldom seen on the east coast. Notice that the bird in the foreground seems to be a shade lighter than the one behind. Notice too the dark feathers of the central breast on both birds. |
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In the flocks of dark Fulmars, this one white morph stood
out. The white morph lacks the dark central breast feathers. We also had 2 Laysan Albatross that evening neither of which stopped at the boat. Laysans are known to be scanvangers and to feed behind fishing boats so I was disappointed that they were uninteresed in our chum. I suggested to the captain that they might want to use the basket of frozen fish which worked so well in New Zealand. |
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In the parking lot a company called Swan Net straightens out, repairs, and rolls up huge fishing nets. Along the shore are stacked crab pots waiting for the season to open. The airport is at the far right. The small structure in front of and to the right of the truck with the crane is a WWII pillbox. I could see four of these pillboxes from the window. Gray-crowned Rosyfinch and American Pipit sang outside the window. |
Tourists to Unalaska can visit a small natural history and art museum to learn more about the Aleuts and the island. Unalaska had a role in World War II and there is small museum that commemorates the story. The Japanese bombed Dutch Harbor and invaded and held the last two islands in the Aleutians: Attu and Kiska. Aleuts on Attu were imprisoned in Japan and used as forced labor for the duration of the war. The U.S. decided to evacuate all Aleuts to the south east Alaska where they were kept in cold, run down camps with inadequate food and medicine. The Aleuts were treated worse in the camps than German POW's. We they were finally returned to their islands they found their homes and possessions destroyed by the military. This sad history is documented in a movie in the museum.
The island is treeless except for some spruce trees planted by the Russians when they occupied the island during the fur trading years. Most of these trees are dead now, but a few survive. The Russians left in 1869 when Alaska was sold to the U.S. A large number of Bald Eagles hang out in the piteful little clump of dead spruce trees just outside the dining room of the Grand Aleutian. The Grand Aleutian is a first class hotel with excellent food. During our visit it was fully booked because of the influx of workers regarding the oil spill. A ship lost power during a storm last winter and rather than call for help, the skipper stuck it out until the ship sunk releasing a large amount of heavy fuel oil. Durch Harbor is on the great circle route from the west coast of the US. to Asia.
| Kenii Fjords National
Park Seward and Homer Alaska |
 Birders want to spend their time in the park at Chiswell Islands. |
Glaciers and wildlife are the targets of several cruises out of Seward to Kenii Fjords National Park. I elected to go on the Mariah Tours which offers all day cruises on small boats. It was not cheap $160 per person. The tour was listed as the "Captain's Choice" and Captain Mark turned out to be a good birder and really produced a good day. He did the Chiswell Islands first in the morning when the sea was quite calm saving the glaciers for afternoon. On the way back we understood the wisdom of this choice as the sea got quite rough.
| Tufted and Horned Puffins were seen on this
trip and some were very close to the boat. We also saw Kittlitze's Murrelet, Ancient Murrelet, Parakeet Auklet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Red-faced Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant |
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Common and Thick-billed Murres nest on ledges of the Chiswell Islands. Also Black-legged Kittiwakes. |
| King Eider photographed at the Sea Life Center in Seward.
They also had groups of Stellar's, Spectacled, and Common Eider which they kept
in research cages. These cages could be seen from the main building with
binoculars. Unfortunately they did not make a good photograph. I really enjoyed watching the Murres and Puffins swimming in the underwater window to the seabird exhibit. |
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Red-footed Kittiwake photographed at the Sea Life Center in Seward. I did not see this bird on this trip. The only place I know to see the bird is in the Pribiloffs. You will need some pretty expensive equipment to get this kind of photograp in the wild. |
| Homer |
 Aleutian Tern on nest at Homer, AK |
I took a boat trip out of Homer to visit an island and on the way we had a pod of Orcas. This was most unusual as Orcas have not been seen in the area for some time. We also did a pass by the Bird Islands where there are many Black-footed Kittiwakes, and a few Tufted Puffins.
Like Seward, Exxon built a sea life center at Homer as part of the oil spill recovery program. It is not as good as the one at Seward with their bird life exhibit. Behind the center is a large wetland area where you can walk and see sparrows and Sandhill Cranes. The woman who runs the gift shop told me where to find the Aleutian Tern colony. Take the road to the Homer Spit and just before going over the causeway turn left. This road goes along behind the airport. After a few industrial buildings there is a yellow building that sits back from the road. Just past this building is a small road that dead ends at the airport. Drive back to the stop sign and beyond is the tern colony. If you drive past the stop sign turning around will be hard but not impossible. There were about 20 nesting terns in the area.