After returning to Anchorage from Utqiagvik, we embarked on
the final leg of our Alaska birding trip. This started with visiting the
interior around the eastern end of the Denali Highway, traveling via the Glenn
Highway. Following that, we would head back south via Anchorage to Seward,
where we were taking a cruise out into the Kenai Fjords.
After a night in Anchorage, we headed out early on the Glenn
Highway. The key target for the interior part of the trip was Hawk Owl. Once we
reached the spruce forest areas, we did most of driving at 45 miles an hour or
so to allow easier scanning of the roadside treetops for the owl. We also
looked for side roads that allowed good views of spruce forest to check along
these as well.
The first side road we tried was near the Eureka Roadhouse.
The small lakes and marshes here held a decent variety of wildfowl, including
Trumpeter Swan and Barrow’s Goldeneye. Noisy Lesser Yellowlegs teed up for
photo opportunities on the top of small spruce trees. A distant owl perched up
in taller spruce tree caused some excitement, but it never looked right for a
Hawk Owl. Once we got closer, we could see it was a Short-eared Owl. We also
had our first Bohemian Waxwings of the trip fly over.
Another stop produced more Waxwings, close looks at Gray
Jays and, more importantly, eight White-winged Crossbills, which was our second
key target for the interior segment. We ran into this species twice more over
the next two days. We reached Glennallen and then turned north on the Alaska
Highway towards Paxson.
Combined with the previous trip along on the Glenn Highway
we had made prior to the Utqiagvik segment, we had now been scanning roadside
spruce trees for over ten hours without success. I urged Paul and Andy to keep
the faith as I had seen birds twice along these roads with less effort. We
eventually reached an area of roadworks where the road was reduced to one lane
and we had to wait until an escort vehicle arrived to lead us through. We were
naturally the first car driving behind the escort vehicle, and I remarked that this
made it impossible to stop, which meant we were sure to have a Hawk Owl right
by the road. In one of those moments of birding serendipity that happens a few
times in one’s life, Paul immediately spotted a Hawk Owl quite close to the
road! And, of course, I stopped the car, much to the annoyance of those behind
us, but pulled over to let them pass. We could only watch the bird for about a
minute before moving on. It was unfortunately a little against the light, so
the photos were not as perfect as they might have been. However, it was a
relief to see such a key bird reasonably well, although it would have been
great to have 10-15 minutes with it. Despite another ten or more hours of
looking on subsequent days, we failed to find another one. I think it may have been a poor vole year for
there to be so few around.
We then headed on to our accommodation at the Tangle Lakes
Lodge on the eastern part of the Denali Highway. This is a very birdy area with
a nice elevation range with access to alpine tundra areas. After checking in to
our cabin, we had a run along the highway checking out various lakes and areas
of willows. We had a nice variety of wildfowl, including Tundra Swans on the
nest, Harlequin and Long-tailed Ducks, both scaups, and a Red-breasted
Merganser. There were plenty of Arctic Warblers and one or two Gray-cheeked Thrushes,
but the star bird was a Wandering Tattler – a lifer for Paul and a bird Andy
and I wanted to see on the breeding grounds. We had been looking for the
species along rivers with extensive gravel banks, but here we found one feeding
on the ice along a lake shore.
The difficulty we had finding a tattler prompted me to do some
research on their nesting habitats. I had assumed that the species bred on
gravel bars, similar to Spotted Sandpipers. However, I discovered that the
actual nests are well away (as often as a mile away) from water. The adults do
defend feeding territories along the rivers, but don’t nest there. That explained
why they were so much harder to find compared to many other breeding waders.
The next day we made what transpired to be a major tactical
mistake. Instead of just enjoying the birding within an easy drive of the lodge
and praying we might run into a Smith’s Longspur, a species that has now become
difficult or impossible to find in the area, I suggested we make the three hour
drive to Delta Junction, where we would have a (seemingly good) chance of finding
an Upland Sandpiper. This would be a life bird for Andy, and even more
importantly a new shorebird, while Paul had seen it just once and myself less
than ten times. The same area also had an outside chance of Sharp-tailed
Grouse.
Needless to say the long drive was a waste of time as we completely failed to find any Upland Sandpipers. In fact, we failed to see a single shorebird. The open fields held some raptors and Short-eared Owls, with the distinctively pale Harlan’s form of the Red-tailed Hawk providing some interest. Systematic checking of areas of boreal forest and gravel bars in rivers during the long drive failed to turn up anything of note.
Because it was a seven-hour drive from Tangle Lakes to
Seward and we wanted to drive well below the speed limit on about half of it to
look for another Hawk Owl, we set out the next day early. So, despite having
spent two nights at Tangle Lakes, we hardly ended up doing any birding there! The
lodge there is a nice set up and I hope to return there for a multi-night stay
in the next few years and bird the area properly.
The long drive to Kenai failed to turn up any more Hawk
Owls. After checking in, we drove down the west side of Resurrection Bay and
eventually found some very close in-shore Marbled Murrelets along with other
expected species like Bald Eagles.
The next morning, we boarded the Kenai Fjords tour that goes up to the glaciers in Aialik Bay and then to the Chiswell Islands. There were several species of alcids here that we had not yet seen during the trip, with the most key species being Kittlitz’s Murrelet, which is not possible further south along the Pacific Coast. The other key species was Red-faced Cormorant.
Since I had noticed in ebird reports that Red-faced
Cormorant, which is on the edge of its breeding range here, was not being seen
on every trip, I told the captain that we were keen to see one and he promised
to take us to spot where a pair was nesting in a sea cave, although they were
not always visible. Since I knew the murrelets would be seen on the approach to
the glacier, I failed to mention that we also wanted to see that species, which
likely turned out to be a serious error.
The Red-faced Cormorants did not show in their nesting cave.
To add insult to injury, when we examined photos after the trip of large
cormorant flocks and interesting-looking fly-by cormorants, we found we had
indeed seen two Red-faced Cormorants, but obviously none of us felt like
counting them.
Heading into Aialik Bay we encountered a few small groups of
Ancient Murrelets and large numbers of Rhinoceros Auklets, two species that do not
normally range as far north as Gambell. As we approached the glacier, we began
to see multiple pairs of brown murrelets on the water. The first three pairs
were clearly Marbled, but then the boat suddenly accelerated to probably 25-30
kts, making birding impossible. The captain had spotted three Black Bears
foraging along the shore and understandably wanted to get the boat closer for
the passengers to see them. Given that far more passengers would want to see a
bear compared to a murrelet, it’s possible that telling him that we needed (not
wanted but NEEDED – we’re birders!) to see a Kittlitz’s Murrelet would have not
changed the situation. However, if I go on this cruise again, I certainly intend
to inform the captain about the murrelet!
We then headed out to the Chiswells and enjoyed good looks
at Horned and Tufted Puffins, Parakeet Auklets, Common and Thick-billed Murres
and Black-legged Kittiwakes. In addition to the bears, we also had an
impressive bull Killer Whale, a Humpback Whale and six Dall’s Porpoises, for a
nice mammal show.
Up till this point, we had avoided any major dips (UK
birding slang for missing a bird) on the trip. Although we had not seen Arctic
Loon or Slaty-backed Gull around Nome or Gambell, all of us had seen these
species previously, often multiple times. However, the murrelet and the
cormorant were life birds for Paul and Andy and probably ones they would never
have a chance to see again. Even I had seen them less than a handful of times,
the last time being 18 years ago. Unlike birding trips to the species-rich tropics
where it’s inevitable you will miss at least a few target birds, in Alaska we
were targeting just a few dozen species, which magnified each ‘dip’. I felt a
little deflated to end the trip on a sour note after being very successful earlier.
The evening and the next morning saw us birding the coastal
rain forests. The key goal here was to find a Pine Grosbeak, since Paul was yet
to see this species and it would be a life bird. In the evening we were eventually
able to locate a singing bird but could not get a visual. Otherwise, it was a
constant diet of Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, both kinglets,
juncos, robins and thrushes with the odd Rufous Hummingbird. We did find a pair
of nesting American Dippers that gave good looks. A specific effort to check
some lily-covered lakes was successful in producing good looks at a beautiful
breeding-plumaged Horned Grebe.
Early the next morning, we renewed our effort to see a grosbeak
and were rewarded with three birds, one of which gave decent prolonged views in
the scope. It was then time to head up to Anchorage to drop Andy off for his
flight homeward in the early afternoon. Paul and I did a bit of birding around
Anchorage and ran into Dave Sonneborne again at Westchester Lagoon. We found a
Short-billed Dowitcher here, a species that had eluded Paul and myself earlier
in the trip, although one I see commonly where I live during migration. For some
reason, my phone almost never had service even around Anchorage and I didn’t
get the text from Dave about a Slaty-backed Gull he found shortly after we
parted until I landed in Seattle on my way home the next day!
Putting the couple of late misses into perspective, it was otherwise
a very successful trip with good to exceptional views of almost all the target
species. In addition, we did pretty well for vagrants, despite an unfortunate
miss or two around Nome. It certainly has fed my appetite for more trips back
to Alaska. I plan to do a couple of things differently on future trips. Overall,
I will make the trips shorter and go to just one or two of the far-flung
locations. I will also schedule things a
bit differently. For example, because of the risk of being stranded by bad
weather in Gambell, it makes more sense to go there almost as soon as you arrive
in Nome and then leave your Nome birding for after you return. That eliminates
the need to have ‘padding’ days to lessen disruptions caused by flight delays
or cancellations. I would certainly like to do another early summer visit to
Utqiagvik (Barrow) as well as make a second fall visit there in hope of seeing
the Ross’s Gull migration. Gambell in fall would be intriguing as well as another
spring trip there and to Nome. Finally, I might take Dave Sonneborne’s advice
and try a trip out to Adak where, if there is a group of you, one can
potentially charter a boat out to see Whiskered Auklet. I will leave the
question of returning to Pribilofs until my mid-70s, when I can see how much money
I have left to throw around!
Thanks to Andy Silcocks for providing the photos in this article.
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