Alaska
May 27 - June 10, 2008 - Bird/Species Trip List
Guide Greg Smith with 6 participants

Red-throated Loon - Beautiful alternate plumaged adults on small ponds throughout Nome.

Pacific Loon - Again, alternate plumaged adults in ponds around Nome.

Common Loon - A stunning  adult incubating on Wonder Lake in Denali NP.

Red-necked Grebe - The best view was on Westchester Lagoon of nesting adults!

Sooty Shearwater - A fly by on our pelagic trip to NW Glacier out of Seward.

Double-crested Corm - Numerous on Resurrection Bay out of Seward.

Red-faced Cormorant - Vibrant birds off of the Chiswell Islands out of Seward!

Pelagic Cormorant - White-thighed adult were the most common cormorant in SE Alaska.

Gr White-fronted Goose - A scattering of individuals throughout Denali’s wetlands.

Canada Goose - Ubiquitous anywhere in interior of Alaska with farmed fields & water.

Brant - Late migrants were scattered along Safety Sound out of Nome.

Trumpeter Swan - The best views were of nesting birds from the Anchorage-bound train.

Tundra Swan - About 200 of these birds were concentrated ialongSafety Sound.

Gadwall - A male and female were feeding in Westchester Lagoon in ANC.

Eurasian Wigeon - Gwyneth found a striking drake mixed with AMWI in Safety Sound.

American Wigeon - Probably the second most common waterfowl in our travels.

Mallard - Certainly not a common bird on this trip, with five being the high count.

N. Shoveler - The white belly & dark head made for easy identification.

N.Pintail - The most common waterfowl on our trip – everywhere.

Green-winged Teal - Small numbers of this handsome bird were seen in all areas of Alaska.

Canvasback - A single immaculate drake was resting on Potter’s Marsh.

Ring-necked Duck - A few birds were spotted in two locations on Safety Sound.

Greater Scaup - The “common” scaup for our trip. In most freshwater ponds.

Lesser Scaup - A few individuals of this “peaked” species.  Best looks in Denali.

Common Eider - Safety Sound had scattered pairs of the subtle female & gaudy male.

Harlequin Duck - Fine looks at these striking birds along the Seward shoreline.

Surf Scoter - Our boat trip and Safety Sound produced lingering sea duck pairs.

White-winged Scoter - A flock of 22 male and female were commencing courting behavior.

Black Scoter - Pairs on the Denali ponds gave us great looks at the Velvet Scoter.

Long-tailed Duck - Numerous pairs with the best look at a striking male on Kougarauk Rd.

Bufflehead - A lone drake on the pond near Denali Lodge.

Barrow’s Goldeneye - Common wherever we saw sea ducks.

Common Merganser - On some of the freshwater streams in the lower part of Alaska.

Red-breasted Mergan - Loose groups in the ocean opposite Safety Sound.

Willow Ptarmigan - Often seen perched along side all the roads in Nome.

Rock Ptarmigan - Teller Road out of Nome had scattered individuals on rocky sentinels.

Bald Eagle - The common raptor on the trip, but stunning every time we saw one.

Northern Harrier - More common than you would think in AK.  Everywhere!

Red-tailed Hawk - Usually seen in farm fields adjacent to developed areas.

Rough-legged Hawk - Most cliffs on the roads out of Nome had a nesting pair of these birds.

Golden Eagle - Usually solitary individuals were seen on the Nome roads.

Merlin - A striking male was perched on a log in Safety Sound.

Gyrfalcon - The best of many looks at this striking falcon was on Kougarauk Road.

Sandhill Crane - Large rust and gray-colored birds were feeding in the Creamer fields.

Black-bellied Plover - Stunning alternate plumaged birds along the road to Cape Wooley.

American Golden Plover - Seemed to be on every nearly level slope in Nome. Gorgeous!

Semipalmated Plover - Usually found along the Nome Roads defending territories.

Black Oystercatcher - From our boat along the Seward Peninsula.

Greater Yellowlegs - Westchester Lagoon had a single bird along the coastal side.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Seen on the kettle ponds deep inside Denali.

Solitary Sandpiper - A solitary individual gave us great looks behind our lodging in FBK.

Wandering Tattler - A pair seen copulating and then roosting along the Kougarauk Road.

Whimbrel - An individual on a post was well lit by Nome’s morning light.

Bristle-thighed Curlew - A beautiful individual circled overhead calling & then landed nearby.

Hudsonian Godwit - Three birds took flight as a BAEG flew over Westchester Lagoon area.

Bar-tailed Godwit - Nome River mouth had solitary individuals on different days here.

Marbled Godwit - A solitary bird at the Nome River mouth was feeding with the BTGO.

Ruddy Turnstone - A gorgeous adult was bothered by a Parasitic Jaeger @ Cape Wooley

Black Turnstone - A few solitary individuals were all we could find in Nome.

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Their aerial displays wowed all of us.  What stamina!

Western Sandpiper - Their hunch-backed territorial displays in Nome were easily recognized

Spotted Sandpiper - Ubiquitous!  Any freshwater or rocky shoreline would have a few.

Least Sandpiper - No breeding individuals, but scattered groups in Nome were present.

Pectoral Sandpiper - Two individuals at the Nome River were the only reps of this species.

Dunlin - These black-bellied sandpipers were uncommon around Safety Sound

Short-billed Dowitcher - Great looks at an alternate plumaged individual at Potter Marsh.

Wilson’s Snipe - Their aerial displays in and around Nome brought all eyes skyward.

Red-necked Phalarope - The appropriate sized pond in Nome usually had a pair.

Parasitic Jaeger - An individual appeared to be searching for the RUTU’s nest at Wooley

Long-tailed Jaeger - The most common and agile aerial hunter in areas around Nome.

Bonaparte’s Gull - In the Creamer field ponds in Fairbanks. Three individuals looking fine

Mew Gull - Common everywhere in Alaska. The loud call resonated everywhere!

Herring Gull - One individual at Westchester Lagoon was our only bird.

Slaty-backed Gull - Two individuals at the Nome dump and three on an ice flow were great.

Glaucous-winged Gull - Westchester Lagoon and Seward each had a of worn individual.

Glaucous Gull - The gull in Nome!!!

Black-legged Kittiwake - Nesting colonies at the outlet of Resurrection Bay were a treat!

Arctic Tern - The “common” tern in most of our stops in Alaska.

Aleutian Tern - The colony at the Bonanza Bridge on Safety Sound had a dozen pair.

Common Murre - The “common” alcid on our boat trip through Resurrection Bay.

Pigeon Guillemot - Not as common as the murre, but plenty of pairs on the boat trip.

Marbled Murrelet - Seen from shore in Seward quite close to shore.  Great looks!

Kittlitz’s Murrelet - Just outside the ice floe from the Northwestern Glacier.

Rhinoceros Auklet - We saw them from the boat, but mostly from the back as they flew.

Horned Puffin - Abundant out by the Chiswell Islands.

Tufted Puffin - More abundant than the Horned and usually in pairs.

Great Horned Owl - Fairbanks had a nesting pair w/4 young. A subarcticus & NW parents.

Short-eared Owl - Shorty was on Kougarauk, along the beach in Nome and in Denali.

Downy Woodpecker - Our hotel in Fairbanks had a few of these birds in the forest..

Hairy Woodpecker - The most common woodpecker of our trip in the coniferous forest.

N. Flicker -We had one Yellow-shafted with all the others being Red-shafted.

Alder Flycatcher - Common and calling in Fairbanks and a few in Nome.

Say’s Phoebe - Interesting to see this desert dweller in Fairbanks farm fields.

Gray Jay - Camp robbers were in the campground in Chugach National Forest.

Steller’s Jay - In the campground between Seward andAnchorage.

Black-billed Magpie - Everywhere in the lower part of the state, especially in urban areas

Northwestern Crow - Seward had their fair share of these coastal crows.

Common Raven - An incredibly adaptive bird given that it was in all habitats.

Tree Swallow - The most common of the swallows, especially in Fairbanks.

Violet-green Swallow - Loosely associated with Tree Swallow flocks in migration north.

Bank Swallow - On the Seward Highway and in Seward at exposed sandy cliffs.

Cliff Swallow - Common in Anchorage and other areas of the state.

Barn Swallow - A few individuals as far north as Nome.

Black-cap Chickadee - In the forests of Fairbanks and Seward.

Boreal Chickadee - One individual behind our hotel in Fairbanks.

American Dipper - The pair at Penny River in Nome were courting.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Common singers in Anchorage and Fairbanks woodlands.

Bluethroat - A singing and displaying male on Council Road at the first bridge.

N. Wheatear - Good looks at a pair on Teller Road as they foraged together.

Gray-cheeked Thrush - Singing in most willow filled draws I the Nome area.

Swainson’s Thrush - Singing birds in the woodland behind our Fairbanks hotel.

Hermit Thrush - In the Chugach National Forest campgrounds between Seward & ANC.

American Robin - Hard to miss this red-breasted singer anywhere there were fields.

Varied Thrush - Great looks in the Chugach National Forest campgrounds.

Yellow Wagtail - Seen on all three roads outside Nome.

American Pipit - Along side the road in the Nome area.

Bohemian Waxwing - Great looks at a small flock in Denali flycatching at lakeside.

Orange-crowned War - Bright Alaska subspecies males were singing their hearts out.

Yellow Warbler - Common where trees were available for singing.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - We only saw Myrtle’s on this trip, and the males were stunning.

Townsend’s Warbler - A singing male in the woodlands behind our FBK hotel was all we had.

N. Waterthrush - The most robust singer of all the birds we saw in Nome area creeks.

Wilson’s Warbler - Along side most creeks and rivers in Alaska, it was not uncommon.

American Tree Sparrow - Very common in the Nome area sitting atop a perch and singing.

Savannah Sparrow - Grassy fields in Alaska always had a pair for us to view.

Fox Sparrow - Bright rufous and gray birds were not shy about belting out their song

Song Sparrow - We all felt this race was larger and darker than their southern races.

White-crowned Sparrow - The Gambel’s race of this species was very common – everywhere.

Golden-crowned Sparrow - Stunningly bright headed individuals were everywhere in Nome.

Dark-eyed Junco - Slate-colored individuals were in woodland understory in ANC & FBK.

Lapland Longspur - Common and striking in their alternate plumage in the Nome area.

Rusty Blackbird - An individual in the Creamer fields in FBK was the only one we heard.

Brewer’s Blackbird - Common, common, common & common.

Common Redpoll - The less “common” of the two redpolls in the Nome area.

Hoary Redpoll - We found these guys on the edge of snow in most areas of Nome.

 

MAMMALS
Muskrat - On one of the many ponds in Denali National Park.

Beaver - Swimming in Safety Sound during perpetual daylight.

Hoary Marmot - On rock and grass hillsides in Denali NP.

Arctic Ground Squirrel - Everywhere in Nome and Denali.  Essentially a bear and fox burrito.

Red Squirrel - In the forest behind our Fairbanks hotel.

Arctic Hare - Always on the road in Denali while expired individuals perched in trees.

Moose - Mostly in Denali NP and in the Nome area.

Reindeer - Mostly on the Teller and Kougarauk Roads.

Musk Ox - Herds in the  Nome area were fairly common.

Mountain Goat - On the hills surrounding Resurrection Bay, mostly females with kids.

Dall Sheep - Betty and Doritos equal a Dall Sheep sighting.  Always on Turnagain.

Coyote - A few in Denali NP were along the roadside in the more sparse areas.

Red Fox - We watched a black cross take three squirrels in 15 minutes at Denali!

Grizzly Bear - A few sightings with a highlight being a sow w/cubs along side our bus.

Short-tailed Weasel - A solo individual ran down the road in front of us at Denali Lodge.

N. Sea Otter - Common in Resurrection Bay fjords as we boated various inlets.

Steller’s Sea Lion - Large groups of this somewhat rare sea lion were hauled out on rocks.

Harbor Seal - On the ice floe at the base of NW Glacier.

Killer Whale - Resurrection Bay had two pods of these charismatic predators.

Humpback Whale - Cow/calf pairs & bulls were sighted a number of times from the boat.

Harbor Porpoise - A small pod was sighted in our wake on our way back to Seward.

Dall’s Porpoise - Two individuals were doing their characteristic rooster tail at Fox Island.

 

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