6 - 17 August 1999

by Francis Toldi

Part 1 (narrative, resources)

I recently returned from a trip to South-Central Alaska. Although it was primarily a family trip, there were still plenty of birds present. Nevertheless, I did not visit many of the traditional "bird" destinations, and so the list of Alaskan "specialties" is somewhat limited. What follows is a general description of the trip, a few words on resources, then (in Part 2) an annotated list of the bird highlights.

The trip was built around a 5 day boat trip on the Discovery, a 12 passenger boat that works primarily the northern and eastern portions of Prince William Sound. We arrived in Anchorage on August 6 to rainy skies. The morning of August 7 I birded briefly along the Coastal Trail in the Anchorage downtown area, then we took the train to Whittier where we met the boat.

We spent five days cruising in and out of various bays and inlets in the Prince William Sound, ending up in Cordova. The sightseeing was fantastic: huge glaciers, cascades, icebergs, majestic mountains, verdant forests and, yes, great birds. On the whole the seabirds were the ones I expect in Coastal Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, with a few welcome additions, such as Horned Puffin, Kittlitz's Murrelet, and much larger concentrations of species such as puffins and jaegers than I am used to seeing. We made frequent landings in various remote places. I was surprised at how still the forests were: few landbirds could be seen or heard.

An electrifying moment was south of Glacier Island in Prince William Sound when we came upon hundreds of birds of various species--jaegers, gulls, puffins, cormorants-- flying all over gorging themselves on what looked like large schools of herring.

Cordova is a charming little town, and a good base for exploring that portion of the coast and the Copper River Delta, which is what we did for the next 3 days. It must be spectacular in the Spring when millions of shorebirds pass through. As it was, it was again very scenic, with interesting mammals, but fairly limited for birds.

We flew back to Anchorage, again stuck in the mist and rain. The next morning we left for a four day driving loop up the Parks Highway, east on the Denali Highway, and back to Anchorage on the Richardson and Glenn Highways. We spent the first night at Mary's McKinley View Lodge in Peters Creek (great evening view of the south face of McKinley), then two nights at the lovely Tangle Lakes Lodge.

As a pure bird trip there was a lot wrong with this trip: we were way too late for many birds--either because migration had already begun or because hunting season had started and the birds were invisible; other than the Denali Highway we didn't go to locations with a high number of Alaskan "specialties" and my traveling companions were a group of friends and relatives who were for the most part casual birders and general appreciators of nature. Nevertheless, there were plenty of good birds to see, including 9 lifers for me and 92 species overall. I also saw a total of 16 mammal species. Besides, anyone who goes to Alaska only for birds is making a serious mistake. There are so many other wonderful features to this amazing state.

The flowers were still in high bloom in the Prince William Sound, but had faded in the high country. It felt like late fall along the Denali Highway. The Tangle Lakes Lodge owners said they would be closing for the winter within a few weeks, and the snows would begin before too long.

Discovery Voyages is a family operated small boat based in Cordova. Their trips aren't cheap but are money well spent: a perfect blend of comfort and adventure. They also run special birding oriented trips at the "right" time of year that would result in a much longer list of species than what we saw. Check out their website at www.discoveryvoyages.com.

Unless you have a LOT of time, it would be tough to make a trip to Alaska cheap. It would be easy to make it expensive. It should also be possible to find a workable middle ground, especially if you are willing to camp and stay in rustic accommodations. Bear in mind that the super-terrific bird destinations (e.g. Pribiloffs, Nome, Gambel, Attu) will take a pretty big budget to reach . By not being greedy (always good advice) even a modestly set up birder can see many new and wonderful birds in Alaska. This is also a place to set aside the birding zeal from time to time and enjoy the spectacular view, the good food, the nice people, the gorgeous wildflowers…

Many thanks are due to the Birdchatters who provided very helpful information in response to my RFI.

ALASKA RESOURCES

Here are a few of the many excellent sources on Alaska. Some may be very hard to find outside of Alaska. Once there, Cook Inlet Books on 5th in Anchorage has a great selection including most listed below, as well as many additional titles on Natural History, fishing, hunting, indigenous Alaskans, history, etc. Also, while in Anchorage don't miss the Museum of History and Art.

• Robert Armstrong, Guide to the Birds of Alaska (4th ed, 1995) - Very helpful information on species habitat preferences in Alaska, always an important issue
• R.L. Scherm, Field Guide to Birding in Anchorage (1993) - great for both the stopover traveler with a free morning and someone staying in Anchorage for a longer visit. Helpful maps and advice on finding local specialties.
• Nick Lethaby, A Birdfinding Guide to Alaska (1994) - overview of various bird-rich areas in Alaska; helps give you an idea of what specialty species might be in a particular area.
• M.E. "Pete" Isleib and Brina Kessel, Birds of the North Gulf Coast - Prince William Sound Region, Alaska (1973, reprinted 1992) - hard to locate a copy of this excellent book. It is certainly dated, but with much detailed and helpful material for anyone traveling in the Prince William Sound. I got my copy at the Cordova Historical Museum.
• American Birding Association, Birdfinding in 40 National Forests and Grasslands - a nice section on Chugach National Forest was good for the Cordova and Prince William Sound areas.
• Pete Mickelson, Natural History of Prince William Sound (1989) - a nifty overview of the natural history of the area. Definitely a keeper.
• James Kavanagh, The Nature of Alaska (1997) - VERY general with a lot missing, but it beats carrying around a giant mound of books. Definitely doesn't replace the need for a good bird field guide, but might do for mammals, flowers, fish, etc.
• Verna Pratt, Alaskan Wildflowers (1989) - All plant enthusiasts would be well-served by this guide to the more common plants in the area. Also good is the same author's Wildflowers of Denali Park and Interior Alaska (1993). I didn't seem to locate a more comprehensive flora. If there is one it must be a big, expensive, technical tome
• Kate Wynne, Guide to Marine Mammals of Alaska (1997) - a good one to bring if you are spending a lot of time on the water. One of the best quick/comparative marine mammal ID guides I've ever seen
• DeLorme Atlas, Alaska - a little bulky, but it's nice to have all the detail on lakes, rivers, mountains, elevations, glaciers…
• International Travel Maps, Alaska - I love this series. Nice overview of the state, but if that's all I had I would have been frustrated.
• General tour guides - Alaska Best Places, Lonely Planet, etc are all fine. Alaska: Adventures in Nature is OK
• Alaska Milepost - if you are driving a lot in Alaska this publication is indispensable, with information on all of the facilities and public attractions along the way, all organized by road and milepost. On a short trip, or one where you aren't driving it wouldn't be necessary.

• Tangle Lakes Lodge has a nice site with a checklist of birds of the Denali Highway at http://www.alaskan.com/tanglelakes/
• Independent Alaska Trip Report by Charles Duncan and Ilze Balodis at http://www.umm.maine.edu/~cduncan/ak_rpt.htm
• Check the Alaska section of the always helpful "Where do you want to go birding today" site, http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/usalaska.htm including "Birding the Denali Highway" by Tina MacDonald
• Anchorage Audubon has a nice site at www.aud.org/chapter/ak/anchorage
• Prince William Sound Natural History by Alaska Wilderness Sailing and Kayaking at http://www.alaska.net/~awss/pws.html
• Discovery Voyages website, with links at www.Discoveryvoyages.com
• Chugach National Forest bird checklist can be found at www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/r7/2.htm

 

92 species total seen on this trip (93 if you split Fox Sparrow). Highlights are listed below. Send me an e-mail if you want a complete list with dates and locations.

• Loons (Gavia sp.) Common, Pacific, Red-throated Loons were all still in breeding plumage, but done breeding for the year. Common and Red-throated still calling at Tangle Lakes Lodge.
• Red-necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena) - great views of young birds with parents in Anchorage and near Portage
• Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) - Many seen, most still in pairs, some with young; easiest along Denali Highway and in the Copper River area
• Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) - all were Dusky's (B.c.occidentalis), which was an interesting twist; very common in Anchorage, Copper River, and in various places in Prince William Sound
• Ducks were tough, with virtually all in their cryptic eclipse plumage; 14 species seen in all; nice to see big concentrations (up to 40-50 birds at times) of Harlequin Ducks at various points in Prince William Sound
• Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) - OK, so they are abundant here, I still like seeing them hanging out on all the trees everywhere
• Rough Legged Hawk Buteo lagopus) - 1 from the train south of Anchorage seemed obvious at the time, but the distribution guides say they are not common in that part of the state; perhaps an early migrant?
• Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) - at least two were clearly "Harlan's" types, interesting to this lower 48'er
• Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) - should have been easy, but only 3 seen, along Denali Highway; hunting season started about 48 hours before we got there, and what had been an abundant bird suddenly became scarce. No other ptarmigan species seen.
• Shorebirds - were trickling through, probably all migrants; breeding along the Denali Highway seemed to be finished; only 8 species noted
• Jaegers were surprisingly common in Prince William Sound. We saw scattered Parasitics (Stercorarius parasiticus) (all dark phase), a few isolated Pomarines (Stercorarius pomarinus) (mostly light phase) , and one group of 15+ on the water, all looked like Pomarines to me. The large group was in the bird feeding frenzy south of Glacier Island, Prince William Sound
• Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) - of particular interest was a large breeding colony in the Portage Canal just outside of Whittier, with many young at various stages of fledging
• Arctic Tern ((Sterna paradisaea) - only a few birds near Barry Glacier in prince William Sound; too late for nesting birds; for the same reason I missed Aleutian Tern--come earlier in the year or go to the Aleutians, I guess
• Puffins - Tufted (Fratercula cirrhata) outnumbered Horned (Fratercula corniculata) and both were in a number of places, though local, in the Prince William Sound. Both were seen often and well, at very close range.
• Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) - one of the most common birds in the Prince William Sound, they were just everywhere. There was also an abundance of suitable nesting habitat, so I guess it figures. At this late date many were molting, compounding the already tricky ID issues with Kittlitz's.
• Kittlitz's Murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) - Convincing views of a few birds near Barry Glacier (lighter plumage with contrasting dark wings, light, unmarked undertail, white outer tail feathers), and thank goodness for those, because I saw many other candidates that were too far away or in bad light, or dove to quickly, or were molting, or…
• Northern Hawk-Owl (Surnia ulula) - While talking in the car and between paragraphs in read-aloud books I dutifully scanned all the spruce tops throughout our 500 mile drive around the Denali Highway loop. I was rewarded with a stunning, 50 feet away view of this magnificent bird at Glenn Highway MP 124, just east of Gunsight Mountain Lodge, initially on a pole then on a spruce.
• Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) - Still vocalizing away in the alders along the Coastal Trail in Anchorage, as late as August 13.
• Boreal Chickadee (Poecile husonicus) - this was the easy lifer I almost missed. I guess the trip dynamics were such that we didn't spend too much time birding in the spruce forests. IN any case, all of the chickadees I found on the trip were Black-capped (P.atricapullus), except for the Chestnut-backed (P.rufescens) in the Copper River area. On my last morning I made a special trip out to Kincaid Park and spent 2 hours walking around the trails until I found a Boreal. I would have missed it but for the call, a very different, more nasal "chickadee" call. The spruces in the Anchorage area are all pretty sick. Maybe that had something to do with it.
• Arctic Warbler (Phylloscopus borealis) - heard call and song and saw along Denali Highway in suitable habitat (high willows) from McLaren Pass east. Much greener than pictured in the National Geographic Guide. This wasn't at all a dingy looking bird. At around MP 21 is a pullout, dirt road going down to fishing access, with an outhouse right at the highway. The warblers were all over the place in this location.
• Bohemian Waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) - 4 at Brushkana Campground along the Denali Highway, mostly hovering and flycatching in the air above the river and spruce near the turnoff to the campround from the highway.
• Fox Sparrow - a few dark-backed, light-lored, probably "Sooty" (sub)species (Passerella (iliaca) u.unalaschensis) in Copper River area and at Kincaid Park, Anchorage; 3 "Red" (sub)species (Passerella i.iliaca) at Brushkana Campground along the Denali Highway.
• American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea) - always nice for this California coastal boy to see this species; common with some still singing around the Tangle Lakes Lodge and along the Denali Highway.
• Smith's Longspur (Calcarius pictus) - the adult males had already left Dodge, but I was happy to see at least one female near MP 14.5 on the Denali Highway, with possibly 4 flying over at the same location; just a few days before there had been dozens in this locale, reportedly.
• Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) - should have been abundant, but weren't noticeable until the last day in Anchorage, when there were huge flocks in the alders near the Copper Whale Inn near the Coastal Trail at Street. The weather was probably a factor, since that was our first clear day in Anchorage. 1 scraggly juvenile seen in the Talkeetna area too.
• The birds that got away included possible Red-faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax urile) (larger, heavier than Pelagics, but not kink-necked enough for a Double-crested--flew across the bow in silhouette south of Glacier Island, Prince William Sound) and Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) (a wheatear shaped and sized bird flitted over the ridgetop just out of view as I walked up a steep rocky ridge at McClaren Pass on the Denali Highway). Oh well, better luck next time!

 

• Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus) - a few along Denali Highway, still in summer coat
• Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata) - 1 on shore in alder thicket near Coxe Glacier, Prince William Sound
• Beaver (Castor canadensis) - many lodges and dams throughout; 4 actively building a lodge along Richardson Highway, MP unrecorded (probably in vicinity of MP170)
• Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) - huge numbers of these jumbo otters throughout the Prince William Sound, much larger in size and number than I am used to from Northern California; one concentration of over 200 otters in Orca Inlet
• Black Bear (Ursus americanus)- only a couple actually seen, but sign all over the place. No Grizzlies this trip!
• Dall Sheep (Ovus dalli) - 5 seen from train along Turnagain Arm; 10+ in hills above Sheep Mountain Lodge (a lovely spot) along the Glenn Highway
• Moose (Alces alces) - cows and babies common in Copper River area and along the Denali Highway; one male ON the Parks Highway near Peters Creek
• Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae) - 1 well seen from very close range feeding and lolling about off the south coast of Glacier Island, Prince William Sound
• Orca (Orcinus orca) - 1 at close range in Orca Bay