20 - 24 May 1995

by Macklin Smith

Our aims were new state birds and just plain sightseeing.  Departing Anchorage May 20 and returning the 24th, we followed most of the road system to Fairbanks, Delta, Paxson, Delta, Tok, Chicken, Eagle, Chicken, Tok, Northway, Delta, Glenallen, Anchorage.  In the Northway area, we missed Ruddy Duck, Chipping Sparrow, Sora, and Am. Coot, and we missed Smith's Longspurs on the Denali H'way (too early) & a "stake-out" Hawk Owl s. of Paxson.  Otherwise we had good luck.  As one of our party was a retired Lt. Col. in the USAF, we visited Eielson AFB near Fairbanks, where we found our best shorebirds.  On our return to Anchorage (after an excursion to the Kenai), we were lucky to happen upon a Marbled Godwit.  The following list includes Anchorage birds in addition to what we saw on our grand loop.

New state birds=*; rarities=+.

Red-throated Loon
Pacific Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Trumpeter Swan
Canada Goose
Green-winged Teal
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
N. Shoveler
Gadwall
Am. Wigeon
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck*
Gr. Scaup
Surf Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Osprey*
Bald Eagle
(Harlan's) Red-tailed Hawk
Golden Eagle
Am. Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon (2 at nest)
Willow Ptarmigan
Ruffed Grouse*
Sharp-tailed Grouse*
Sandhill Crane
Lesser Golden Plover (100's!)
Semipalmated Plover
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper*
Spotted Sandpiper,
Upland Sandpiper*
Whimbrel
Hudsonian Godwit
Surfbird
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper (breeding)
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Buff-breasted Sandpiper+*
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Common Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope.

Anchorage:

Marbled Godwit*
Parasitic Jaeger (+ in interior)
Long-tailed Jaeger
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull
Claucous-winged Gull
Arctic Tern
Rock Dove
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
N. Flicker
Alder Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Say's Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Violet-green Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Gray Jay
Steller's Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Mountain Bluebird+*
Townsend's Solitaire*
Gray-cheeked Thrush,
Hermit Thrush
Am. Robin
Varied Thrush
Am. Pipit
Northern Shrike (including just fledged young)
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Y-rumped Warbler
N. Waterthrush
Wilson's Warbler
Tree Sparrow
Savanna Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
G-crowned Sparrow,
W-crowned Sparrow
Junco
Lapland Longspur
Red-winged Blackbird (Northway)
Rusty Blackbird
Common Redpoll

Mammals observed on the interior loop were:

Porcupine
Beaver
Moose
Dall Sheep
Red-backed Vole
[& scat of Grizzly Bear and Wolf(!)]

Macklin Smith
University of Michigan
macklins@umich.edu