As soon as we arrived, we drove down the gorgeous Turnagain Arm–a scenic drive that hugs the side of the mountain –nearly flush to the water. I think it is the most beautiful drive I’ve ever been on, rivaling my other two drives, the River Road in West Texas and the scenic drive from San Sepolchro to Urbino. Within minutes we saw the two representative Anchorage birds, the Black-Capped Chickadee and the Mew Gull.
The next day we met bird guide Sulli Gibson at Anchorage’s famous Potter’s Marsh. The marshy estuary is just filed with beautiful birds. My favorites were pintail ducks, green teals, Alder Flycatchers, redpolls, Canada geese babies, so many yellowlegs, American widgeons, and Wilson’s snipes….and mew and herring gulls galore.
We also drove back down the Turnagain Arm to chase after the Orange-Crowned Warbler (beautiful song) and Golden-Crowned Sparrow.
Alder Flycatcher
Wilson Snipe
Northern Pintail
Cana Goose
Yellowlegs
Mew Gull
Green-teal
Wilson Snipe
Dall Sheep
Orange-Crowned Warbler
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Common Redpoll
3 Top Birding sites in Alaska
On Sully’s recommendation, that afternoon Chris went running on the Terry Knowles trail… he took me back later that night before we got pizza at Moose’s Tooth, so I could see the Arctic Tern with my own eyes–world champion migrator and top 100 bird.
We saw plenty of arctic terns, along with a gorgeous red-throated grebe and lots of Canada Geese.
She was not happy with Chris taking her photo!
Awesome apricot pizza from Moose’s Tooth, recommended by Sulli
Red-Throated Grebe
Our hotel
We also saw on our first day Cow Parnsip…. the wildflower that haunted our days.
++
On our last day, we went birding with Sulli again–and that is when I saw my favorite bird of the trip, the Red-Throated Loon.
This bird was so sweet. He was loved airplanes and returns to the floatplane airport and calls out every time someone starts their plane… it was just incredible. By that time, I had fallen in love with the haunting call of the red-throated loons.
The lagoon was situated against the international airport. We saw more Bonaparte’s Gulls, which I love!
We also saw a rare Boreal Chickadee, Downy woodpecker, and a red-breasted nuthatch.
Dewdrop World 