TRIP REPORT ALASKA 13-05-'00 to 02-06-'00
A Natural History Trip with Destination Management
Of Brisbane on behalf of The Friends of the Sydney Botanic Garden and
T.A.M.S. The Australian Museum Society.
16 tour members took part. Birds were not the major interest of most of the
group. The list to follow in most cases refers only to our first sighting
of the bird in Alaska, anyone wanting further information can contact us at
our address below. The list is based on Clements 'Birds of the World' using
Simon Bennett's Birdinfo program.
In the Field we used 'Guide to the Birds of Alaska', Robert Armstrong. With
some reference to the 'Collins Birds of North America', and 'Field Guide to
Birds - Western Region' by Stokes.
The Lonely Planet Guide for Alaska is spot on with any info. on bird
watching sites.
Species recorded.
Master checklist is Alaska, political outliers not included.
Willow Ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus
Cape Nome
Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus
Safety Sound Nome
Canada Goose Branta canadensis
Anchorage
Brant Branta bernicla
Sitka Sound
Gadwall Anas strepera
Seldovia
American Wigeon Anas americana
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Anchorage
Blue-winged Teal Anas discors
Juneau
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Northern Pintail Anas acuta
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Canvasback Aythya valisineria
Safety Sound Nome
Greater Scaup Aythya marila
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Common Eider Somateria mollissima
Safety Sound Nome
Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
Wrangell
Oldsquaw Clangula hyemalis
Ketchican
Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
Ketchican Common
White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca
Sitka Sound
Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Portage Lake
Barrow's Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
Seldovia Harbour
Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
Ketchican
Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
Safety Sound Nome
Common Merganser Mergus merganser
Sitka Sound
Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
Stikine River Wrangell
Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica
Sitka Sound
Common Loon Gavia immer
Sitka
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel Oceanodroma furcata
Kachemak Bay 1 bird only
Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus
St. Lazarius Is. Sitka Sound
Red-faced Cormorant Leucocarbo urile
Gull Is. Kachemak Bay Uncommon 3 breeding pairs
Pelagic Cormorant Leucocarbo pelagicus
Sitka Common
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Wrangell
Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Anchorage Very common everywhere particularly Ketchican, Juneau and
Sitka
Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis
Stirling H/way Kenai Peninsular
Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
Tracey Arm Fiord Juneau
Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus
Inside Passage [Peterburg to Sitka]
Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
Cape Nome, nesting on quarry cliff.
American Kestrel Falco sparverius
Wrangell
Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago
Anchorage, Potter's Marsh
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
Cook Inlet Anchorage
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus
Safety Sound Nome
Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Lesser Yellowlegs Tringa flavipes
Seldovia Harbour
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
Kotzebue On ice floes
Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus
Gull Is. Kachemak Bay
Long-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus scolopaceus
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Surfbird Aphriza virgata
50+ Gull Is. Kachemak Bay
Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
Fish Creek Anchorage
Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis
Iced over lake Kotzebue
Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Pectoral Sandpiper Calidris melanotos
Fish Creek Anchorage
Dunlin Calidris alpina
Iced Lake Kotzebue Also 1 bird with Surfbirds at Gull Is. Kachemak Bay
Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus
West Chester Lakes Anchorage
Black Oystercatcher Haematopus bachmani
Sitka
American Golden Plover Pluvialis dominica
Iced Lake Kotzebue
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Sand Banks Juneau
Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
Anchorage, Nesting on Tundra Nome
Pomarine Jaeger Stercorarius pomarinus
Homer Kachemak Bay
Long-tailed Jaeger Stercorarius longicaudus
Kotzebue flying over ice floes. At Nome in Tundra or shigle beach areas.
Mew Gull Larus canus
Anchorage
Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis
Wrangell
Glaucous-winged Gull Larus glaucescens
Sitka
Glaucous Gull Larus hyperboreus
Kotzebue
Herring Gull Larus argentatus
Anchorage
Bonaparte's Gull Larus philadelphia
Anchorage
Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
Gull Is. Kachemak Bay, nesting in thousands
Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
Juneau, breeding Sawyer Glacier Tracey Arm
Common Murre Uria aalge
Sitka Common thousands Gull Is. Katchemak Bay
Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba
Wrangell Common
Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus
Wrangell
Kittlitz's Murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris
Homer Kachemak Bay
Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata
Sitka Sound
Horned Puffin Fratercula corniculata
Gull Is Kachemak Bay 3 only
Tufted Puffin Fratercula cirrhata
Sitka about 20 Gull Is. Kachemak Bay
Rock Dove Columba livia
Anchorage Common all towns excetp Arctic
Black Swift Cypseloides niger
Wrangell, Stikine River only one sighting
Rufous Hummingbird Selasphorus rufus
Juneau Bob Armstrongs house feeding at a Nectar feeder outside his
lounge window. Common in most towns up the Inside Passage feeding on
Salmonberry flowers
Belted Kingfisher Megaceryle alcyon
Wrangell, Stikine River
Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber
Sitka Starrigavan Recreation Area
Three-toed Woodpecker Picoides tridactylus
Homer Museum Nature Walk trail. Centre for Alaska Coastal Studies
Kachemak Bay
Steller's Jay Cyanocitta stelleri
West Chester Lakes Anchorage and Ward Lake trail Ketchican
Black-billed Magpie Pica pica
Anchorage
Northwestern Crow Corvus caurinus
Anchorage
Common Raven Corvus corax
Ketchican
American Pipit Anthus rubescens
Seldovia
Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus
Seldovia 1 bird only hard to see
Common Redpoll Carduelis flammea
Portage Lake
Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator
Homer 1 bird only hard to see
Orange-crowned Warbler Vermivora celata
Kenai Peninsular
Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia
Wrangell Stikine River
Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata
Portage Lake
Townsend's Warbler Dendroica townsendi
Wrangell
Wilson's Warbler Wilsonia pusilla
Wrangell
Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca
Wrangell
Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
Wrangell
Lincoln's Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
Ketchican
White-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia leucophrys
Anchorage
Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla
Homer Calling everywhere from tree tops
Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
Anchorage
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
On harbour sea wall Wrangell
Brown Tree-Creeper Certhia americana
Homer
Winter Wren Troglodytes troglodytes
Juneau
Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
Ketchican
Violet-green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
Potter's Marsh Anchorage
Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
Potter's Marsh Anchorage
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica
Wrangell
Cliff Swallow Pertochelidon pyrrhonota
Halibut Cove nesting in eaves of buildings
Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
Sitka Very hard to see calling from Sitka Spruce
Chestnut-backed Chickadee Poecile rufescens
Sitka
American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus
Ketchican 2 adults feeding 3 chicks under bride over "The Creek"
Varied Thrush Ixoreus naevia
Sitka We found all the thrushes very hard to see in dense Spruce or
Hemlock
Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus
Seldovia on Otterbahn Trail
Swainson's Thrush Catharus ustulatus
Wrangell
Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
Seldovia Otterbahn Trail
American Robin Turdus migratorius
Ketchican Most common and easiest seen thrush everywhere
Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris
Wrangell Not common
117 species
John & Ruth Walter,
PO Box180,
Pittsworth,
Queensland,
Australia 4356.
Phone 07 4693 1487
Fax 07 4693 1469
E-mail
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
www.shc.melb.catholic.edu.au/home/birding/index.html
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