Anchorage Alaska
On Saturday morning, I woke up at 3:45 AM to catch my 6:00 AM flight to Anchorage via Chicago. I took this photo from the plane window perhaps 30 minutes before landing in Anchorage. Despite all of the snow in the mountains, the weather in Anchorage itself was wonderful with mostly sunny skies and the temperature about 60.
I collected my bags, picked up my rental car, and drove the very short distance to my hotel near the airport, arriving before 3pm local time. The hotel I picked was on a lake that was a birding hotspot, so I grabbed my camera and headed out to see what species I could find. This Pacific Loon was one of 4 species that I added to my life list Saturday afternoon. In Massachusetts, I had photographed the Common Loon and the Red-throated Loon earlier in the year, but Pacific Loons are rather unusual for MA.
This Barrow’s Goldeneye was a another species that I added to my life list Saturday afternoon. I have photographed its cousin the Common Goldeneye in Massachusetts and happen to add that species to my 2025 list on my first day in New Mexico this January.
I first saw a Black-billed Magpie in Oregon last year. I decided to include this photo because it shows some of the mountains that are visible in almost every direction one looks.
The lake itself is a landing strip for the numerous sea planes that are regularly used to travel within Alaska.
I managed to keep myself awake until past 9pm before allowing myself to crawl into bed for the night. I fell asleep almost instantly, but woke up around 4:30 and was unable to get back to sleep. While sunrise was around 4:50 AM, the combination of overcast skies and the mountains to the east meant that it took some time before there was enough light to photograph reasonably. I spent some time culling photos from Saturday before heading out to photograph more birds around 6:00 AM. Just outside of the hotel, I was able to get this nice photograph of a Red-necked Grebe, also bird I had added to my life list Saturday but only with a distant photo.
I walked from the hotel, alongside the lake, past the airport, and towards the bay. I had my Merlin app listening for birds, and it indicated to me that an Orange-crowned Warbler was nearby. I could tell it was in one specific tree but could not see it. Fortunately, after about 5 minutes of searching, the bird flew to the top of a nearby tree and I was able to get this photograph.
Once I got to the bay, I walked along the bike path towards downtown Anchorage. I met a woman also walking in the same direction and carrying photography gear. We talked as we walked. She was local, and when she heard I was from the lower 48, she asked if I had seen a moose yet. I told her no since I had just arrived yesterday afternoon. Well, probably no more than 20 paces later, she stopped and pointed to the right side of the path where there was a moose in the woods. I took this photo a few minutes later when the moose stepped out onto the edge of the path.
I asked my walking companion what I should know about staying safe around moose. She pointed out that this was a female, many of whom now had calves. She then emphasized that it was a very bad idea to get between a mother and her calf. A few moments later, she pointed to the opposite side of the path where there were two calves, one of whom is pictured above.
After a few minutes, the calves join their mother on the right side of the path, and the family to collectively disappeared into the woods. I continued along my way. Shortly thereafter, I photographed this Redpoll, another new life list species.
The bike path ran parallel to the shore line, often in the woods, but sometimes right alongside the shore. The tide was rapidly receding exposing a mud flat. Tides in Alaska can be incredibly large. High tide in Anchorage yesterday morning was 31 feet. Signs were posted frequently warning about the dangers of the water and the mudflats. The mudflats are not something one can walk on. The glacier silt is not at all firm, so one would immediately sink and become stuck, unable to gain any purchase to extract oneself.
Of course, birds such as this Whimbrel had no problem walking on the mudflat and searching for food.
A bit later, I was surprised to see this solitary Sandhill Crane.
The dominant gull here is the Short-billed Gull, another new species for my life list. My morning walk ended up being about 7.5 miles. Rather than walk the 2.5 miles through the city back to my hotel, I grabbed an Uber.
After copying my photos to my computer, doing an initial cull, and grabbing some lunch, I drove over to Bicycle Alaska’s shop. Greg, the owner, had offered to store my bike before our tour while I travelled to Nome for bird photography. Following the bike drop off, I drove south of Anchorage to a set of birding hotspots along the costal highway. While I had see Tree Swallows by my hotel, here I saw Violet-green Swallows.
While I had photographed Northern Shovelers several times this year, I did not have a photo of one flying, so I was happy to get this photo.
The terns here in Anchorage are the Arctic Terns. I had seen a number since my arrival, but they had always been at a distance. Here, one flew near me so I was able to capture a nicer photo than I had done so far. I headed back to my hotel, soon after this shot. I spent the evening culling photos and writing most of this post. I had hoped to get it done last night, but weariness caught up to me before I could complete it. I head off momentarily to go to the airport and fly to Nome where I will be through Friday.