Alaska: Anchorage to Seward (and Back Again)

Mark O'Keefe
Jun 8, 2022
3 min read

I spent the last half of May in Michigan where I added Kirtland's Warbler and a few other birds to my list. On June 3, I started my most highly anticipated trip of the year: Alaska.

I am birding with Doug and Betty Hall who I met on my Massachusetts trip in February. Our guide is Nick Athanas of Tropical Birding.

After a travel day and dinner together on the 3rd, our birding adventures began on June 4. We left Anchorage and birded our way south to Seward. Along the way I added 11 birds to my list to end the day at 550. the weather was amazing with temperatures in the high 70s.

Our first target was the Spruce Grouse. Nick knew exactly where to find this male who was happy to do his breeding display for us.

Fox Sparrow

American Wigeon at Potter Marsh

Tree Swallow at Potter Marsh

Boardwalk at Potter Marsh

View from the boardwalk

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Harlequin Ducks

Our final target of the day was the elusive American Three-toed Woodpecker. I did not expect to see this bird in Alaska, so it was a great way to end Day One.

Kirtland's Warbler - found in Michigan in May

We spent a full day on a boat tour of the Kenai Glaciers. It felt a bit more like the Alaska we expected. The temperature was in the low 60's but when you are in the front of a fast-moving boat, it feels a bit colder.

The trip was not exclusively for birders. Many people came to see the glaciers and the whales. Nobody was disappointed, and the captain said it was the best trip he had been on in his ten years of experience.

Orcas put on quite a show. A young calf jumped repeatedly. There were several pods in the area and we saw about a dozen orcas.

Mother and child

Playful baby

Some of the orcas came surprisingly close to our boat.

The Humpback Whales kept their distance.

We were on our way back when a huge whale blew its spout 20 feet into the air. The captain knew that only a Fin Whale could have produced such a prodigious blast. He speculated that it was about to take a deep dive - a dive that could last an hour. Fortunately for us, the whale stayed near the surface and we saw a small part of its back. A second Fin Whale also made an appearance. They are the second largest mammal on earth and can reach a length of 66 feet.

Fin Whale. It may not look like much in this picture, but it was immense, and we saw only a small part of it.

Other mammal sighting include sea otters -

- and we had a distant look at some Mountain Goats.

For some people, the glaciers were the main attraction

I got to hold a piece of glacial ice that the crew scooped out of the water. It is 15 times denser than the ice in your refrigerator and is amazingly clear.

I was very happy to meet David and Tammy McQuade. They are two of the best birders in the country. They are going to see more than 700 species for their third consecutive year. I reached out to David last June when I started to plan my year. I knew he was a great resource although I was a complete stranger to him Nevertheless, he has been amazingly generous with his time, advice, and help in finding birds. He even sent me this picture of Ancient Murrelets which he patiently helped me find.

Ancient Murrelets - photo by David McQuade

Other great birds included:

Horned Puffin

Tufted Puffin

Thick-billed Murre

The white line on the bill is the easiest way to tell this bird from the Common Murre.

Common Murres

Black-legged Kittiwake

Monday morning it was time to head back north to Anchorage. The 120 mile trip took most of the day as we made frequent stops to see Dall Sheep up high in the mountains, sockeye salmon at a weir, and of course - more birds,