Juneau, Kodiak and beyond

So, we went to Juneau in June. It's a very different place from what I thought it would be. Being the state capital (capitol?), you'd think the buildings and all that would be some kind of spectacular. It's not. It's just a town built on a hill, with lots of stairs. The capitol building just sits there on one of the streets. You drive right by the front door. And the governor's mansion (mansion is a stretch. It's a big old house. There are bigger one's privately owned in town.), just sits on a residential street. But I must say I was really disappointed that there was a trampoline in the yard and a bouy hanging from a tree. She valley-trashed the very stately governor's mansion!!! Please. The toys have got to go. Especially since she made it clear that she wasn't going to make it her primary resident. Keep the trash for Wasilla then.

Enough of that. I did some birding. Found nothing new that I couldn't find anywhere else. But the one big bird I found, a lifer for me, was a Tennessee Warbler. It had been spotted near the Mendenhall Glacier many times and I really wasn't thinking about it until I found a bird I couldn't identify. Guess what it was? Yep. My new bird! And the juncos there are not the slate colored ones, but the Oregon species. Very pretty bird. Had never seen one with that coloring.

Then, from July 10 thru the 14th, we went to Kodiak. There are some really nice houses in Kodiak. And a lot of fishermen (fisher people?). We did a lot of hiking there. Especially around the old WWII bunkers. All that money and time spent on an attack that never happened. But cool just the same. And we saw these little weasel things. They were like miniature, miniature ferrets. CUTE! Wouldn't mind those running around my yard.

But I also did a lot of birding there. Here's my list:
Magpie
Northwestern Crow
Raven, Common
Bald Eagle
Fox Sparrow
Winter Wren (Alaska first for me!)
Black Capped Chickadee
Golden-Crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Common Merganser
Tufted Puffin
Horned Puffin
Marbled Murrelet
Pigeon Guillemot
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Black-Legged Kittiwake
Pelagic Cormorant
Golden Crowned Kinglet
Red-necked Grebe
Harlequin Duck (many, many, many of these guys)
Greater Yellowlegs
Wilson's Snipe
Yellow Warbler
Tree Swallow
White-Winged Scoter
Varied Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Belted Kingfisher
Black Oystercatcher
Pine Grosbeak
Arctic Tern
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Pine Siskin
Wilson's Warbler

And it wasn't even the best time of the year for birding! Apparently, the best time is in the winter and spring.

We also saw a couple of humback whales, a sea otter, and 2 sitka black tailed deer. And horses, but I don't think they count. No bears. Thank goodness. Saw one in Juneau though. It wasn't interested in us. Again, thank goodness.

And now we're in Seward. And it is raining. Not that misty annoying rain. RAIN, rain. Since yesterday. We dogs in an RV is not good. They're bored and driving me crazy. We're here to look at a home. We've decided that we are not moving. We are coming back in the spring after spending the next couple of months seeing the country. After 17 years in Alaska, we just can't leave. I'll let you know how that goes.

And so, for now, I'll say goodbye!

St. Paul Island

For those birders out there wanting to go to the Pribilof Islands, here is the latest RBA:

RBA * Alaska * St. Paul Island, Pribilofs * June 30, 2008 * AKSPI 08.06.30 Hello Birders, this is the St. Paul Island rare bird alert for the week of June 23-June 29, 2008 sponsored by St. Paul Island Tour. The following sequence of sightings is in taxonomic order; an asterisk denotes a species of less than annual occurrence or one of particular note. Birds Mentioned: Cackling Goose Eurasian Wigeon Lesser Scaup White-winged Scoter Black Scoter YELLOW-BILLED LOON Short-tailed Shearwater Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel Western Sandpiper Red Phalarope Slaty-backed Gull Herring Gull (ssp. vegae) Glaucous Gull Ancient Murrelet Arctic Tern Bank Swallow Common Redpoll This week was marked by increasing temperatures, light northerly winds, and some extended clear periods. Translated: We briefly saw the sun! New birds were scarce this week but the first few southbound shorebirds were located. WATERFOWL On the 23rd a flock of 8 Cackling Geese were observed flying over the island. A pair of Lesser Scaup continued on Polovina Lake until the 23th. Other waterfowl on St Paul this week included Eurasian Wigeon, Black Scoter, and White-winged Scoter. The alternate plumaged YELLOW-BILLED LOON off Webster seawatch was present intermittently throughout the week. SEABIRDS & GULLS Short-tailed Shearwaters were seen daily in small numbers at multiple locations throughout the week. The highlight of the week was the appearance of several Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels off East Landing on the 26th and 27th. A second cycle Vega Gull and 3-4 immature Slaty-backed Gulls were present throughout the week allowing close study. An interesting 3rd cycle dark-mantled gull, identified as a probable Slaty-backed X Glaucous-winged hybrid, was at East Landing this week. A few Glaucous Gulls were also present. An immature Arctic Tern was seen at East Landing on the 24th. SHOREBIRDS Several Western Sandpipers, likely southbound migrants, appeared on Webster Lake on 06/26 and continued throughout the week. A handful of Red Phalaropes were seen around the island this week, also probable southbound individuals. LANDBIRDS & PASSERINES 1-2 Bank Swallows were present all week. A Common Redpoll found at the Quarry on the 28th added a little diversity to our list of passerines this week. Regularly occurring species now present on the island: Northern Pintail Green-winged (and Common) Teal Greater Scaup King Eider Harlequin Duck Long-tailed Duck Red-necked Grebe Northern Fulmar Red-faced Cormorant Pelagic Cormorant Semipalmated Plover Least Sandpiper Rock Sandpiper (ssp. ptilocnemis) Red-necked Phalarope Glaucous-winged Gull Black-legged Kittiwake Red-legged Kittiwake Common Murre Thick-billed Murre Pigeon Guillemot Parakeet Auklet Least Auklet Crested Auklet Tufted Puffin Horned Puffin Winter Wren (ssp. priblofensis) Lapland Longspur Snow Bunting Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (ssp. umbrina) For tour information or to make travel arrangements visit our website http://www.alaskabirding.com or call 1-877-424-5637. This is Cameron Cox(Cameron_cox@hotmail.com), Scott Schuette, and Adam Sabatine the 2008 St. Paul Island Tour guides, wishing you good birding.