Joe H
Well-known member
Greetings! I recently spent a week in the interior of Alaska (Delta Junction, Tok, and Fairbanks). There was little time for serious bird watching and the weather ranged from Fall in Anchorage to unquestionably Winter in Delta Junction and Tok. Even with the lack of time and cold weather, the trip turned out to be interesting from a birding perspective so I thought I’d share my observations with any who might be interested in what Alaska has to offer at this late in the year. Most bird sightings were noted from the highways connecting these cities and only an 8 power binocular was used (no spotting scope, which would have been most useful on this trip). There were no spectacular sightings noted but the large number of birds seen was surprising to me so I thought the members of this forum might be interested as well.
27 September, about 350 road miles from Anchorage to Delta Junction along the Glenn and Richardson Highways. The drive skirts the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountain Ranges and crosses the Alaska Range. The trip started out beautifully with great views of early Fall colors and snow capped peaks against a clear blue sky. This was a day that made a 6 ½ hour drive seem like a privilege. By the time I’d driven about 200 miles North the blue sky was gone and so were the early Fall colors. The low Taiga forests up North were covered in light snow and most of the road-side lakes were frozen. I had to resort to 4 wheel drive to prevent spinning up the hills through the Alaska Range.
Even given the weather, I was surprised by the number of birds that were easily seen from the road, or in many cases feeding along the snow free edges of the highway. Here’s the list: 1 Bald Eagle, a dozen Common Raven, 20 Black-billed Magpies, six Grey Jays, 66 unidentified birds (mostly Black-capped Chikadees and Pine Siskens, but I did not have time to stop to identify each small group that was feeding along the highway), three Northern Shrikes, 118 unidentified ducks (here a spotting scope and more time would have been invaluable), two mallards, one Northern Harrier, one unidentified hawk, one unidentified hawk being chased by an unidentified small bird, and two probable immature Red-necked Grebes.
Also seen were 16 Caribou and one Porcupine.
28 September, in Delta Junction and with only about 20 minutes to look for birds. I drove to Quartz and Lost Lake, which are a few miles West of Delta. Sighted were an immature Robin and Varied Thrush, two Slate-colored Junkos, 10 unidentified ducks on Lost Lake (needed scope), flocks of Dark-eyed Junkos and Black-capped Chikadees.
Also seen were four Moose.
29 September, drove from Delta Junction to the Canadian Border and returned. During these 400 miles, I saw a Northern Hawk Owl (number 143 on my 2004 Alaskan bird list), three Spruce Grouse, 15 Snow Buntings, a Merlin, 15 small birds that were feeding along the road (mostly Dark-eyed Junkos but a few buntings as well), 15 Ravens and 10 Magpies.
30 September, very little birding. I did see three Northern Harriers along fields in Delta, and a flock of 10 Robins feeding on seeds in an ornamental tree.
1 October, the only new birds seen were Rock Doves in Fairbanks and Surf Scotters along the Richardson Highway. In total, I saw 53 ducks (Mallards, Bufflehead, and Scotters), six Common Raven, and six possible Dark-eyed Junkos. I returned to Anchorage by air and no birds were sighted during the flight.
Total species identified (20) and total numbers seen (approximately 400) were surprising to me. With more time and a spotting scope I’m sure many of the ducks could have been identified and the species count would have increased. I hope this trip report was of some interest to readers of this article. This is my first year bird watching and I had no idea so many birds could be found this late in the year or were likely to winter that far North in Alaska. I’ll try to write up some previous trips I took this year which were to more interesting places (Kodiak Island in Fall, Homer during the Spring shore bird migration, the Denali Highway in Summer). Thanks for reading!
27 September, about 350 road miles from Anchorage to Delta Junction along the Glenn and Richardson Highways. The drive skirts the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountain Ranges and crosses the Alaska Range. The trip started out beautifully with great views of early Fall colors and snow capped peaks against a clear blue sky. This was a day that made a 6 ½ hour drive seem like a privilege. By the time I’d driven about 200 miles North the blue sky was gone and so were the early Fall colors. The low Taiga forests up North were covered in light snow and most of the road-side lakes were frozen. I had to resort to 4 wheel drive to prevent spinning up the hills through the Alaska Range.
Even given the weather, I was surprised by the number of birds that were easily seen from the road, or in many cases feeding along the snow free edges of the highway. Here’s the list: 1 Bald Eagle, a dozen Common Raven, 20 Black-billed Magpies, six Grey Jays, 66 unidentified birds (mostly Black-capped Chikadees and Pine Siskens, but I did not have time to stop to identify each small group that was feeding along the highway), three Northern Shrikes, 118 unidentified ducks (here a spotting scope and more time would have been invaluable), two mallards, one Northern Harrier, one unidentified hawk, one unidentified hawk being chased by an unidentified small bird, and two probable immature Red-necked Grebes.
Also seen were 16 Caribou and one Porcupine.
28 September, in Delta Junction and with only about 20 minutes to look for birds. I drove to Quartz and Lost Lake, which are a few miles West of Delta. Sighted were an immature Robin and Varied Thrush, two Slate-colored Junkos, 10 unidentified ducks on Lost Lake (needed scope), flocks of Dark-eyed Junkos and Black-capped Chikadees.
Also seen were four Moose.
29 September, drove from Delta Junction to the Canadian Border and returned. During these 400 miles, I saw a Northern Hawk Owl (number 143 on my 2004 Alaskan bird list), three Spruce Grouse, 15 Snow Buntings, a Merlin, 15 small birds that were feeding along the road (mostly Dark-eyed Junkos but a few buntings as well), 15 Ravens and 10 Magpies.
30 September, very little birding. I did see three Northern Harriers along fields in Delta, and a flock of 10 Robins feeding on seeds in an ornamental tree.
1 October, the only new birds seen were Rock Doves in Fairbanks and Surf Scotters along the Richardson Highway. In total, I saw 53 ducks (Mallards, Bufflehead, and Scotters), six Common Raven, and six possible Dark-eyed Junkos. I returned to Anchorage by air and no birds were sighted during the flight.
Total species identified (20) and total numbers seen (approximately 400) were surprising to me. With more time and a spotting scope I’m sure many of the ducks could have been identified and the species count would have increased. I hope this trip report was of some interest to readers of this article. This is my first year bird watching and I had no idea so many birds could be found this late in the year or were likely to winter that far North in Alaska. I’ll try to write up some previous trips I took this year which were to more interesting places (Kodiak Island in Fall, Homer during the Spring shore bird migration, the Denali Highway in Summer). Thanks for reading!
