birding Alaska
Dec 22 2011

New Birding Blog and a Few Bird Highlights

I’ve been out of the country for the last three weeks, leading a birding trip to Bhutan for Wilderness Birding Adventures. I’ve been trying to catch up with the happenings in Alaska birding while I’ve been gone and since returning home I’m very happy to see that Seward birder, Carol Griswold, has a new blog dedicated to her superb “Sporadic Birding Report.” She’s been sending this report out to birders for quite some time, but now we get to see many of her wonderful photographs accompany the report. Congratulations Carol! Click here to go to Carol’s site.

In bird news since I’ve been away, another rare Turdus has struck southcoastal Alaska. A Dusky Thrush was found in Thede Tobish’s yard in Anchorage on 10 December. The bird was viewed regularly in the neighborhood until 14 December then disappeared until it was relocated today, 22 December. Check AK Birding discussion group for updates.

Two other exciting bird phenomena noted this winter include multiple and widespread sightings of McKay’s Buntings on the Kenai Penisula (Seward, Homer, and Kenai) and a double digit reports of Great Gray Owls from the western Kenai Peninsula stretching from Sterling to Homer. Again, check AK birding for the latest on these and other bird sightings.

Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus, Anchorage, 12 December 2011. Photo by Lucas DeCicco.


Feb 18 2009

Left-handed Crossbills?

White-winged Crossbill-male-web

WWCR-female-web

White-winged Crossbills Loxia leucoptera, Homer, 18 February 2009.

Right now is a good time to be a crossbill on the Kenai peninsula.  Spruce trees are heavy with cones and White-wings are very common.  Reds less so, but there are a few around.  I photographed these White-winged Crossbills in our yard in Homer this afternoon.

Do all crossbill lower mandibles veer to the left or are some “right handed”?


Feb 14 2009

Welcome

Welcome to BirdingAK.com, a site dedicated to birding in Alaska.

White-tailed Ptarmigan.e

White-tailed Ptarmigan Lagopus leucura, Arctic Valley, 5 March 2006.