Birding Alaska

A day of birding Homer with Luke DeCicco and Wendy Holman made for a very memorable final day of 2011. All photos by Luke DeCicco.

Great Gray Owl Strix nebulosa, Homer, 30 December 2011. Photo by Lucas DeCicco.

Great Gray Owls make birding headlines anywhere on the Kenai, especially Homer. This winter has been an exceptional winter for the species on the Peninsula–there have been up to four different Gray Grays reported in the Homer area alone. The most reliable birds have been two that have shown regularly and well at the east end of Beluga Lake. The best viewing opportunities have been from the end of Adams Drive (off of East End Road), but the birds have also been spotted from the observation platform at the end of FAA drive near the airport. Luke took this photo on 30 December, but we relocated the bird again on New Year’s Eve for a final bird of 2011. This was my first Great Gray Owl for the Kenai Peninsula and a great way to celebrate New Year’s Eve!

Horned Lark Eremophila alpestris, Homer Spit, 31 December 2011. Photo by Lucas DeCicco.

This Horned Lark represents only the second winter report for Homer. The first mid-winter record was of four birds found on the Homer CBC last winter, one of which was of the Asian breeding flava subspecies. Click here for more on that.

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis, Seaside Farm, Homer, 31 December 2011. Photo by Lucas DeCicco.

It has been a good fall/winter for overwintering sparrows in Homer. This White-throated Sparrow found at Mossy’s Seaside Farm makes for the third consecutive winter this rare fall/winter visitor has been found in Homer.

Thede Tobish and I beat the bushes in Homer today for passerines and found three interesting birds. We started with a Pacific Wren (formerly known as Winter Wren), which although common on the south side of Kachemak Bay, is a very good find in Homer. Most reports from this side of the bay come from the fall and winter. A sparrow flock in town produced a White-throated Sparrow, making two years in a row for this rare winter visitor in Homer. The bird of the day was an unseasonal Hermit Thrush at Mossy Kilcher’s Seaside Farm. I believe this is the first winter record of Hermit Thrush for Homer. Elsewhere in Southcoastal Alaska there are two previous mid-winter records of Hermit Thrush from Seward (30 December 2000 and 31 December 2004-17 January 2005) and one from Cordova (16 December 2000-11 January 2001).

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicolis, Homer, 4 December 2010.

Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus, Seaside Farm, Homer, 4 December 2010.

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis, Seaside Farms, Homer, 8 November 2009.

Battle of the yard birds in Homer.  The Anna’s Hummingbird was still present at our feeder today and just a mile or so down the road Mossy Kilcher had this beautiful White-throated Sparrow in her ravine.