BlueRavenBirders

June 7 & 8, 2018

Flyng in to Anchorage airport

I flew out of Boise on Alaska Airlines, stopped in Seattle to change planes then on to Anchorage. I may have arrived at 8:27 p.m. but with all of the light it felt more like 5:00. Arlene picked me up at the airport and we drove out to Potter Marsh just to see what birds might be around. We then went to the grocery store for supplies. We bought a big bag of Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares to share on the field trip along with other essentials.

Out the window, flying into Anchorage

Thursday June 7th’s bird list:
1 Rock doves
2 Wilson’s warblers
3 American robins
4 Orange crowned warblers
5 Mew gulls
6 Canada geese
7 Mallards
8 American wigeons
9 Sandhill cranes
10 Arctic terns
11 Red necked grebes
12 Dark eyed juncos (Slaty back)
13 Tree swallows
14 Bald Eagle

We took a few minutes the next morning to check for nearby birds then got on the plane for Nome. We arrived just before noon and caught a taxi to our hotel. The hotel was quirky and our room while small with no view was at least dark. At this time of year that’s a hard thing to find.

I can’t tell if we’re deliriously happy or just delirious about this birding adventure…

Birds in Anchorage
1 Dark eyed juncos (Slaty)
2 American robins
3 Common raven

We had lunch at the Pingo Bakery-Seafood House  they have the best blueberry limeade ever! And the food was delicious. We walked around Nome, shopped, looked at/for birds.

Nome

Don’t know what the parade was about, but they were having a great time.

Our hotel

Beach behind the hotel

Ocean with a spec of Long tailed duck

The beach behind our hotel was made up of pebbles and rocks and we spent a bit of time looking for shells, sea glass, and rocks (of course). I ended up with my pockets full of rocks. I found a few pieces of modern crockery shards smoothed by the action of the ocean. I handed over every piece of sea glass I found (not much) to Arlene who will do something artistic with it.

Nome

We had dinner at Milano’s Pizzeria which also has a large sushi/Japanese/Pan-Asian menu. I was only able to eat ½ of the pizza they brought me. On our way back to the hotel a guy asked me to share, and out of habit I ignored and kept walking. Then had second thoughts because I knew I wasn’t going to finish the pizza. I turned around and handed the startled man the box. He thanked me in a language I didn’t know. He didn’t look like an Inuit and this is a port so who knows. And in truth it didn’t matter. I am constantly and happily surprised when I come to Alaska at the variety of nationalities represented.

Nome

Friday June 8th’s bird list:
4 Long tailed ducks
Common raven
5 Glaucous gulls
6 Herring gulls
7 Glaucous winged gulls
8 Arctic terns
9 Yellow warbler
10 Tree swallows
11 Song sparrow
12 Northern pintail
13 Red necked phalarope

— Jenny