Anchorage, Alaska

On Thursday June 7th we flew to Anchorage, leaving the Phoenix hotel at 4:30am and arriving at our hotel in Anchorage some 12 hours later. We still had plenty of time to walk the coastal path from the hotel to Westchester Lagoon. I added five new species for 2012 of which Arctic Tern was a new ABA bird for me. Two others I should have gotten already in Arizona.

Greater Scaup

My three favorite birds of the day were all birds I had seen earlier in the year. Mew Gulls were everywhere in Anchorage, even out numbering the Herring Gulls. A number of energetic Black-capped Chickadees were feeding on low shrubs. Red-necked Grebes are a lovely bird and those here were even brighter than the one I'd seen at Tempe Town Lake.

Arctic Tern

Black-capped Chickadee

Mew Gull

Red-necked Grebe