Tweets, I've been somewhat out of touch lately, repainting the condo, but took
time last weekend for the annual Anchorage Audubon winter bird trip to Seward,
so I thought I'd share our finds.

The highlights for me were a McKay's Bunting (lifer), several of which were
mixed with a large flock of Snow Buntings along the beach off Nash Road, and a
Northern Shrike seen hovering for almost a minute beside a grove of spruce at
the airport. I had heard they could do this but never seen it before and was
amazed at how long the bird could maintain its exact position.

Trip list (in order encountered or remembered): Common Raven, Black-billed
Magpie, Bald Eagle, Common Goldeneye, Green-winged Teal (unusual for winter),
Pine Grosbeak, Mallard, Bufflehead, Rock Sandpiper, Red-breasted Merganser,
Common Merganser, Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Greater Scaup, Glaucous-winged
Gull, Pelagic Cormorant, Northwestern Crow, Marbled Murrelet, McKay's Bunting,
Snow Bunting, Gadwall, Northern Shrike, Barrow's Goldeneye, White-winged Scoter,
Harlequin Duck, Yellow-billed Loon, American Wigeon, Common Murre, Mew Gull,
Glaucous Gull (nice find), American Dipper (singing), Belted Kingfisher.

Nice weather, nice company, good birds.

Chris Maack
Anchorage, AK
73201.3124 at compuserve.com