Hi Folks

I just got back from 11 days vacationing up in Alaska - 5 days on a boat in
Prince William Sound and 4 days up in Denali Park.

I won't even begin to list all the birds we saw, but I added several to my
life
list and had some incredible experiences overall. Some of the highlights -

- The Black-Legged Kittiwake Colony just outside of Whittier - there is a
couple
of thousand nesting pairs on this one colony. While we were there (the boat
nosed within feet of the cliff, which doesn't seem to disturb the birds any) a
pair of Peregrine Falcons came by and raided the colony. We actually got to
watch as one of them grabbed a Kittiwake pre-fledgling off the nest, right in
front of us - which was incredible to watch (though I must say it was a
little
heart-wrenching to see the little Kittiwake squirm in terror as the Peregrine
killed it).

BTW: Interesting note - the captain of our boat, who does a lot of work with
researchers and wildlife specialists, was saying that the Kittiwake
colonies in
the sound were all faring very poorly this year, and the one in Whittier
was the
only one that had not "failed".

- Seeing Storm Petrels in Prince William Sound - (I think Leach's
Storm-Petrel,
but as there was a storm that was bringing them into the sound, I didn't get a
real good look at them as they flew by in the rain.) Also, a Jeager which was
probably Parasitic (but again, in the dark and the rain).

- Visiting a Glaucous-Winged Gull nesting area on Gull Island at the terminal
moraine of the Columbia Glacier (the young had all fledged, so we did not
disturb the colony). After all my rooftop Gulls it was fun to see them "in the
wild", especially landing on the icebergs.

- Arctic Turns resting on icebergs in one of the glacial fjords.

- Hundreds of Marbled and some Kittlitz's Murrelets. Most of Prince William
Sound is still heavily forested, so the Marbleds are quite common.

- Willow Ptarmigan in Denali Park - we got within three feet of a flock of ten
or so, who really didn't care that much that we were there. I assumed that
they
are used to people (we found them right by one of the main roads). One of the
guides said it was really because they rely on their camouflage so much that
they just freeze when you get near one and won't flush unless you nearly
step on
them. However, they were foraging around us after an initial "freeze" so
I'm not
so sure about that theory.

- Lots of warblers in Denali Park - we saw lots of Orange Crowned (which are
remarkably drab up there), Yellow Warblers, Wilson's, Yellow Rumped and
maybe a
Northern Waterthrush (my partner and I could not agree on that one). It was
well
into fall in Denali and the migrants were all starting to move around. We had
two frosts which caused the leaves and the tundra to change colors, almost
overnight. The guides all estimated that in a couple of days the migrants
would
be gone.

(Which made me think, as we flew back, that soon many of those birds that I
saw
in Alaska would be on their way south toward us. Some, like the Trumpeter
Swans
on Wonder Lake, may well be wintering in our lovely state. It gives one an
interesting feeling of connection, and a respect for the migration these birds
go through. That warbler you see in Discovery Park may well have nested in the
shadow of Denali. )

- Some beautiful Northern Harriers, Northern Goshawk Merlins and Golden Eagles
(but alas, we were too late for the nesting Gyrfalcons). Some of the other
folks got to watch a Merlin chase a Black-billed Magpie, which seemed to them
somewhat ambitious.

And, for non-bird experiences -

- Seeing a Wolf in Denali, which is rare to see. It was a beautiful animal.
Also
we had 14 grizzly bear sightings (from the safety of the bus), about eight to
ten Moose, many Caribou and Dall's Sheep, a Red Fox, Beavers, several Tundra
Ground Squirrel, a Collared Pika and a Northern Red-Backed Vole (my first
identifiable vole!)

- Seeing Beluga Whales in Turnagain Arm, from the train to Whittier. also
Orcas
amongst the Icebergs in Prince William Sound, Harbor Seals hauled out on the
ice, hundreds of Sea Otters, and a really close look at a Steller's Sea Lion
haul-out area on Glacier Island.

- Oh yea, and watching tide-water Glaciers calve, seeing Mount Denali
(McKinley), watching the tundra come alive with fall color, etc. etc.

It was a fabulous trip.

John Chapman
Seattle