Day 1: Nome.
First stop in Nome was Swanberg Dredge located at about mile marker 1 of the Nome-Council Highway just inside the city limits. Swanberg Dredge is one of several gold mining dredges that dot the landscape. Birds seen here were Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Arctic Terns, Lapland Longspur, American Tree Sparrow and Glaucous Gull.
We then drove to the Nome River Outlet, were our first Aleutian Terns were observed, approximately 18 Aleutian’s were seen. Other birds here were Long-tailed Duck, Red Phalarope’s (in the ocean), Black-legged Kittiwake’s and many Arctic Tern’s.
We then drove further west of Nome along Council Road stopping at Hastings Creek. Here we saw a Bar-tailed Godwit, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Thick-billed Murre, another and sadly our last Eastern-yellow Wagtail, and approximately 50 Long-tailed Jaegers that flew overhead which was an amazing sight.
Day 2: Kougarok Road.
Leaving early this morning, we drove a wonderful 73-mile stretch that is the Kougarak Road. This superb wilderness road leads into the high tundra and mountains of the remote Seward Peninsula. Among our quarry was the endangered Bristle-thighed Curlew, which while nesting in the area, are often tricky and can involve a hike of some rigor.
Our first stop on Kougarok Road was were the Nome River runs along side of the road around MP 18. Here we saw our first warblers of the trip, Arctic, Blackpoll, Orange-crowned, Yellow and Wilson’s Warbler, and Northern Waterthrush. Also seen were our first Common Redpoll, Wilson’s Snipe and more Lapland Longspur.
Moving on to the Salmon Lake area around MP 34 we saw our first Bluethroat along with both Redpoll’s Common and Hoary. Where Kougarok Road crosses the Pilgrim River we found a very cooperative male Rusty blackbird.
Eventually we arrived at MP 72 and our trek to find the endangered Bristle-thighed Curlew began. It took about 90 minutes or so but eventually one flew overhead and landed some distance away. When we approached the bird it flew, this happened another time but eventually the bird settled and we got some great looks. other birds seen in the high tundra area were American Golden-Plover, Willow Ptarmigan, Long-tailed Jaeger and more Lapland Longspurs.
Day 3: Council Road.
Day 3 took us along Council Road along Safety Lagoon. First stop was Hastings Creek where we had great views of Hoary Redpoll’s.Next stop was Cape Nome for some sea watching, here we had Yellow-billed Loon fly over, other Loons seen were Red-throated and Pacific. We saw our first and only Black Guillimot here together with Horned Puffin, Common Eider, Sabine’s Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake’s and Harlequin Ducks.
Driving further west along Council Road to MP 22 area we saw a Rock Sandpiper, our first Semi-palmated Sandpiper and a flock of approximately 20 Sabine’s Gulls that were roosting at the ocean’s edge and provide great views and photos.
The next section of Safety Sound brought some great birds. First a male King Eider was spotted amongst some Common Eiders, then some Black Scoters were spotted, then 17 Emperor Geese flew over which was a wonderful sight. Lastly 2 Arctic Loons were observed.
The last section of Council road that we drove took us along the East Fork of the Salmon River. We were looking in particular for Gyrfalcon as they nested in the area. The nest was unoccupied but eventually both Gyrfalcons were spotted some distance away on top of a ridge. We drove close and got some decent views before the birds took off.
Along this stretch we also saw another Willow Ptarmigan, Arctic and Yellow Warblers, Gray-cheeked Thrush andlots of Harlequin ducks.
Day 4: Teller Road.
This morning, we worked our way out along Teller Road, another intensely scenic wilderness road, stopping at river crossings. First stop was the Penny River crossing at about MP 18, here we saw 3 American Dippers and had great views of Gray-cheeked Thrush. Moving on we stopped at an area known for Bluethroats and it did not take long to find one singing away.
Next stop was the Woolley Lagoon Road area, here we saw Black-bellied Plover, Pacific Golden-Plover, Rough-legged Hawks, and both Long-tailed and Parasitic Jaegers. We then drove to 34 mile Ridge specifically looking for Rock Ptarmigan. It did not take long to find one where we we also treated to great views of a pair of Red Knots, a Snow Bunting and our only Northern Wheatear of the tour. All great birds!
We decide to drive to the end of Teller Road some 75 miles, to Teller itself, an Inupiat village that sits out on a spit in the bay. Here in town we found a couple of White Wagtail’s. On Winter Trail we saw many alcids, including Horned and Tufted Puffins, Pigeon Guillemots and Common Murre. We had great views of a mature Slaty-backed Gull, Pacific Loon and Semi-palmated Sandpiper.
On our drive back to Nome we saw Northern Shrike and Wandering Tattler. We also got pretty good views of a Grizzly Bear.
Day 5: Nome then back to Anchorage.
Before going to Nome airport to catch our flight back to Anchorage we spent a few hours birding Council Road up to Cape Nome. The highlight was good scope views of 3 Kittlitz’s Murrelets at Cape Nome. Also a number of harlequin ducks were very close in at the Cape.
Once settled back in Anchorage I got great views of a number of Red-necked Grebe’s on Lake hood.
Day 6: The road to Denali.
The morning started with a drive to Hillside park on the outskirts of Anchorage. Hillside Park was full of Mosquitos, which was a pain but the birding was excellent. We saw American Three-toed Woodpecker parents feeding chicks, our first Boreal Chicadee, Swainson’s Thrush, Gray Jay of the trip. Next a short drove across Anchorage to Westchester Lagoon where we saw both Hudsonian and Bar-tailed Godwits together with 8 Redhead’s that flew in as we birded.
We then started to long drive up to Denali but did have time for a couple of stops. First was Sockeye Burn that yielded Black-backed Woodpecker and our first Alder Flycatcher.
Day 7: Denali NP.
Today we rode the bus through Denali NP so birding was somewhat restricted. However we did see some birds when we were able to get off the bus these included White-winged Crossbills, a distant Short-eared Owl and a couple of Golden eagles.
Day 8: Denali Highway.
Today we made our first foray along Denali Highway, between about MP 119 and M139 we saw our first Barrow’s Goldeneye and a Blackpoll Warbler. We looked for Northern Hawk-Owl but no success. Many Blackpoll warblers were heard and seen along the highway. We also got great views of a resplendent male White-winged Crossbill. We also got our first good view of Trumpeter Swans. Two male Horned Grebe’s in breeding plumage were a very colorful sight.
Day 9: Denali Highway.
We made our way along Denali Highway once again we soon saw a family of 5 Northern Shrikes. Once agin we searched Northern Hawk-Owl, it took a while but eventually we located one, and soon after located a second. Yay! We also found a Solitary Sandpiper in the same area. We then drove some 60 miles to Valdez close to the end of the highway to hopefully find Smith’s Longspur. It did take long before we found a Longspur and a second was found. On the wat back to the car we got great views of two Trumpeter Swan’s.
Day 10: Fairbanks.
We decide to get up at 5am and drive north to Fairbanks in the hope of finding Boreal Owl. After arriving at the site we searched for the owl but after about 2 hours were about to give up when a Boreal Owl flew by us giving very brief views. A lifer for me! Whilst searching for the owl we saw approximately 30 White-winged Crossbills.