Farewell Barrow

With just 2 hours available to us for birding before our flight to Anchorage we checked all the usual areas and came up trumps with a group of 16 Steller’s Eiders in a roadside wetland.

Steller's Eiders

We watched them displaying, surrounded by snow and lapped up the views. The next pool held 3 pairs of King Eiders and a sleeping pair of Spectacled Eiders and both these species looked absolutely fantastic in the scope. 

This pair of Arctic Skuas (Parasitic Jaegers) showed well today

And that was our lot. As we headed back to the hotel I must admit I had a tinge of sadness at leaving the Red Phalaropes!

Loved seeing these Red Phalaropes, sometimes joined by a Red-necked Phalarope

Our flight left on time and we were soon back in Anchorage at the same hotel as before, enjoying an hour ‘off’ before visiting the nearby lake, followed by Earthquake Park and a nearby wetland. The first bird we had was a summer-plumaged Bonaparte’s Gull near the lakeshore. 

Bonaparte's Gull

Short-billed Dowitcher

A Greater Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher and a fantastic count of 34 Red-necked Grebes on the lake here were the best finds, along with an ‘Aleutian’ Cackling Goose.