Headed out on the 8.30am boat trip to the NW glacier. A feeding Sea Otter in the harbour was a nice way to start and we would see plenty more throughout the 9 hour excursion. What a day this was with a pod of Killer Whales showing superbly in Resurrection Bay, including a huge bull and a mother with small calf.
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| Sea Otter |
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| Loved watching these Orcas |
A few Marbled Murrelets were seen, along with Horned Puffin. Then the call went up of a whale and we honed in on a couple Humpback Whales feeding and showing their tale flukes. More Humpbacks followed, as well as distant Dall’s Porpoise.
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| We had a great show from numerous Humpback Whales today |
The boat then guided us through some islands where Horned and Tufted Puffins were breeding and we saw both really well including some perched birds on the grassy slopes and ledges, along with a couple of Red-faced Cormorantsthat were a bonus. In fact we had numerous opportunities to get really nice looks at the puffins as well as some great photo opportunities.
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| Horned Puffins everywhere......! |
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| Tufted Puffin also showed really well today |
Moving on we nailed several Rhinoceros Auklets in amongst the puffins.
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| Rhinoceros Auklets were seen in small numbers |
We headed into another bay and to the hugely impressive NW glacier where huge boulders of ice crashed into the sea not too far away from us., seeing a Black Bear on a steep snow-covered slope en-route. A few murrelets defied positive i.d although we definitely nailed at least one of the rare Kittlitz’s Murrelet. Many Harbour Seals loafed on the icebergs broken off from the glacier.
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| Harbour Seals |
At the far end of the bay we spent some time admiring the scenery before heading back, seeing more Marbled Murrelets and a pod of transient Killer Whales, these ones were just visitors being of a smaller in size, with a much reduced dorsal fin and were hunting seals, as opposed to the resident Orcas who hunt fish.
Crossing the bay, we had a surprising Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel and a Northern Fulmar before coming to more islands where thousands of Black-legged Kittiwakes were breeding, and our ship pulled in pretty close so we could get the full effect of a seabird breeding colony – including the aroma! Some Steller’s Sea Lions loafed and sunned themselves hauled out onto rocks, and shortly after we had two brief encounters with Dall’s Porpoises and more Humpback Whales showed really well.
Arriving back in port at 5.30pm we drove out to check the hummer feeders and promptly watched a female Pine Grosbeak fly into a nearby apple tree and begin to destroy the new blossom! What great views and she fed totally oblivious to our presence.
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| Pine Grosbeak is always a delight to see this well |
And this was quickly followed by a couple of male Rufous Hummingbirds that also proved quite obliging, and we almost ignored a few Steller’s Jays in the neighbourhood. Driving back to the motel, some Harlequin Ducks were in the bay below the road, as well as a nice drake Barrow’s Goldeneye that was sitting on the rocky shore. What a day. Wow!
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| Barrow's Goldeneye |
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| Harlequin Ducks |
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