Bolivia Here We Go!

Following an overnight flight via Miami the group from the UK arrived in Santa Cruz an hour earlier than expected at 5:15am and met up with John and Josh from Canada and Miguel Castalino, our guide. We then spent the next few hours birding in the vicinity of Viru Viru Airport and pretty quickly racked up a decent list of birds. Sayaca Tanagerwas the first bird of the trip, and definitely wasn’t House Sparrow– I don’t care what anyone says! Around the car park we saw Southern Lapwings, Cattle Tyrant, Purplish Jay, Saffron Finch, Chopi Blackbird, numerous Burrowing Owls and a flyby Bare-faced Ibis. 

Purplish Jay

Southern Lapwing

Driving out of the car park we were surrounded by grassland dotted with small bushes and almost immediately found a Red-winged Tinamou feeding underneath a billboard. In fact we found a further two birds and had excellent views from the bus.

Yellow-headed Caracara

We explored the nearby roads finding Fork-tailed Flycatcher,Grassland Sparrow, several Roadside Hawks, many Southern Crested Caracaras, a couple of Yellow-headed Caracaras, Harris’s Hawk,Guira Cuckoo, and a few Wedge-tailed Grass Finches. Scanning an open 

area with short grass produced a female Spectacled Tyrant, Buff-necked Ibis, Greater Rhea, 

a pair of Campo Flickers, a perched Aplomado Falcon, American Kestrel, with flocks of White-eyed Parakeets and Blue-fronted Parrots flying over. A perched Blue-winged Parrotlet was scoped in a nearby tree, whilst a group of Speckled Chachalacas disappeared quite quickly. Groups of low-flying White-collared Swifts put on a pretty good display of aerial manoeuvrability, and we also found Blue-black Grassquit, Great Kiskadee, Boat-billed Flycatcher,Picui Ground-Dove, Crested Oropendola, a calling Barred Antshrike,Scarlet Flycatcher (a recent split from Vermillion Flycatcher), Pale-breasted Spinetailand a few Crested Oropendolas. 

We then headed towards a dry woodland on the edge of Santa Cruz, and along the way saw 4 Maguari Storks and a Savanna Hawk, before driving along a sandy track into the open forest where a Rufous Hornero patrolled a garden, our first Plush-crested Jays appeared and a Chestnut-eared Aracari posed nicely at the top of a Cecropia tree. A pair of Moustached Wrensgreeted our arrival in the forest and although fast moving and tricky to see most of the group had decent views. A pair of Rufous-tailed Jacamarsthen flew in, but the views of White-wedged Piculet blew everyone away. 

Fawn-breasted Wren

A Fawn-breasted Wren was particularly obliging, and we also saw Black-backed Grosbeak, a furtive Rusty-fronted Tody-Flycatcher, Blue-tufted Starthroat, Plain-crested Tyrannulet, Suiriri Flycatcher, Southern Beardless Tyrannule tand a family of Tropical Parulas. A large tree held some Crested Oropendola nests, and a Giant Cowbird was seen inspecting one of the nests, but our eyes were drawn to the very confiding Crimson-crested Woodpecker that flew in right in front of us. By now it was 10.30am and getting very hot, so we headed to the very nice Hotel Cortez for lunch and a siesta.

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

We set out to Lomas de Arena in the late afternoon and encountered our first taste of chaotic Bolivian roadworks which delayed our arrival a little. But it was worth the wait as we turned up some real crackers beginning with a demure Tawny-crowned Pygmy-Tyrant that skulked in the shadows but eventually gave surprisingly good views. The same spot also had an invisible Bolivian Slaty-Antshrike, a Great Antshrike, Narrow-billed Woodcreeper and some raucous Thrush-like Wrens. We walked along the sandy track to a clearing where a pair of Little Woodpeckers were displaying, a gang of noisy Smooth-billed Ani appeared, a pair of Red-crested Cardinals were feeding in the bushes, and best of all, a pair of Rufous-fronted Thornbills gave prolonged views. Further exploration revealed Creamy-bellied Thrush, Scaly-headed Parrot, a tiny White-bellied Tyrannulet, Chestnut-fronted Macaw,White-banded Mockingbird and a Yellow-tufted Woodpecker. It had been quite a day but with the light fading fast we returned to our great hotel for dinner and some much needed sleep.

Denali Highway

A long day began with a 6am departure for the Denali Highway and ended at 10;45pm…. What a day this was and with some of the best scenery of the entire tour complimenting a select bunch of bird and mammal sightings culminating in our first Grizzly Bear, a sow with two year old juveniles. 

The superb Denali Highway

We made lots of stops along the drive to view the numerous lakes and scenic overlooks and the first lake held a drake Surf Scoter and our first Lesser Yellowlegs, as well as a pair of Spotted Sandpipers. We followed this with a flock of 5 Bohemian Waxwings, a very confiding singing Arctic Warbler, there were close Wilson’s Warblers, Red Fox Sparrow, a flyover flock of White-winged Crossbills, Grey-cheeked Thrush, Swainson’s and Varied Thrushes, Bohemian Waxwing, a family of Grey Jays, Northern shrike, Alder Flycatcher, Rough-legged Hawk, Common and Red-throated Loons, Wilson’s Snipe, Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Caribou, and a Porcupine. 

Arctic Warbler

Bohemian Waxwings

Surf Scoter

Townsend's Warbler

Upland Sandpiper

Wilson's Warbler

American Porcupine

Our return journey proved to be a long drive of over two hours seeing a pair of distant Beavers, and on a crystal clear lake a drake Surf Scoter, several Red-necked Grebesand a flock of White-winged Scoterswere present. But nearing the end of the drive we were rewarded with a pair of Upland Sandpipers, with one of them stood on the road in front of us, and finally a Northern Hawk Owl perched majestically on top of a Black Spruce with snow-covered mountains forming the perfect backdrop behind him. 

Northern Hawk Owl - a little distant....

A return to our favourite restaurant and some of the local ‘Panty Peeler’ ale caused some amusement before finally retiring to our cabins for the night at 10;45pm.

The next day we went to Denali National Park, but in my opinion its not worth it. Yes you could get lucky with some great mammals but you're stuck in the park's bus and as a birder you haven't got the freedom to do what you want. So i'd skip it next time and do the Denali Highway for a second day. That's a great day out and still plenty to see there.

Grey-cheeked Thrush

Grizzly Bear

Denali National Park

Kenai Fjords Boat Trip

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. 

Sea Otter

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. 

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. 

Horned Puffins everywhere......!

Tufted Puffin also showed really well today

Moving on we nailed several Rhinoceros Auklets in amongst the puffins.

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. 

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. 

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!

Barrow's Goldeneye

Harlequin Ducks

Anchorage - Seward

Checked out Hillside Park on the outskirts of Anchorage first thing this morning and walked around the trails finding Myrtle Warblers, Dark-eyed Junco, a singing Varied Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush, and Boreal Chickadee. We followed this with a visit to the Campbell Airstrip Trailhead where we enjoyed fine views of an American Dipper on a nest before heading back to the hotel to finish packing and head out on the drive south to Seward.

Varied Thrush

It wasn’t a long drive south, but once again the scenery was stunning. A stop at Potter Marsh produced a pair of Trumpeter Swans attending a nest, lots of Arctic Terns and Mew Gulls were nesting here, American Wigeon, Sandhill Crane, a single Red-necked Phalarope and a flyover Bald Eagle. 

Arctic Tern

This Moose was just beside the road

Moving on, we hadn’t driven far when we stopped to view a Moose with antlers. Continuing on, the road passed through a spectacular valley with snow-capped peaks and roadside lakes and a short stop for refreshments at a roadside café was much appreciated.

Barrow's Goldeneye

Sooty Fox Sparrow

At Seward we checked the shoreline of Resurrection Bay and found several Marbled Murrelets, several Pigeon Guillemots, a group of Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Harlequin Ducks, Glaucous-winged Gull, American Black Oystercatcher, and around the corner Northwestern Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller’s Jay, Alder Flycatcher, Sooty Fox Sparrow and also enjoyed watching a group of 3 Steller’s Sealions swimming just offshore.