SEWARD – Is a small city located on the south coast of Alaska, on the Kenai Peninsula. It is the ninth most lucrative fisheries port in the United States, the main industry, followed by tourism. Seward is unusual among most Alaskan communities in that it has road access in the Seward Highway from Seward to Anchorage. We did the majority of our birding in this area along the Highway, stopping of at lakes and trails on route. Our prime reason for visiting Seward was to travel out along Resurrection Bay and the picturesque Kenai Fjords National Park, on one of the many daily boat trips out of the large harbour in Seward. We spent two nights in a superb Bed and Breakfast, as our boat trip was an early start and a long day of 9 hours out at sea. Around Seward Harbour there were numerous Glaucous-winged Gulls and several obliging Sea Otters.
Our particular cruise took us to the fantastic Northwestern Fjord, home to three stunning tidewater glaciers and numerous alpine glaciers, stopping on route to view the many sea bird rookeries. We also had views of the rare Steller’s Sea Lion and we saw at least four Hump-backed Whale. Unfortunately we were a little disappointed with the boat trip and we missed many opportunities for viewing the sea birds. We did see Tufted Puffin, Horned Puffin, Red-faced Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Glaucous-winged Gull, Glaucous Gull, Black Oystercatcher, Common Murre, Thick-billed Murre, Marbled Murrelet, Pidgeon Guillemot and Kittiwake. Not a bad bird list but very poor for photographic opportunities. We also missed several species of the rarer alcids, due to the boat being operated far to fast for birding. The highlight of the trip was watching an avalanche of snow and ice cascading down the front of the Northwest Glacier, a very fortunate experience.
Travelling to and from Seward, we stopped at various sites including Summit Lake. This was particularly good for birding and here we saw numerous species including, Townsend’s Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Gray Jay, Steller’s Jay, Belted Kingfisher,Varid Thrush, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Waterthrush, Rusty Blackbird and Red-breasted Nuthatch.
Horned Puffin – Above 4 images – Resurrection Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Tufted Puffin – Above 2 images – Resurrection Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Common Murre – Above 2 images – Resurrection Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Pigeon Guillemot – Record Shot – Northwestern Fjord, Harris Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Marbled Murrelet – Heavily cropped record shot of distant birds – Harris Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Red-Faced Cormorant and single Pelagic Cormorant – Record Shot – Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Surf Scoter – Above 2 images – Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Glaucous-winged Gull – Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Glaucous-winged Gull – Above 5 images – A confiding adult at Seward Harbour, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Glaucous-winged Gull – probable 3rd summer – Seward Harbour, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Probable Glaucous-winged Gull Hybrid – Note dark grey colour of upper-parts – Seward Harbour, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Glaucous-winged Gull – Above 2 images – Seward Harbour, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Hump-backed Whale – Above 2 images – 2 different individuals – Resurrection Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Steller’s Sealion – Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison© – note the bull seal on the right hand-side
Sea Otter – Above 2 images – Seward Harbour, Alaska – Tony Davison© Each adult has it’s own stone, which they keep eventually passing it on to a next generation.
Black Oystercatcher – Resurrection Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Townsend’s Warbler – Summit Lake, Seward Highway to Anchorage, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Northwestern Glacier – Above 4 images – Northwestern Fjord, Harris Bay, Kenai Fjord National Park, Alaska – Tony Davison©
Moose – female – Hillside Park and Trail, Anchorage area, Alaska – Tony Davison©
