We were warned that Alaskan black bears had been seen on resort property. These bears are unlike the black bears we see here in Virginia. The Alaskan black bears are huge and aggressive, and we hoped not to encounter one on our morning nature hike. Right off the bat, I saw a male Varied Thrush. I had seen a female of this species near Lake Louise in July 2013, but had never seen a male or gotten a photo of this species.
Varied Thrush
Varied Thrush
A few minutes later, I saw juvenile Yellow-rumped and Wilson's Warblers, and a pair of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The juvenile Wilson's Warbler still had some of its fluffy chick feathers.
Juvenile Yellow-rumped Warbler
Juvenile Wilson's Warbler
Juvenile Wilson's Warbler
Juvenile Wilson's Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglets
A bit farther down the trail, we started hearing multiple birds singing the same song from high atop coniferous trees, but couldn't see what they were. Finally, we saw one through an opening in the trees. It was another life bird for me - a White-winged Crossbill. The crossed bill on this bird wasn't nearly as prominent as those of Red Crossbills I see here in the Allegheny Mountains, but to confirm the species, I recorded (poor iPhone recording) its song. Click here to hear the recording.
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On the return hike, I saw another Varied Thrush and a Hermit Thrush.
Hermit Thrush
I stopped for a few minutes where I had seen the Wilson's Warbler, and this time saw Yellow and Townsend's Warblers. I had seen Townsend's Warblers in previous years in both the Banff and Seattle areas, but never had gotten really good photos of this species. The photos today were better, but still not as good as I wanted.
Yellow Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
Townsend's Warbler
In the afternoon, we went to Spencer Lake at the base of a glacier for a rafting trip. Chunks of ice had broken off and resulted in small icebergs in the lake. Common Ravens flew by, and as we were getting rafting instructions, I was able to confirm Golden-crowned Sparrow as another life bird.
Glacier
Icebergs
Common Raven
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Herring Gulls were nesting on rocks, and were perched on some of the icebergs. I noticed the orange-red orbital rings and brownish-yellow irises on the gulls, making them the Vega (Siberian) sub-species of Herring Gull, in lieu of the typical orange-yellow orbital rings and pale irises.
Herring Gull - Vega (Siberian) sub-species
Herring Gull - Vega (Siberian) sub-species
Herring Gull - Vega (Siberian) sub-species eye detail
After rafting near and in-between the icebergs, we headed down the Placer River for seven miles to our take-out point. Along the way, I saw Bank Swallows and two Common Redpolls. I had previously seen a Common Redpoll in Scotland and a Lesser Redpoll in New Zealand, but had never seen this species in North America.
Half of our group (Rachel waving at back of raft)
Bank Swallow
Common Redpolls