| New England Seabirds | Wandering Birder | Wandering North America | Alaska | 1/4 |
| Alaska Summer 2005
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 Four Bald Eagles in a single tree in the campground in Valdez. |
About The Trip
I have been very fortunate to have visited the state of Alaska four different times. The first trip my daughter and I flew to Anchorage, rented a car and toured Valdez, Cordoba, and Denali. The second trip was a Bill Drummond trip that took in the Pribiloffs, Nome, Denali and some areas around Anchorage. The next two trips were business trips to Anchorage for two weeks in November and another week in Feburary. I did little birding on these trips.
This time I wanted to drive my camper and explore of the areas accessible by road. In addition I wanted to see Ancient Murrelet and Whiskered Auklet for which I scheduled a trip to Dutch Harbor. The trip started with a ride on the Alaska Ferry up the inside passage from Washington State to Skagway. I then drove the Alaskan Highway to Tok. This is no longer the legendary gravel road built during WWII called the Alcan Highway. It is now a paved two land highway with gas stations, campgrounds, restaurants. There are several areas of severe frost heaves that require slow travel and road construction causes delays. I had planned to dawdle along the road doing about 100 miles a day, but discovered that in late May many of the campgrounds were still closed so I ended up stopping only in Whitehorse and Lake Kalaune.
From Tok I drove south stopping to drive part of the Nebesna Road into Wrangnell St Elias National Park and the other road to McCarthy/Kennicot. I continued south to Valdez. Next I visited Denali National Park in early June to beat the crowds. Then it was on to Anchorage and the flight to Dutch Harbor. I did the Kenai Peninsula visiting Seward for an excellent seabirding trip into Kenai Fjords National Park and Homer for another short seabirding trip. I drove the Denali Highway from Paxson to Cantwell. On a short side trip to Talkeetna I took a flight to the summit of Mt. Denali (expensive and awesome). A mid July return to Denali National Park and then on to Fairbanks. At the end of July I started home returning to Tok and then on to Chicken and the gravel Top of the World Highway to Dawson City in the Yukon. Then I returned going through Whitehorse and down to Dawson Creek. On this leg of the trip I saw and photographed the Stone Sheep ( subspecies of Dall Sheep) and the Woodland Carribou. The Alaska Highway ends at Dawson Creek.,
This report covers only the birding highlights of the trip and as usual some hints for anyone wanting to experience any part of the trip themselves. I continued the trip into Alberta visting Elk Island outside Edmonton to see both Plains and Woodland Buffalo outside Edmonton and the Canadian Rockies in early August. The best bird in the Canadian Rockies was Clark's Nutcracker. I also saw Elk and Big Horn Sheep. Southern Alberta has several sites for dinosaur fossils including the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller which is certainly worth a visit.
| Inside Passage May 17-21 |
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The Alaska Ferry system is the budget alternative to a large cruise with two big advantages. You can take your car or camper to continue the trip to Alaska and meals are extra so you won't gain lots of weight trying to eat your way to more bang for the buck. The breathtaking scenery is the same for both. I took this shot just after we left Bellingham.
You can board the ferry in either Bellingham, Washington or Prince Rupert in British Columbia. You can get off at any stop and spend a few days and then catch the next ferry north. I stopped only in Juneau for two nights. I wish now I had stopped at least at Sitka. I was scheduled to depart on May 13, but arrived at the terminal on May 12 to learn that the ferry was broken and the trip cancelled. I was rescheduled on the next boat which left May 17. Fortunately I was not under any time pressure so I could linger in Bellingham for four days without any problem. I spent my time taking a ferry trip to Victoria and another trip billed as a whale watch hoping to see the resident pod of Orcas in Puget Sound. These trips were not cheap and we did not see any Orcas. I did see lot of Rhinoceros Auklets.
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Sleeping Since the trip will take 3 or more nights you need to plan for some sleep. I rented a cabin with full bath and two bunks. The budget alternatives are to rent a recliner in the lounge or the really budget minded can bring ar sleeping bag and sleep on a plastic chair in the Solarium pictured at left. The solarium is open on one end and has bathrooms at the back. Many of your traveling companions will be young and noisy. Count on someone to have a guitar and stay up most of the night. During the day you have access to the rest of the passenger areas included the enclosed observation lounge, the decks, and the dining room. At certain times the car deck is open so that people traveling with pets can walk their dogs or have access to their vehicles. You cannot sleep in your camper. |
There is no naturalist aboard at least not on my trip in mid may, but you will see some birds if you stay out on one of the many decks or when it is raining sit in the observation lounge. Birds seen included: Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaeger, Marbled Murrelet, one Sabine's Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Glaucous-winged Gull. There were also Dall Porpoise, Stellar's Sea Lion, Humpback Whale, Harbor Seal, Harbor Porpoise. I was disappointed not to see any Orcas.
| At times the inside passage is quite narrow with forrested slopes on both sides of the channel. You have a chance Moose and Black Bear along the beaches. There are many Bald Eagles.In one port I counted 26 eagles sitting on trees. Most were full adults. |  |
The trip up the Alaskan Highway was uneventful. I stopped in Whitehorse to tour the excellent Beringia Center for the study of the Berring Land Bridge which allowed Asian animals and eventually man to migrate to the new world. The center displays copies of the many fossils of Wooly Mammoth, Horse found in the area. The placer mines expose the fossils and some times even the frozen remains of the whole animal.
Trumpeter Swan pairs were seen in many of the ponds along the road along with Red-necked Grebe, Common Loon, American Widgeon, Barrow's Goldeneye, Lesser Scaup, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler. I saw one pair of Tundra Swans. Land birds included: Gray Jay, Black-billed Magpie,Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler.There were female moose along the road and high on the mountain Dall Sheep.
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