π¦ Friday 19th May 2017 πΊπΈ ~ Over the past three days Dee and I have been exploring Homer, a wonderfully friendly little city on Kachemak Bay, on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. Unfortunately, since we arrived on Tuesday the weather has taken a downward turn and we've gone from stunningly beautifulful cloudless blue skies to lots of cloud accompanied by the odd shower. That said it hasn't dampened our spirits and we've made the most of our time here.
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| Mum Moose with two newly born calves! |
There's certainly plenty of areas to cover and we've hiked many trails, visited much marshland, bogs, rivers and wetland areas and spent hours sea watching! One of the treats is seeing plenty of
Moose, which you can literally come across anywhere, from the city itself to the back roads.
Bald Eagles are everywhere too and from our clifftop accommodation we can watch them drift by from the comfort of our decking!
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| Amazing Sea Otters! |
Rafts of
Sea Otters pass through daily, a sight to behold and
Surf Scoter,
White-winged Scoter and
Loons (
Common,
Red-throated and
Yellow-billed) have all be noted.
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| Red-necked Grebes |
Red-necked Grebe appear to be the common grebe species for the area and a forest walk will produce lots of
Orange-crowned Warbler,
Yellow-rumped Warbler, the odd
Townsend's Warbler, plus the gorgeous little
Boreal Chickadee, which sounds exactly like our own
Willow Tit!
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| Spruce Grouse |
Search the undercover and you'll find
Dark-eyed Junco,
Lincoln's Sparrow, and even
Spruce Grouse! Today we came across our first
Rusty Blackbird and other species recorded:
Golden-crowned Sparrow,
Song Sparrow,
Fox Sparrow and
Belted Kingfisher.
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| Sandhill Cranes are a regular feature! |
Sandhill Cranes are also a regular feature and can be seen most days on any mudflat! Winnowing
Wilson's Snipe can be heard constantly, the calls resonating over long distances. However, shorebird (wader) counts have been disappointing, a local birder telling us most have moved further north and 'you should have been here a fortnight ago' π That said they can still be found:
Whimbrel,
Pectoral Sandpiper,
Least Sandpiper,
Western Sandpiper,
Semipalmated Sandpiper, both
Yellowlegs, both
Dowitchers and
Dunlin.
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| Glaucous-winged Gulls |
With lots of fishing boats coming and going Gulls are naturally a feature with the dominant
Herring Gull and to a lesser degree,
Mew Gull and
Glaucous-winged Gull. We have managed
Glaucous Gull but not that common and
Black-legged Kittiwake are in the 100s, nesting everywhere! The
Bonaparte's Gulls are always a pleasure to see and numbers have grown during our stay! We've also managed
Black Tern, a rarity here by all accounts but one of our target birds the '
Aleutian Tern' has eluded us thus far!
Dee's Photo Gallery!
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| Red Squirrel |
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| Meadow Vole |
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Ringed-necked Duck |
