I started my birding day with a quick walk to Swan Lake in Sitka to see the Wood Duck one more time. He was still there with the Mallards, Greater Scaup and American Wigeons.
After that I joined Matt Goff and his son, Connor, for a sometimes rainy walk at Totem Park along the beach area and in the woods. Highlights for me were about 10 Black Oystercatchers, a Great Blue Heron and two American Dippers.
At midday, I took a short flight from Sitka to Ketchikan. At the Ketchikan airport I picked up my rental car and headed north. My ultimate goal was the American Coot that had been reported almost all the way to the end of the North Tongass Highway, but before that I stopped to see if the Northern Saw-whet Owl seen earlier today was still around. Not seeing the owl, I went on to Knudsen Cove for the coot. When I arrived, I asked a young woman at the marina there about the coot. It turned out that she was Misty Pattison, marina manager and feeder of ducks and the coot. As we spoke the AMERICAN COOT appeared near us. Apparently there has been a coot (and sometimes two of them) at the marina for 3 winters now. She also told me about a Brown Pelican that she found and photographed there some years ago. I of course asked her to find another one this year.
For the rest of the afternoon I walked trails around Ward Lake. This is where on a cold icy day in January I saw the Pied-billed Grebe. Now the ice is all gone, as apparently is the grebe. Not too many birds there today, but it was a beautiful walk in the moss-covered forest. Tomorrow more Ketchikan birding.
113 species so far
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 