I really like dogs and most of my life we have had a dog at our home. But I now know for fact what I feared might be true – a dog that is not on a leash just may bite you! That is what happened to me this afternoon. A few bikers, accompanied by three or four dogs running freely along with the bikes, passed me on the edge of the path where I had stepped aside to get out of their way toward the end of my birding walk, and one of the dogs circled around behind me and bit me on the leg. It hurt and it drew blood at the fang marks on my leg. I had to call animal control, the police interviewed me, and I had to go to the doctor and get a tetanus shot. PLEASE EVERYONE- keep your dogs on a leash, even if they have always been nice and friendly. You don’t want anyone to be wounded by your dog. It could have been worse than just a fang puncture. And BIRDERS and other walkers, watch out – those dogs running along with their masters/mistresses might just decide to circle back to you.

The birding itself was not all that exciting today until the dog-bite incident. It was about 22 degrees and sunny, a very pleasant day and walk. After about a 1/2 hour I heard my first bird, a distant Pine Grosbeak.

After that I had a couple of mixed chickadee flocks (Boreal and Black-capped), a few Common Ravens in the distance, three Brown Creepers spread out along the path, and a Black-billed Magpie in a tree near my car as I limped back to it.

Early this afternoon I checked out two of the main Anchorage watering holes that actually have open water in mid-winter. The first was Spenard Crossing, the site last year for Cassin’s and Purple Finches, and this year for a Pacific Wren. I just saw the normal wintering birds today. The only ducks were Mallards. In the woods were Boreal and Black-capped Chickadees, Black-billed Magpies, Common Ravens, and a Brown Creeper (heard only). One of the magpies was busy hiding some food and strolled across a path ahead of me intent on its mission. Although a Cackling Goose had been reported yesterday I did not see it. Someone suggested that it might have gone to Cuddy Pond, another popular Mallard spot.

 

After doing some errands, I went to Cuddy Pond, which was definitely a Mallard gathering place. While I watched a male Common Goldeneye popped up in the small pond of open water where most of the Mallards were.

I was about to leave Cuddy Pond when a goose wandered across the ice from somewhere, most likely the same bird as seen yesterday at Spenard Crossing (which had also been reported to have a white neck band). Because it is bigger than the Mallards and does not have the short bill that I associate with Cackling Geese I think that it is one of the small Canada Geese that frequent Anchorage. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong – I need a Cackling Goose for the year.

 

Today Louann Feldmann and I uneventfully braved icy Arctic Valley Road in the Chugach Mountains northeast of downtown Anchorage, with Louann at the wheel. We saw no birds on the drive, but when we got out of the car at the top, a couple of Common Ravens and a Black-billed Magpie welcomed us. The sun was just beginning to light up the surrounding peaks but we were still in shadows as we began our climb up one of the trails hoping for the sight or sound of ptarmigan.

 

At the top of the mountain slope ahead of us was a narrow sunny area, and it was in this area that Louann spotted the first WILLOW PTARMIGAN. As we scanned the area, we could see that there were at least 40 ptarmigan walking around on the snow and sitting up in the willows. As we approached nearer, the ptarmigan moved away from us, and they never allowed us to approach too closely. Whenever any of them flew a bit, we could see that they had black on their tails. A few of them periodically croaked the typical Willow Ptarmigan sounds. Although some of them seemed at first glance to be completely white, we did not find any that we could convince ourselves were White-tailed. While Willow Ptarmigan is much easier to get in Alaska than White-tailed, still it was a very welcome new bird for the year.

By the time we came back down the trail, the sun was lighting up most of the hills around and there was a lovely sun dog just over the top of one of the mountains.

 

One of the wonderful things about Alaska birding, and one of the hardest to get used to, is the presence of Bald Eagles nearly everywhere. This morning I ended up doing mostly “drive-by” birding, from Anchorage down to Portage Glacier and back. Although I had intended to do some walking on trails down near the glacier, when I got there it was raining very hard, so I just turned around and drove back. The closer I got to Anchorage the more blue sky there was.

In fact, I saw very few birds today. I had gone 30 miles this morning before I saw my first bird for the drive, a Bald Eagle. After another 22 miles I had my next bird, another Bald Eagle. On the way back a few more Bald Eagles had appeared, three of which were beautifully posed against scenic backgrounds. There were also a few Common Ravens, a trio of Common Merganser males on a melted pond area along the highway, and a few Black-capped Chickadees at a stop.

 

I took a late afternoon walk at Hilltop Park in Anchorage, hoping that I might find White-winged Crossbills in some of the many spruce trees. Although it is possible that I heard one, I never was certain and did not see it. I did see and hear a couple of noisy flocks of Boreal Chickadees. My last bird sighting on this beautiful afternoon walk was a Sharp-shinned Hawk coasting overhead while I was on my cell phone planning birding for tomorrow. There’s always another day to find a new bird.

I only birded in the Potter Marsh area today, and there weren’t many birds around.

At the end of the boardwalk two Bald Eagles sat together, the only birds I saw there. Usually the only place I see eagles at the marsh is in this same area in the large trees near or at their nest as viewed east from the boardwalk.

Then, as I walked back to my car today I periodically heard a mysterious disembodied squeaky calling sound that moved about unseen apparently low in the distant deciduous trees. Although I will probably never know for sure, it could have been the Northern Goshawk that I saw out there a couple of weeks ago. When I listened to the tape back at my car, the sounds were similar to the recorded goshawk calls but I don’t know. So often I’m driven by the need to know all the birds that I see and hear. I like the idea of a mystery bird there. I’m sure it will lure me back to see if I can solve the mystery.

But for today, instead of waiting around in the cold to try to find out what it was, I drove behind the marsh on the old Seward Highway. I guess I’d never actually looked back from this old road toward where the eagles and their nest is but by chance I spotted it and them today, much closer than I normally saw them. Immediately, the realization that I was seeing the eagles from the other side came to me and immediately after that the words of “Both Sides Now” came to me.

Thanks once again to Peter Scully, who texted me this morning to tell me that he and his dog had found a roosting Great Horned Owl along the coastal trail south of Point Woronzoff. I immediately packed up my birding gear and headed off to the parking lot at the Point. The coastal trail was even icier than it had been last week when I walked it with Peter to see the Northern Saw-whet Owl that he had found.

Peter not only sent me information on the Google Map location of the owl but he also marked the area along with the trail with a wild celery stalk pointing toward the spruce where the owl was roosting. Truly a big year birder’s special person. There were very few other birds along the trail and no other people on my walk to the owl-spot, just a couple of chickadees (Boreal and Black-capped).

The GREAT HORNED OWL did not disappoint but was firmly and visibly ensconced on a spruce branch snuggled up to the trunk. Although the owl did not budge, it did periodically turn its head and then finally closed its eyes, probably to shut out the sight of the camera below.

Afterward, trying to add a few more bird-checklists for the Great Backyard Bird Count, I drove farther down the road past the airport, where last week’s Northern Shrike was again singing.

But my mind was on the Great Horned Owl. I may have mentioned it before – I love owls!

My plan today was to bird a couple of different places this morning so I could submit lists for a couple of sites for the Great Backyard Bird Count that begins today. I chose to go first to one of my favorite Anchorage sites, the Campbell Creek Estuary Natural Area. I figured I’d at least get Black-capped Chickadees, Steller’s Jays, Black-billed Magpies and Common Ravens there, and I did. It was a very high tide with water nearly reaching one of the observation areas.

I did my usual counterclockwise loop around the trail at the Natural Area and then headed out on the Forest Trail to its end and then turned back. The Steller’s Jays followed me after I let them have a few peanuts.

All of a sudden the magpies started calling raucously in the distance and the jays all headed off to the west through the woods toward all the racket. The frantic-sounding noise kept getting louder and louder so I decided to investigate. I could see the jays and magpies darting into and out of a dense area quite close to the ground. Maybe what they were after would be visible and not hidden way up in a tree. The terrain between me and the action was covered with fallen logs and as I got nearer to the sound, I realized that I would have to clamber up a short but steep hill to get to where all the frenzy was.

When I reached to the top of the slope and looked around I was astounded to see an owl at eye level about 15 feet from me! I assumed at first that it was a Northern Saw-whet Owl, a bird that I understood was much more likely to be found and seen than a Boreal Owl in this area. I began taking pictures, but when I looked closely at my pictures I realized that I had found a Boreal Owl. The owl turned its head periodically as the jays and magpies approached, then stopped to preen when they left for a while. Only rarely did it look in my direction, and then it only opened one eye. Eventually the magpies returned to make more noise and then they, and I, withdrew, leaving the owl where we had found it.

I never did get to bird anywhere else this morning – too much time reveling in the owl find. What a wonderful use of my time!

Today I took a walk at Spenard Crossing in Anchorage, a place where rarities have often occurred in the past, but none were seen by me today. There was a pair of Downy Woodpeckers talking to each other and searching for breakfast.

After that I went to Government Hill on the north side of town. In the “lower 48”, European Starlings are a maligned, or at best barely tolerated, pest bird. In Alaska, however, there are many places where starlings have never occurred, other places where they are thought of as more or less desirable rarities of note, and a few places like Anchorage where they have become established. Until today, I had mostly ignored them in Alaska, but when a flock of about 20 of them landed on a lawn next to my car, I couldn’t help but be reminded of how beautiful they can be. Maybe I’m just trying to turn humdrum February birding into something more, but really seeing the starlings today definitely improved my outlook.

Other birds of note today were a Northern Shrike harassing two Black-billed Magpies on a lawn in Government Hill, and an American Robin blending in with a tree still laden with fruit.

 

Earlier at Spenard Crossing I had tossed a few peanuts to the ground for other magpies, and watched them grab the peanuts and hurry off to bury them in the leaves.

  

All ordinary Anchorage birds – and beautiful.

My birding today started out in a typical winter fashion, Common Ravens, 18 of them as I drove south from Anchorage to Girdwood (about 30 miles), and no other birds. Just south of Girdwood, I turned around when visibility decreased dramatically due to a mixed snow-rain shower.

As I drove over Glacier Creek, which is just south of Girdwood, I thought I saw some ducks below, so I pulled over and walked back to see what they were. Before I had a chance to find them, a blue flash flew over the creek and landed across from me, a male Belted Kingfisher. Although I had seen them earlier this year far south of Anchorage, beginning in Kodiak on January 1, as far as I know they are very uncommon in the winter this far north. It definitely perked me up to see an unexpected bird!

The ducks turned out to be Common Merganser females, another of which I saw at Potter Marsh when I got back to Anchorage, also definitely more interesting than the normal winter Mallards.

I also saw four Bald Eagles on the trip, two perched together along the highway between Anchorage and Girdwood, and two at Potter Marsh. One of the latter was sitting on last year’s nest and the other was nearby. There was also a flock of Bohemian Waxwings that flew overhead at Potter Marsh.

It would be nice to imagine that the kingfisher is an advance spring migrant, but we have probably 2 1/2 to 3 months or more before we can look forward to seeing many migrants. Until then, I’ll take a slight change of pace anytime I can.

The plan was for Louann Feldmann and I to drive up Arctic Valley Road to look for ptarmigans this morning, but it did not happen. We did drive to the beginning of the road, but there we encountered a roadblock. We do not know if the road was impassable or if military maneuvers were planned or what, but we will have to try again another day.

 

We decided to bird on nearby JBER (Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson) instead, where she has a permit to go and where I had never birded. As with most of Anchorage, there were very few birds around. Snow covered most of the ground and the lakes were frozen.  Common Ravens and Black-billed Magpies were most common, but we also had a Northern Shrike and a Gray Jay, Black-capped and Boreal Chickadees and a couple of Bald Eagles. We also saw four moose.

 

We were heading back toward the gate when we came over a little rise and were surprised to see open water, apparently due to water from beneath the ice of a frozen lake pouring under the road and through a culvert into the unfrozen lake. In any case, there were two Common Goldeneyes enjoying the open water, diving often, and we enjoyed them.