I spent the morning checking out a few different places in Anchorage, trying to avoid the most icy places and trying to avoid Iditarod traffic.
I first went to Potter Marsh. As I walked through the woods to one of the boardwalk access areas, I heard the call of what I believe was the Northern Goshawk that I had seen there a few weeks ago. All I saw was a large bird flying away through the deciduous trees below treetop level. Off the end of the boardwalk, there were two adult Bald Eagles sitting next to each other near the nest spot calling loudly every now and then. On a nearby tree, an immature Bald Eagle sat, possibly last year’s young one. A few Black-billed Magpies were squawking and displaying, holding their tails up at an odd angle.
After briefly checking out a couple of other sites, I finished my birding trip at the area near Anchorage International Airport at the end of the road that winds around Point Woronzoff and ends near the airport fence. Beyond the end of the road was a Northern Shrike and later closer to Point Woronzoff was another shrike. Although I had not spotted the Northern Hawk Owl on my drive out the road, when I returned an hour later, it was perched up toward the top of a tree actively looking around, possibly in hunting mode.
The Hawk Owl once again made me realize how much I love owls. I will probably do my biweekly ABA blog post in a couple of days on owls seen so far this year and owls that I hope to see.
Still at 118 species for the year
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 