Lynn Barber's Birding Blog

I got to Potter Marsh boardwalk exactly at sunrise. Most of the birds seen there this morning were seen two by two.

Seen from the boardwalk there were two swimming Northern Pintails, two pairs of Mallards, two Black-capped Chickadees, two Black-billed Magpies hunting for nesting material on the ground next to the boardwalk, two Common Mergansers, two nearby Mew Gulls, and two fly-by Trumpeter Swans.

When I drove on the highway past the marsh, most of the Mew Gulls and Canada Geese out in the marsh looked to be paired up as well, and there were still two adult Trumpeter Swans and two subadults still at the marsh after the other two had flown north.

Not finding any new birds for the year at Potter Marsh and none at Girdwood (in the pouring rain), I returned to Anchorage figuring that would be the entire gist of my blog post for today. I decided to go to Westchester Lagoon and the coastal path south of there to see if I could add the recently seen two Greater Yellowlegs to my two-by-two list, but I did not find them.

What I did find was the sound (and not the sight) of at least one SANDHILL CRANE apparently flying north high overhead in the clouds. I don’t know if they were flying two by two or not, but there was a second call, so it fit today’s theme. While I usually am reluctant to count heard-only birds, I am very familiar with the unique sound of Sandhill Cranes. As I just recently told our Anchorage Audubon president, “There is nothing like a crane.” I’m counting Sandhill Crane for today – I’m sure I’ll have pictures to post soon when the hordes of cranes start arriving in Anchorage and much of the rest of the state.

Two by two today – ’tis the beginning of the season.

My birding expedition ended with a clear view of Denali (formerly called Mt. McKinley). There is only one Denali.

131 species so far