I tried, I really did, to find birds away from my usual birding spots in Anchorage. But it’s the wrong time of year. First I went to the Ship Creek area, but all I found there were gulls (primarily Glaucous-winged) on the mudflats, a single Common Raven and Canada Geese.
Next I drove through a couple of neighborhoods where there are bird-feeders but all I found there were more ravens and Black-billed Magpies.
So, I gave up and went to Potter Marsh. We have had quite a bit of rain and although the wildfire still is apparently smoldering, the air was much clearer than a day ago. At Potter Marsh I was delighted to find a pair of White-winged Crossbills, and possibly a young one, which just made noise but did not let me see it. There also were the usual yellowlegs, mainly Greater Yellowlegs, Green-winged Teal, a distant perched Bald Eagle, a single Tree Swallow and an Alder Flycatcher.
At home there were a couple of species, including a rather scruffy-looking family of Dark-eyed Juncos.
As I expected it would be, birding is a bit slow right now in the Anchorage area.
288 species so far, and holding
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 