Lynn Barber

Yes, I did try for the Great Egret that was found in Larsen Bay (Kodiak Island), but it appears to be gone, not having been seen since Friday, or perhaps Saturday. Still, I did try and I’m glad I had the adventure of my last-minute trip, flying from Anchorage to Kodiak very early this morning and then after some delays due I guess to too many hunters wanting to go where I was going, eventually a half-hour flight on an Island Air tiny plane to Larsen Bay. While I waited to fly with three other passengers to Larsen Bay I looked at a Song Sparrow out the window in the rain, stared at the stuffed Kodiak brown bear and did a jigsaw puzzle that someone had started on the table in the waiting area.

It rained all day at Larsen Bay, but I had all my rain gear and wandered the coastal and marsh areas where it had been seen for just under 5 hours. I then took another little plane (2 passengers on this, including Olaf Danielson) back to Kodiak and a big plane back to Anchorage.

Birds seen and photographed included a large shorebird flock (Black Turnstones, Surfbirds, Rock Sandpipers, with Northwestern Crow), Barrow’s Goldeneyes and Harlequin Ducks, American Dipper, and Song and Golden-crowned Sparrows. There were also, of course, Bald Eagles, Glaucous-winged Gulls (I believe), Common Ravens, Black-billed Magpies and Pacific Wrens.

I also photographed the areas where the Great Egret HAD been seen, but no egret appeared.

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