Lynn Barber's Alaska Big Year – and Beyond

I visited the Palmer area today, including the Matanuska Townsite Road. and Matanuska Lakes area. There were only three birds at the Townsite Road: Black-capped Chickadee (heard), perched Black-billed Magpie and perched Bald Eagle right next to the road, quite close to the tiny area where there was open water.

The Matanuska Lakes had scattered Black-capped Chickadees, a few Pine Grosbeaks, and a perched immature Bald Eagle. Then, all of a sudden in a brushy yard with a mountain ash laden with berries, there were birds everywhere – Pine Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings, a Hairy Woodpecker and an American Robin. I tried for awhile unsuccessfully to get a picture of a Bohemian Waxwing that was not lurking behind branches so I’m just posting the best I could manage.

When I got home from my trip to Palmer and pulled in the driveway, I could see a shrike-shaped bird over our garage in the back yard, a bird rarely (or maybe never before) seen in our yard. Also in the yard was a flock of Common Redpolls in the same tree as the shrike and the largest flock of Pine Grosbeaks so far for the season – 11 female-plumaged birds, all on various feeders in our yard.

304 species so far