I first went to Spenard Crossing today, finally getting out to bird, as directed by my car license plate.
The temperature was mild as Alaska winters go, about 20 degrees. All the branches appeared to be frosted, some of them quite heavily.
The woods were silent. Eventually I heard and then saw two very distant Black-billed Magpies. Two Common Ravens flew silently overhead. The two Mallards that flew past the woods broke the silence with their whistling wings. I did not go to the parking lot to check on whether the huge Mallard flock was around. The last birds seen in the Spenard Crossing woods were about 25 Bohemian Waxwings. I snapped a quick pictures of them as they disappeared behind a spruce tree (there really are birds in that picture below).
I then drove out to the airport, thinking perhaps I might see the American Kestrel that has been there for awhile. Unfortunately for birding, but fine for photography, the whole area out by the airport was covered in dense fog. Somehow, planes were still landing and taking off, but not only could I not see any kestrel, I could not see the runway or the planes themselves or hardly anything else. At Point Woronzoff was a lone Black-billed Magpie peering through the fog. No other birds, just atmospheric loveliness.
307 species so far, and now only 11 days left
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 