Today, in addition to a bit of actual backyard birding, I went to Campbell Creek Estuary Natural Area and to Ship Creek in Anchorage. The highlight of Campbell Creek was a very distant flock of Snow Buntings out on the snow-covered mudflats. With effort the birds could sometimes be vaguely seen without binoculars but with binoculars the black and white patterns could be seen, especially when a bird flew a short distance.
There were also Bohemian Waxwings and Common Redpolls flying over, Pine Grosbeaks, Black-billed Magpies, Black-capped Chickadees, a Common Raven, Steller’s Jays and at least one noisy Brown Creeper (noisy for creepers anyway). Photos of the latter two species are below:
At Ship Creek there were similar birds (no Snow Buntings) plus two American Dippers, one of which was just sitting on the edge and singing loudly. It was a nice day and snow was melting so maybe it thought it was spring.
I am glad that the combination of the nicer weather today and my desire to contribute to the Great Backyard Bird Count got me out to see some great birds.
Lynn Barber's Birding Blog 