Lynn Barber's Birding Blog

The big news in the Anchorage birding world (and beyond) has been the Falcated Duck that was first reported at Potter Marsh on May 3rd, when I was lucky enough to see it after I raced over there immediately upon hearing about it. Since then, the bird has been seen daily but is not as easily viewable as when originally found. This is the first Falcated Duck that I have ever seen, as their normal range is in Asia and Japan.

Other ducks that I have seen and photographed recently in Anchorage include (in order shown below) a Surf Scoter at Spenard Lake, Buffleheads, Gadwalls, Green-winged Teal, and a mixture of ducks including Gadwalls, Green-winged Teal and Northern Shovelers at Potter Marsh.

There are three loon species around now that I have photographed: Common Loon photographed at Spenard Lake, the tame Red-throated Loon at Hood Lake (which usually calls when float planes take off or fly by as in the video below) and two Pacific Loons at Goose Lake:

The two grebe species now in the area are Red-necked Grebe, which is a common breeder at Anchorage Lakes, and Horned Grebe, which I usually only see on migration, although it does breed in the area.

Although the above loon and grebe species are the only ones now in Anchorage of which I am aware, there are many other ducks around, including Mallards, American Wigeons, Northern Pintails, Ring-necked Ducks, and Greater Scaup, and there are migrating Trumpeter Swans and zillions of Canada Geese as well.