Birding in and around Homer, Alaska
Bruce Glick is currently traveling in Alaska. You can read about his travels in the Gone Birding column.
Birding in and around Homer, Alaska
On Monday, June 27, Helen and I joined two other couples for a three hour birding trip in Katchemak Bay, off the Homer Spit. The trip was led by Karl Stoltzfus, owner of Bay Excursions, a water taxi and tour agency in Homer. Karl grew up in Alaska but his father worked at Goshen College in Indiana when I was a student there long ago. I remember the Stoltzfus family leaving Goshen and moving to Homer.
Karl is a well-known leader of birding trips and he certainly does know the birds and the Homer area.
Our first stop was Gull Island, a rocky little island on the other side of the bay. Thousands of gulls nest there, most of them Black-legged Kittiwakes and Glaucous-winged Gulls. There were also Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, and both Pelagic and Red-faced Cormorants. I was especially interested in seeing the Red-faced Cormorants since that was a new bird for me.
On one rocky outcropping near the surface of the water was a small flock of Surfbirds. These shorebirds nest on alpine tundra along mountain ridges. This flock of birds probably came back from nesting or perhaps were non-breeding birds. Surfbirds migrate and winter along rocky shores and tidal flats.
After leaving Gull Island, Karl found a large number of Harlequin Ducks, at least 65 or more. Not far away were some Tufted Puffins. Birders never seem to get tired of seeing puffins, and these birds were quite cooperative, allowing the boat to get close enough for excellent views and photography.
Another bird that we were looking for on the trip was Kittlitz’s Murrelet. A few of them breed in the area and usually can be found feeding in the bay. However, there are also many Marbled Murrelets in the same area, so we checked out lots of murrelets before finally finding one lone Kittlitz’s. All of us got good looks, including seeing the white tail-feathers that are distinctive but hard to see. By this time it was getting quite windy and time to head back to the harbor. We had hoped to find a Yellow-billed Loon but that will have to wait for another day.
We were able to watch seabirds from the Homer Spit over the last four days since we camped on the spit right by the bay. There were usually Pacific and Common Loons, Red-necked Grebes, Common Murres, White-winged and Surf Scoters, cormorants, plus an occasional Aleutian Tern or Tufted Puffin. One morning I watched two shearwaters flying by. They probably were Sootys but they are hard to separate from Short-tailed Shearwaters. Always there were Bald Eagles, gulls, and Northwestern Crows.
One evening we drove up a long hill to a viewpoint with a great view of the Homer area. While eating supper up there, I heard a Northern Goshawk calling below us. It then flew around for several minutes, giving me great looks from high above the bird.
More from Alaska next week- good birding!
Bruce Glick
birderbruce@yahoo.com