Tracy Arm Icebergs

The next leg of our trip takes us to Tracy Arm to check out some glaciers and hope to find some new birds. Forgive me if this post is nearly devoid of the winged ones.



We arrive at Tracy Arm early in the morning. On the way I spotted a Humpbacked Whale in the distance and then something else floating nearby. A small iceberg! We must be almost there. We make our way up Stephen's Passage with the 4th level deck now open for viewing the landscape.

More and more began to appear as we rounded the turn into the fjord. Here are my favorite shots of icebergs during our journey in and out of the area. Right at the entrance was a large, gorgeous blue block of ice.



OK. Here are some birds. Numerous gulls rest on an iceberg near the mouth of the fjord.



Up on the cliffs rest the edges of the glaciers that drop the icebergs into the water.



I loved this view as we reached the farthest reach of our visit here.



We were all waiting to see this nice coloration of the bergs. Dig the nearly square block resting on top.



I could have stared at these chunks of ice all day.



But we had a port to get to, so back to the Crow's Nest to watch our return to Stephen's Passage.



Not done with Tracy Arm just yet. There were waterfalls galore and I have a lot of shots for the next post.

Northern Fulmar

Well, this was fairly interesting. Seems I got one of the birds I was hoping to find without even realizing it. I thought is was just another gull.

Nope. I finally got some shots of a cruising Northern Fulmar!



Cool looking bird. Can't believe I missed the much stockier build compared to the many Glaucous-winged Gulls flying by.



These pelagic birds only come ashore to breed. Related to Shearwaters.



Now I can focus on other species to be found. Maybe an Albatross. That would be nice but much harder to find.



Heading toward the next stretch of land. Tomorrow we go to Tracy Arm and then on to Juneau!

Out to Open Water

Leaving the earlier straits just out of Vancouver we awake the next morning to open waters and the promise of new discoveries. Here is a map of the start of our day and the ports we are headed towards.



Birds scatter across the surface of the water as the ship plows ahead. Most of the early sighting were Rhinoceros auklets.



Traveling alone or in small groups they would bolt up from the surface. It was a chore to get use to holding this rented monster of a lens and getting acquainted with its functions so the early shots were not the best. However, shooting photos of tiny, skittering birds from 6 stories up is not all that easy!



Larger birds appeared as we headed farther into open water. A few Short-tailed Shearwater but most were Sooty Shearwater.



Still looking for a good view but almost all were taking off directly away from this floating building. Light was getting better, at least.



Finally, a bird that strikes a pose!



Not only birds skipping across the water. A few mammals were out there skimming the surface. So fast that they looked like small eruptions. A pod of Dall Porpoise approached the vessel and this was as far as they came out of the water.



As we strolled the observation deck at the tail-end of the ship, someone gave out a yell. Our first Humpbacked Whale sighting! The animal surfaced a few times, rolled over and dove beneath the waves.



As we began to reach the open water earlier, I spotted one more bird far off in the distance. Once home, I processed the photos and could make out that this was a Red-throated Loon. I got a slightly better photo of one in Winter plumage 5 years ago but it is still nice to add a new bird for this trip.



All this excitement. Time to head up to the Crow's Nest and enjoy the Drink of the Day. Don't even remember the name of this one. They were all themes and several would end up this shade of blue representing the upcoming Glaciers.



This post is long enough for now. Time to sort more photos.

OK. Time to start the Parade.

Finally through the 2,261 shots while searching for any bird shots. To get things started off we will begin with the first interesting bird from the start of the cruise.

We boarded the Zuiderdam early in the morning and took off toward Alaska. We headed past the Lion's Gate bridge on the way out. Weather was perfect. Hope it holds for our connections up in Alaska. Forecast was undecided as always around these parts.



It did concern me that I spotted a couple using high-powered weapons underneath the bridge as we passed by. At least they were focused on the hillside away from the ship!



I spotted a Pelagic Cormorant down below. Considering this was taken from the observation deck, many stories above the water's surface, this is a good enough shot of a Pelagic Cormorant.



Another ship was not far behind as we headed toward the Pacific.



Now on to our great adventure toward Alaska and so many interesting sights to explore!



A full day of plying the Inside Passage lies ahead as we make our way toward Juneau. By the time we wake in the morning we should be seeing some new sights. Hopefully some new birds for my Life List, as well.

Miss Me? I'm Back.

Back, but tired. Just got in from the airport just after 1 AM. We just spent a while on a ship heading through Southeast Alaska and then hung out with some family near Seattle. Good news. I got some more Life birds!

However, it will be a while longer before I post them. It will have to be in small enough doses. I haven't done an official count but I have taken around...oh...2,200 photos on this trip. You can imagine that I need some processing time, time to verify IDs of some birds I don't really know, picking out the best, etc.

My last trip to the Northwest 5 years ago yielded months of blog posts. Now I have more firepower so I will have to edit myself. Promise it will be fun. Hopefully, I can start posting in a couple days. Still loose ends to tie up, things to unpack, kids to catch up with (they had a week around Yellowstone and I will have their shots to process, too!), and a cat to apologize to. So far he seems happy to see us.

First, sleep...but Alaska was cool. Not literally, we actually had great weather and a few days into the mid-70s!

More Birds at Lake Davis

Back to look for that Bittern. Just catching up on these photos since we has so many things to do before an adventure in a while.

So, I did see the Bittern as it flew in right past me but, again, it flew to the far side of the reeds. Sigh. Oh, well. Baby ducks still amuse. The Mallard family actually swam right to me as I got to the shoreline.



The juvenile male Wood Ducks also decided to visit me. They are looking so handsome.



"Hey, what is with the big eye staring at us?"



To my left a Common Moorhen drifted in for a break in feeding.



It was fun to watch as it preened and splashed around in the water.



Time for a big splash!



Over where the Bittern has been hiding, a family of Boat-tailed Grackles chatter and sometimes the juvenile fly out for a look around.



I might get back down for another look before we deal with our other plans. However, don't expect a new post until the first of the month. Then, get ready for a major set of fun shots if all goes as planned!

Lake Davis Tour

It has been a rough two weeks since I had to send my binoculars in for repairs. I was really itchy for the first few days but managed to survive. Just picked them up this morning so I decided to see what I could find at the lake. It was fairly interesting.

Noticed some Moorhens down by the shore. One adult and 2 chicks but this female Anhinga got a bit noisy and made approaching the Moorhens move into the reeds.



That's OK. I knew that there were more babies around the way so I moved along. I found the Wood Duck family right where they were yesterday when I planned this visit. Mama herded the young ones toward the lake while keeping a watch out for predators.



Out on the lake there was an older juvenile male swimming around.



I spotted something walking around in the reeds. A Least Bittern! The first I have ever seen at Lake Davis. Unfortunately, I could not get a shot as it quickly hid on the far side toward the lake. Dang.

Suddenly, a flock of Fish Crows began vocalizing just down the way. They were flying around wildly and then I saw one fly out towards me with what appeared to be an egg in its beak! More crows were flocking around where that crow came from so I moved over there to see if they were raiding some bird's nest. Once at the party, I saw a couple of crows actually digging in the soil. Seems they had found a turtle nest and were digging them out for a snack.



Interesting. Wish I could have caught one of them removing an egg but they were not so brave when I was closer to the action. I noticed movement behind me near the road. It was a Mallard family! Really cute ducklings and Mama.



They took little notice of me and I soon found out why. They were all chasing midges they were resting in the grass. The little ones were snapping away like mad, all the while getting closer to me. They were moving so fast I could barely keep them in focus.



At one point they were almost on my feet.



Here is a cropped shot highlighting the midge which was about to become lunch.



I still had the Bittern stuck in my head so I headed back down to try for a shot. I did see it again but it moved away once more. Just around the reeds was a pair of resting young Wood Ducks at the shore.



I also liked this one showing a bit more wing color.



The first family was emerging back from the water and began to preen. This time they didn't care if I was there or not. Mama often shook out her feathers between cleanings.



It was really cute to watch the ducklings run underneath Mama whenever she would move to a new spot.



Nearby, a Tri-colored Heron fed in the swallow waters.



Time to head home. One the way back to the van I had a Rock Pigeon drop down and show off its amazing plumage.



I will have to stop back soon to see if I can get a shot of that Bittern.

Goodbye to Palm Cemetery

Goodbye, Palm Cemetery. It has been fun.

While at school these past 9 months I have been spending most of my lunch breaks just down the road at Palm Cemetery which is situated between the public golf course in Winter Park. It was fun to track migrating birds as they worked the oaks and grounds of the place.



Almost every time I visited I parked in the same spot, only seeing the occasional grounds keeper or visitor. Cemeteries are great for bird watching as it is almost always free of the living humans circling around the perimeter.



Goodbye, Baptist church! Always looming across the 5th fairway, it was a good focal point for larger birds drifting toward Lake Maitland.



The Spanish Moss hanging from the trees hides all kinds of food for the birds and they traveled in rather large flocks moving through on some days.



Turning back from the fairway you are greeted with a rather attractive view heading back to the van.



Though I don't know most of the names listed on the headstones, there are a few notables such as former Senators, famous local artists, and some of the names you find on local streets.




So, I end my tenure watching the cemetery nearly everyday since last September. I will just have to trust the angels to take over.



Maybe, someday, I will make it back. All depends on where I land in this wonderful economy. I will probably make a post featuring birds I have found engraved in the headstones over the months. We shall see.