ALASKA 2025 part 6: Bethel and Homer (28 June-01 July)

ALASKA 2024 part 6: Bethel and Homer (28 June-01 July)

Friday 28 June. We grabbed breakfast as it was being put out, left gear in store and were at the airport at 07:00 for our 09:00 Ravn Dash 8-100 flight to St Paul. Nice weather, feeling really positive. Half an hour or so of battery charging delayed take off until after 09:30. Just before we landed at Bethel, our scheduled refueling stop, the captain announced that the weather at St Paul had closed in but was forecast to clear. Bethel airport appeared to be in the middle of nowhere but the town is beside the nearby Kuskokwim River and it is the largest community in western Alaska (population over 6000 compared to Barrow's 5000 and Nome's 4000). I was probably on the wrong side of the plane as we came in but did see several Long-tailed Skuas flying around when we landed. After an anxious half an hour wait while we topped up the fuel tanks we were told that the weather had improved and we set off. Approaching St Paul over an hour later the wind had picked up making landing impossible and we were returning non-stop to Anchorage. Logistically the trip had gone really well but we were absolutely gutted to fall at the final hurdle. So near yet so far. We landed at 14:30, five hours in a plane to end up back where we started. Options were grim. No flight scheduled flight to St Paul on Saturday or Monday. Although a plane was free Ravn had a shortage of pilots and couldn't put one on. Sunday and Tuesday were fully booked if they go. One of the ladies on our flight, a St Paul resident, had been trying to get home for a week. Vaughan emailed his UK travel agent about the possibility and cost of bringing our return flights forward for two days and hoped for a response overnight. Richard came up with the idea of going down to Homer for a couple of days which seemed like a good (least bad) option, staying in Anchorage did not appeal to any of us at all. Vaughan made enquiries about hiring a minibus for two days to take us down to Homer and there seemed to be a daily bus service if all else failed. The lack of internet at America's Best Value motel was not helping. The only positive step was bringing our paid for stay on Sunday forward to tonight and seeing Alan again (he'd not signed up for the St Paul extension having seen Red-legged Kittiwake some years ago on the Ring of Fire cruise of which we were all very envious). Nick and I visited Subway and Spenard Lake seeing American Wigeon, 4 unidentified scaup, Goldeneye, a very close Red-necked Grebe (foolishly I'd left my camera in the room), Short-billed Gull, Arctic Tern and 2 Black-billed Magpies.

Paul at Anchorage Airport, Ravn de Havilland Dash-8 100 being loaded, us full of hope and anxiety

heading to Bethel

leaving Bethel - still hopeful but more anxious 

Saturday 29 June. It was not possible to change flights (apparently no availability) so we put the Homer plan into operation. Vaughan confirmed that a minibus was available for two days and could be picked up at 11:00. He and Richard went for breakfast/coffee with Wi-Fi and found a hotel in Homer for two nights that could accommodate us all and was cheaper than certainly nicer than America's Best in Anchorage. Nick and I birded the bike trail to Northward Park and Spenard Lake seeing American Wigeon, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Wilson's Snipe, Short-billed Gulls, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpies, Tree and Violet-green Swallows, Red-breasted Nuthatches, American Robin, White-crowned Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird and Orange-crowned and Myrtle Warblers. After a visit to Walmart we were on the road soon after noon and following a couple of brief stops (Golden-crowned Sparrows at one) arrived at the King's Landing Hotel in Homer at about 17:00. We drove down to The Spit to confirm a boat charter to Gull Island for the following morning and while the others had a fish & chip meal Nick and I seawatched seeing 500 Kittiwakes, 1200 Common and 8 Pigeon Guillemots and single Horned and Tufted Puffins. We watched the breeding Kittiwakes on piers at the end of Homer Spit and a selection of mostly hard to identify larger gulls. We moved on to the Calvin and Coyle trail on the edge of town seeing 2 Sandhill Cranes in a large front garden on the way. The trail was through coniferous forest and we stayed to 22:00 in the hope of a Northern Saw-whet but a distant single call that might possibly have been one was the closest we came. A juvenile American Goshawk was some compensation as well as Black-capped Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrush, Common Redpoll and Townsend's Warbler.

Myrtle Warbler in Northward Park

Downy Woodpecker in Northward Park

American Wigeon family still at Spenard Lake

American Robin at Spenard

Red-breasted Nuthatch near Spenard Lake

approaching Homer

Homer Spit

easy ones to start with, Glaucous-winged Gulls and Kittiwakes (sadly no red-legs amongst them)

adult Glaucous-winged Gulls at Homer

third-summer Glaucous-winged Gull at Homer

second-summer Glaucous-winged Gull at Homer

very bleached first-summer Glaucous-winged Gull at Homer

adult American Herring Gull at Homer

I'm not sure about this one, perhaps closest to a first-summer Slaty-backed Gull?

a first-summer American Herring Gull with 'faded to white' coverts is my best guess?

Sandhill Cranes in Homer

                

American Goshawk from the Calvin and Coyle Trail

Sunday 30 June. We left King's Landing at 05:30 and drove back to the Calvin & Coyle Trail where we spent almost three hours. Birds were similar to yesterday's visit with 2 juvenile American Goshawks, 2 Pacific Wrens, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets, 3 Hermit Thrushes, Red Crossbill and 4 Townsend's Warblers. We continued on to McDonalds at nearby Beluga Lake. Breakfast for some, England Euro updates (another uninspiring performance) and on the lake 6 Ring-necked Duck, 4 Red-necked Grebes and for me an adult American Robin feeding a juvenile. We continued to Homer Spit for our boat trip and spent a very enjoyable two hours plus crossing to Gull Island and cruising around it and a short distance along the coast behind. I saw 2 Harlequins, Black Oystercatcher, 55 Surfbirds, 500 Common and 18 Pigeon Guillemots, 2 Marbled Murrelets, a Horned and 8 Tufted Puffins, 500 Kittiwakes, a Red-faced and 15 Pelagic Cormorants, 16 Bald Eagles and 20 Sea Otters. We stopped to check a scoter flock at the start of Homer Spit (roughly 25 Surf and 75 White-winged Scoter, all a bit too far out for photography). We returned to King's Landing and wandered around the roads above it for a couple of hours seeing Sharp-shinned Hawk, Steller's Jay, Myrtle Warbler, Golden-crowned Sparrow and a mobile flock of at least 35 Red Crossbills. The latter included a male White-winged Crossbill but the flock moved on before Nick and I could get onto it which was rather frustrating. We left King's Landing for the opposite side of Beluga Lake seeing Canada Jay and Lincoln's Sparrow and taking the day's Moose tally to three females and four calves. At 16:00 we continued to Homer Spit to look at/get more confused by gulls and seawatch/get some chips. Nick and I saw Red-breasted Merganser, 250 Common and 6 Pigeon Guillemots, 2 Marbled Murrelets and a probable Crested Auklet. Back at King's Landing I packed and then went back out to try and track down the crossbill flock without success, even when Nick joined me, although I did see the 2 Sandhill Cranes again. The others had gone to a pub opposite the hotel.

juvenile American Goshawk from the Calvin and Coyle Trail

the largest bird we saw along the Calvin and Coyle Trail

Pacific Wren, the smallest bird along the Calvin and Coyle Trail

American Red Squirrel at Calvin and Coyle

juvenile and adult American Robin by Beluga Lake

it was surprising how difficult feeding time could be

eventually

Surfbirds on Gull Island

Pelagic Cormorants and Glaucous-winged Gulls on Gull Island

Bald Eagle and Kittiwakes over Gull Island

and Glaucous-winged Gull

Homer Spit from near Gull Island

Tufted Puffin off Gull Island

Guillemots off Gull Island

Gull Island

young Bald Eagle on Gull Island

Black Oystercatcher on the beach at Peterson Bay

Pigeon Guillemots in Peterson Bay

Gull Island

Sea Otter near Gull Island

Marbled Murrelets near Gull Island

first-summer Glaucous-winged Gull at Homer Spit

Glaucous-winged and American Herring Gulls at Homer Spit

American Robin in Homer

Lincoln's Sparrow at Beluga Lake

juvenile Canada Jay at Beluga Lake

more difficult gulls, I thought the almost black median covert bar most likely makes this a faded first-summer Slaty-backed Gull

a similar bird to that above (taken two minutes later) although median covert bar is more obscured. The bird behind it looks even darker

and another a minute later showing an all dark bill

this one appeared to have dark primaries, possibly a very dark American Herring Gull??

Sandhill Cranes in Homer

Monday 01 July. We were up at 04:20, had bags packed by 04:45 ready for an 05:00 departure but didn’t get away until 05:20. A session in the pub opposite into the early hours had caused two of our group to oversleep. We headed back along Highway 1, the opposite end of the continuous PanAm highway that Nick and I had been on in Darien Panama in February. We turned off along the Skilak Lake Road, heading for mile 13.5, a site where Hawk Owl had recently been seen. Half-way there in a densely wooded area two juvenile Great Horned Owls were seen briefly by the road before quickly flying deeper into the forest. Less than 100m further on an adult Great Horned Owl flew across the road and landed in view. At mile 13.5 the forest opened out as most of the trees had been flattened. We started scanning along the road in both directions and after some searching a Hawk Owl was found a little further down the road. Although I’d seen Hawk Owls in the Netherlands and Norway it was something I had been particularly keen to see in Alaska, especially as here it is a different race. Not seeing any on our return from Denali to Anchorage had been a big disappointment, although not as great as not getting to St. Paul. It was hardly compensation for not seeing Red-legged Kittiwake but at least it finished the trip on a high note. On the journey back to Anchorage I also saw 15 Short-billed Gulls, 4 Arctic Terns, Bald Eagle, 2 Black-billed Magpies, 2 American Robins and single Dark-eyed Junco and White-crowned Sparrow. We arrived at Anchorage Airport soon after noon and unloaded our bags while Vaughan returned the van. After a couple of hours at the airport we discovered that the Seattle to Reykjavik part of our flight back to London had been cancelled. It was alright we were told when attempting to check in for our Alaskan Airlines flight to Seattle as Iceland Air had transferred us onto an Alaskan Airlines flight to Newark and then with Virgin to London Heathrow. We would arrive at Heathrow 10 minutes earlier so what could go wrong? Quite a lot as we only had a 75 minute stop-over in Newark and critically Alaskan Airlines didn’t have a baggage agreement with Virgin meaning we’d have to collect our bags and probably wouldn't have enough time to check them in again. The helpful Alaskan Airlines lady told us that there was availability on several other flights with luggage transfer agreements but we had to phone Iceland Air so they could request a change of booking. She kindly looked up the Iceland Air reservations number and gave her phone to Richard who took over. Starting at fourth in the queue it seemed an age before he was speaking to someone but once the problem was explained all our bookings were changed. We were flying United to Chicago and American Airlines to London Heathrow. A 77 mph tailwind meant we touched down at 21:15 and I was able to catch an earlier bus, at 22:40, arriving in Shoreham at 01:00 and home half an hour later. It had been a good trip with an excellent group.

Great Horned Owl along the Skilak Lake Road

Hawk Owl along the Skilak Lake Road