KACHEMAK BAY BIRDERS

***TRIPS/Events

CRANE COUNT DAYS: August 30th and September 6th

FISH LINE CLEANUP AT THE FISHING HOLE: September 6th at 10:00 am

September 20th Trip to Seaside Farms.  Meet at 8:00 am. Leader: Michelle Michaud

October 11th Owling on Ohlson Mt Rd.  Meet at 8:00 pm. Leader: Gary Lyon.

November 15th Trip to Beluga Lake or Spit. Meet at 10:00 am. Leader: Dave Erikson.

All Kachemak Bay Birding trips are cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. All trips are free and everyone is welcome to attend. 
 

***Meetings/PRESENTATIONS (Meetings at 5:30 pm unless otherwise noted)

September 30th—Meeting and Presentation by Todd Eskelin: Hummingbirds

October 28th—Meeting and Presentation by Jason Sodergren: Owls

November 25th—Meeting and Presentation by Brian Daniel: Emperor Goose

All our events are cosponsored by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. All events are free, everyone is welcome to attend.

 
***TRIP REPORTS
Anchor River: 8-17-25
It was another beautiful day “to bird” at Anchor Point/Anchor River.  Fourteen people joined Jim Herbert and myself (Michelle Michaud) in our search for birds at one of my favorite birding spots. Our tally for the day was 30 species.   New to our trips here was a couple from Soldotna, and an enthusiastic youngster from Halibut Cove.  An Anchorage birder, unaware of our field trip, joined us about midway down the river towards the mouth.  
We walked to the mouth of the river and back – over 3.0 miles (the mouth is moving further north each year) – first along the river, then back along the beach.  It was sunny, with a light wind.  Sadly, we did not see a lot of birds on the waters of Cook Inlet.  
 
Species Observed:
 
  • Harlequin Ducks (10)
  • Red-necked Grebe (1)
  • Rock Pigeons (Feral) (2) – yes they have finally made it to the Anchor River, unfortunately 
  • Pacific Golden Plover (2) – at the mouth of the river
  • American Golden Plover (1) at the mouth of the river
  • Semi-palmated Plover (8) 
  • Short-billed Dowitcher (2) 
  • Whimbrel (5) 
  • Spotted Sandpiper (6) – they like the river
  • Wandering Tattler (1) – along the river, and one of my favorite shorebirds
  • Lesser Yellowlegs (1) – along the river
  • Greater Yellowlegs (22) – at least this many and great to see as we didn’t see many during monitoring
  • Black Turnstone (3) – along the river – numbers are much higher in July
  • Ruddy Turnstone (1) – still in full breeding plumage and beautiful 
  • Least Sandpiper (1)
  • Western Sandpiper (8)
  • Horned Puffin (1)
  • Ancient Murrelet (1) 
  • Black-legged Kittiwake (1) – we didn’t spend a lot of time counting gulls
  • Bonaparte’s Gull (1) – hatch year bird 
  • Gull sp (250) 
  • Pigeon Guillemot (1)
  • Common Loon (2)
  • Northern Harrier (1) 
  • Bald Eagle (4) – two on a roof top with one looking ill, but they were both gone on our return trip to the parking lot
  • Belted Kingfisher (2)
  • Merlin (1) 
  • Black-billed Magpie (5)
  • American Crow (75) – seen often together in a large flock in the sky
  • Savannah Sparrow (1)
 
Surprisingly there wasn’t a lot of exposed rock along the beach, which is where the shorebirds like to feed.  But then again, every day is different there.  
 
Thanks to all who attended,
IT WAS A GREAT DAY TO BIRD
 
Anchor River: 7-19-25
Ten people joined Jim and myself for our annual July bird walk at the Anchor Point Beach in search of shorebirds.  A total of 23 bird species were observed by one or more of the participants.  
 
The surprise of the day for me was to see a Black-bellied Plover.  These birds are more likely seen in August, rather than in July.  The bird didn’t stay long, unfortunately.  
 
The weather cooperated with overcast skies, mild temperatures, and little in the way of wind – always a plus at Anchor.  The seas were calm which makes for great viewing, however very few birds were present on the water.  
 
Thanks to all who came out to bird…..
 
Species Observed
White-winged Scoter – 1
Black Scoter – 7 
Black-bellied Plover – 1
Whimbrel – 49 (estimate)
Dowitcher sp – 1 
Greater Yellowlegs – 12
Black Turnstone – 117 (estimate)
Surfbird – 11
Rock Sandpiper – 1
Sanderling – 3 
Spotted Sandpiper – 1 (seen by two of us who ventured past the mud hole)
Bonaparte’s Gull – 1
Short-billed Gull – 1
Glaucous-Winged Gull – 147 (estimate)
Common Loon – 2
Bald Eagle – 8
Belted Kingfisher – 2 (and actually fishing)
Black-billed Magpie – 1 (heard only)
American Crow – 45 (estimate)
Black-capped Chickadee – 2
Bank Swallow – 1
Hermit Thrush -1 (heard only)
Savannah Sparrow – 2
Song Sparrow – 1
 
Oh and some ducklings, origin unknown.  
 
Michelle Michaud
 
Baycrest Homestead Trail 6-15-25
Lora Haller, the trip leader, reported that 6 birders had attended and they saw or heard a total of 22 species.  There were many birds heard singing but seeing them was challenging and so the group worked on audio identification skills for songs and calls.  The weather was overcast and cool, there were mosquitoes, but it was only muddy near the big bridge, at the end. A big thanks to Lora for leading the trip!
 
As always, It Was A Great Day to Bird!  
 
Species reported:
sandhill cranes (flyover)
wilson’s snipe
olive-sided flycatcher
alder flycatcher
canada jay
bk billed magpie
american crow
common raven
ruby-crowned kinglet
golden-crowned kinglet
red-breasted nuthatch
american robin
hermit thrush
varied thrush
redpoll
pine siskin
fox sparrow
dark-eyed junco
golden-crowned sparrow
orange-crowned warbler – lots of them
yellow-rumped warbler
wilson’s warbler
 
North Fork Anchor River 5-31-25
What a glorious morning to be out watching birds.  Twelve hardy people joined Gary Lyon and myself as we birded this very birdie area.  Hardy because it was still quite cool out and early (7:00 am start time).  We had two couples from out of town – Toronto, Ontario, and San Diego, California.  We missed you Kathy Eagle. 

We had a total of 23 different species and one mammal, a mink.  The mink was in the rocks where the dipper likes to feed.  Hopefully the dipper does not become dinner for the mink. 

We observed or heard the following species:

Harlequin Ducks (which the Toronto people we very happy to see)
Common Merganser
Wilson’s Snipe
Bald Eagle
Black-billed Magpie
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (heard only – at least I am not aware of anyone seeing the bird)
American Dipper
Varied Thrush (heard only)
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Redpoll
Fox Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow (heard only)
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Savannah Sparrow (heard only)
Lincoln’s Sparrow (lots of great views – and my favorite sparrow)
Northern Waterthrush (singing it’s heart out from the top of a tall cottonwood tree)
Orange-crowned Warblers (lots of these birds singing)
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Birds we were hoping to see, but did not, included the Spotted Sandpiper, Wilson’s Warbler, and Mallard. 

It was truly a great day to bird.
Michelle Michaud
Co-leader
 

33rd Annual KACHEMAK BAY SHOREBIRD FESTIVAL, May 7-11

2025 Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival: Species Tally

FINAL REPORT and SPECIES LIST

What glorious sunny weather for our Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival this year! Many species—140 is a tentative final count, with a couple still being verified.  A total of 27 species of shorebirds were seen including the rare Red Knots, which were here before the Festival started and were seen every day.  Hudsonian, Marbled and Bar-tailed Godwits were other large, beautiful shorebirds present, also the Black Oystercatcher and Red Phalaropes everyone enjoys seeing each year. (The average number of species seen at a Festival is 130, so this was an exceptionally productive Festival.)

Other interesting species were Snow Goose, Osprey, Caspian Tern, Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, and Common Eider. Songbirds included 8 sparrow species and 5 warbler species. and 3 swallow species.  There were 10 raptor species.

Special thanks to Jason Sodergren and Janet Fink for her help. Thanks should go out to everyone who reported birds on eBird or directly to the Festival–what a wonderful array of species we all helped find   Kachemak Bay Birders always say “It’s A Great Day to Bird!” and it certainly was for all five days of the Festival…in the fantastic sunshine and enjoying the scenic beauty of Kachemak Bay!

CHECKLIST OF SPECIES:  Kachemak Bay tally 2025 form

 

September 24th Presentation by Bruce Lyon: Gray-crowned Rosy Finch Study on the Pribilofs.
 

**Links to previous Presentations**

December 4th Presentation by Aaron Lang: “Birding in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” was recorded and the link is on the Friends of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuges website:

https://alaskarefugefriends.org/category/events/special-events/