June 5-21, 2025 with Chris Benesh & Alex Sundvall
Alaska is truly the final frontier of North American birding. Its vastness and remoteness adds to the mystique and grandeur of this land of the midnight sun. The scenery is unmatched, with high snowy mountain peaks that disappear right into the fjords of coastal bays. The glaciers and tall spruce forests of the south slowly shrink and eventually disappear entirely as you head farther north into the sweeping landscapes of the arctic tundra. This tour gets quite the range of habitats as it bounces around the state! If the scenery wasn’t enough, the birds of Alaska are also famous for being some of the best in the world. From Varied Thrushes, Pine Grosbeaks, and Spruce Grouse in the southern forests, King Eiders, Bluethroats, and Willow Ptarmigans in the northern tundra, and Parakeet Auklets, Tufted Puffins, and Kittlitz’s Murrelets in the glacial bays, Alaska really has it all. The weather wasn’t kind to us this year, with rain for much of our time in Seward and Nome, and heavy persistent fogbanks keeping us from making it out to St. Paul Island. We made do with the cards dealt to us however, and still managed to see over 160 species of birds across our 2 week journey of the state, including all three species of US Ptarmigan! The water birds really stood out in this, with 31 species of waterfowl and 27 species of shorebirds! It’s also pretty neat to go birding in a part of the country where you don’t see some invasive species almost every day! Despite the weather, we still had an incredible tour and saw most things very well! In particular, we had some really nice experiences with Snowy Owl, Tufted and Horned Puffins, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Yellow-billed Loon, American Dipper, White-tailed Ptarmigan, Red-necked Stints, Aleutian Terns, Townsend’s Warblers, and a Northern Hawk Owl!
From Chris and I and all of us at Field Guides, we’d like to thank you for joining us on this journey through the great state of Alaska. You all had great spirit and understanding mentalities when we were dealing with weather challenges, and we appreciated your patience while we waited and tried things out! Thanks for being a great group, and we hope to see you again soon somewhere on the birding trail!
Day 1: we started our grand Alaska adventure in Anchorage with our first of many visits to Kincaid Park. Not even 100 yards from the vans into the park was a majestic bull moose in the path sauntering along. You aren’t allowed to leave Alaska without seeing a Moose, so it’s good we checked that off on the first day! Farther into the park, we also had our first looks at Boreal Chickadees and a nesting American Three-toed Woodpecker! With some good success already, we turned southward toward the Kenai Peninsula and Seward. Our first stop on our way down the Kenai was at Lower Summit Lake where we briefly admired a pair of Trumpeter Swans and had our first views of Golden-crowned Sparrows and Sooty Fox Sparrows. Next was Tern Lake, which normally is quite well named, however today there were no terns! We did, however, get wonderful views of both Lesser and Greater Scaup, Barrow’s Goldeneyes, and a couple of fledged baby American Dippers at an old nest site! After lunch, we stopped at the Bear Creek Weir, a fish ladder to help the salmon swim upstream easier. We saw a large school of salmon below the weir, and also saw a couple Varied Thrush, an incredibly cooperative Townsend’s Warbler, and another American Dipper! One van also had brief but good views of a male Pine Grosbeak. As we got into Seward, the weather started to turn (an unfortunate theme to the beginning of this tour!) As the drizzling rain settled in, we scoped the harbor hoping for a couple glimpses at some seabirds before our boat trip in a couple days. We successfully spotted a handful of Marbled Murrelets and Pigeon Guillemots, and had our first taste of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Harlequin Ducks. We continued down Lowell Point where we spotted a distant Wandering Tattler on the kelp beds before calling it a very successful first evening.
Day 2: Unfortunately, due to rain and rough seas, we had to postpone our boat trip until the following day. In the meantime, we birded into the Kenai Fjords National Park around one of the visitor centers hoping for any signs of birds in the rain. We didn’t have much, but we did snag some good looks at Hermit Thrush and our first Steller’s Jays. These are the smallest and blackest of the Steller’s Jays subspecies and this coastal “Blue-fronted” group are incredibly diverged and a different species from the interior “Long-crested” groups, maybe someday they’ll get split! As the rain increased, we headed for lunch and spend the afternoon exploring the Alaska SeaLife Center, a wonderful aquarium that also has a captive breeding program for Eiders and Seabirds. During dinner that evening, we had a chance wild sighting of a flyby American Goshawk! While at dinner, we caught wind of a nearby Northern Hawk Owl, so we decided to go for it after we had finished up! We took full advantage of the long daylight hours of the Alaskan summer and we got it before it got dark! It was a little far away, but the experience was still incredible watching it fly and hunt in the dwindling light.
Day 3: Today was a busy day that started with our boat trip into Kenai Fjords National Park. Thankfully the weather had greatly improved so we could get out and enjoy a beautiful day on the water. We had our own private charter to explore the famous tidewater glaciers and the birds that call the fjords home. It wasn’t long before we were seeing Horned and Tufted Puffins along with more Marbled Murrelets and Pigeon Guillemots. As we got closer to the open ocean, we saw a handful of Fork-tailed Storm-Petrels and Sooty and Short-tailed Shearwaters, likely blown closer to shore from the weather the day prior. As we sailed closer to the seabird colonies, we picked out a group of Thick-billed Murres amongst the Common Murres, a Red-faced Cormorant with some Pelagic Cormorants, a group of Ancient Murrelets, and a school of Parakeet Auklets! As we got closer to the glacial outflows, we started searching for the main target of the day: Kittlitz’s Murrelet. These tiny and rare Murrelets look incredibly similar to the now numerous Marbled Murrelets and are unique to the area. After some searching, we got marvelous views of multiple Kittlitz’s right next to the boat! After we ate lunch next to the full splendor of a tidewater glacier, we turned back for the harbor and made our way back to Anchorage for the evening.
Day 4: Thankfully our morning flight to Nome was easy and uneventful! Even before the bags had all been unloaded, we went to the building next to the airport and spotted a continuing pair of White Wagtails! Our first concerted birding effort of the afternoon was along the Council road towards the famous Safety Sound. Here we had our first taste of the coastal birdlife here in Nome, with birds nearly everywhere! We had droves of both Red-necked and Red Phalaropes, Sabine’s Gulls, Aleutian and Arctic Terns, Long-tailed Jaegers, and had our first looks at Brant and Willow Ptarmigan. Short-eared Owls were everywhere, and we even found a pair of Red-necked Stints! Right as we were getting to the Safety Sound bridge, we heard about a couple of Eurasian Dotterels that had been spotted along the Teller Road that morning. This is an obscenely rare bird for the US with no regular sightings for decades. We made the decision to make the drive and attempt the chase in the complete opposite direction. Unfortunately, our efforts to see the Dotterels were in vain as they had left sometime in the afternoon and were never seen again after the couple of sightings that morning. It wasn’t all for nought thankfully, as we did get great looks at Rock Ptarmigans, Pacific Golden-Plovers, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and Arctic Warblers!
Day 5: We started our morning going along the first 20 or so miles of the Kougarok Road with the primary hope of seeing Bluethroats. This proved to be challenging with the rain and wind, but we made the best of it and eventually came across a few pairs displaying and singing at the tops of some willows. The afternoon continued to be rainy as we again went down the Council Road along the coast. Today we at least got some better views of Common Eider and Tundra Swan, as well as our first Surfbirds. We also had exquisite looks at three of the northern loon species: Red-throated, Pacific, and a gorgeous pair of Yellow-billed Loons right near shore along the fog edge providing some really neat ambiance. We even had a nice quick flyby of a Short-tailed Shearwater close to shore! The rain and cold were a challenge, but we persevered and had some great birds despite it all!
Day 6: Today was the day to go all 72 miles down the Kougarok Road to the famed Coffee Dome trail to try for Bristle-thighed Curlew. This long-distance migrant is mostly known from its wintering grounds in the South Pacific, but it breeds in the remote Alaskan wilderness. This is the only known breeding area for the species and is incredibly special to visit. It’s something of a pilgrimage for birders around the world! The trail was thankfully fairly dry this year with nobody losing their boots to the mud and there weren’t too many falls onto the tussocked ground. Right as we got out of the vans, a Bristle-thighed Curlew ripped the bandaid off and flew right over our heads singing and displaying! We could have turned around then and there, but we decided it was still worth it to make the hike to see if we could get any better views. The wind was hellacious up the slope, but after hours of persistence we finally were able to locate a Curlew on the ground and get mind-boggling views of this legendary species. After the famed hike was over, we headed back south. We pondered the intricacies of Cackling vs Canada Geese with a small group of distant birds, saw some nesting Red-necked Grebes, and ended the day with a fantastic Gyrfalcon show on some nearby cliffsides and a very wet nest of Northern Shrikes.
Day 7: Another day, same old rain and mist along the coast. We still soldiered on with some more birding along the Council Road, this time heading farther down the road towards an area that can be good for Northern Wheatears. With that kind of name, you’d expect them to have cream-colored patches on their face, but in fact it’s a bastardization of the old English name for them: White-arse! As we pulled up to the spot and saw the birds almost immediately, it became clear why they might have been named this as their white tail bases gleamed even in the mist and rain. On our way back towards Nome, we stopped at the Safety Sound bridge once again where a flock of Aleutian Terns were actively feeding right on the side of the road, giving us our best views of the species, and some of my best ever looks. Back toward the Sound itself, we spotted a large flock of Emperor Geese mixed with an even bigger group of Brant and Greater White-fronted Geese. While the views were a little distant, seeing a group of over a dozen Emperors was truly special. From here, we headed to the airport and boarded our plane back to Anchorage, preparing for our flight to Utqiaġvik the next day!
Day 8: We started the day with another attempt to find Spruce Grouse at Kincaid Park. This species was living up to its mythical status as we dipped again, becoming a bit of a nemesis for the tour! Thankfully, our afternoon flight to Utqiaġvik was uneventful and we hit the ground running with some birding! Finally, the weather was shaping up for us and the skies were clearing and we were able to enjoy some of the midnight sun. The major highlights in our evening birding were some of the more uncommon northern shorebirds like Baird’s, White-rumped, and Stilt Sandpipers, our first displaying Pectoral Sandpipers, scores of Red and Red-necked Phalaropes in every puddle we came across, our first King and Steller’s Eiders, and an absolute stunner of a pure white adult male Snowy Owl. What a way for this northern town to welcome us! And a nice change from the dreary birding we had been doing in Nome.
Day 9: Today started with a jolt as prebreakfast we made a dash over to the beach to chase a Polar Bear that had been spotted earlier in the morning! We made it just in time to watch the bear lumber across the ice floes out of sight. Even though it was far away, you could still appreciate the size of the animal and it was a real highlight of the entire trip. After breakfast, we went birding along the coast of the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea. We first stopped at the old landfill, where we watched a pair of White-rumped Sandpipers displaying! We headed up towards the Naval Arctic Research Lab where we found a Varied Thrush amongst the buildings, such a weird sight at the top of the world away from the temperate rainforests where we saw them in Seward. In the afternoon, we ventured down a muddy and flooding road until we couldn’t go any farther, and then walked out to the new landfill searching for more Eiders. And Eiders we found! We had good numbers of King and Steller’s Eiders as well as a pair of Spectacled Eiders. We walked out onto the tundra in order to get just that much closer, and the scope views were really nice. We also had a flyby Yellow-billed Loon and our first and only Vega Gull! We spent the entire afternoon on this road, enjoying the sunlight and good birds.
Day 10: Our final morning at the top of the world, we started out birding along the Nunavaaq Road hoping for a closer view of a Spectacled Eider. We did manage to spot a female, but unfortunately, she decided to fly far out into the tundra just after we pulled over so our views were close but brief. We also added Sanderling and American Golden-Plover to our list along with some gorgeous nesting Parasitic Jaegers and a mating pair of Pomerine Jaegers! In the afternoon, we headed back to Anchorage where we were hoping to fly out to St. Paul Island the following day.
Day 11: Unfortunately, today was a long travel day. We woke up hopeful we might be able to make it to St. Paul, however the outlook was not very good. The island had been plagued by fog all spring, which halted all flights. There hadn’t been flights for days and while we made the attempt, there wouldn’t be a flight today either. We made it as far as our refueling stop in Bethel, and then we turned right around to Anchorage. Other than the common city birds at the airport, it was a bit of a wash of a day. It’s become an unfortunate reality these days in attempting to get to St. Paul Island that it’s a bit of a crapshoot whether you make it or not. Today we just weren’t lucky. On the bright side at least, if we had somehow made it, we wouldn’t have gotten off the island for days and we would have all missed our flights home. We made a new plan to head down to Homer for some more coastal birding instead and another boat trip was planned for the coming days!
Day 12: We started the morning birding around Anchorage, starting at Westchester Lagoon hoping for some different shorebirds and better looks at Cackling Geese. While the shorebirds played hard to get, we really enjoyed getting looks at Cackling Geese and nesting Arctic Terns, Red-necked Grebes, and Trumpeter Swans still with some cygnets! On our way out of town, we made another failed attempt at Spruce Grouse at Kincaid Park, officially gaining nemesis status. Our final birding stop before making the long drive down to Homer was a quick jaunt down the Winner Creek trail where an American Goshawk nest had been found! It was incredible seeing the adult defend its nest and see the group of fluffy babies at the near eye level nest! A bit more satisfying than the flyby looks we had gotten earlier.
Day 13: Our first day in Homer started with a lovely boat ride around Kachemak Bay. While we didn’t see anything too different from our Seward boat trip, it was marvelous to spend some more time with Tufted and Horned Puffins, Common Murres, Pigeon Guillemots, Black Oystercatchers, and Semipalmated Plovers. It was a beautiful and sunny day out on the water which made the birding all the more enjoyable! That afternoon we visited a couple nature areas hoping for Spruce Grouse yet again. While the grouse continued to evade us, we did get some great views of Boreal Chickadees, Alder Flycatcher, Sooty Fox Sparrow, Townsend’s Warblers, Brown Creepers, Canada Jays, and Red-breasted Nuthatches. We heard Olive-sided Flycatcher and Lincoln’s Sparrows, but despite our best efforts they just wouldn’t play nice!
Day 14: Our final day in Homer, we started out right behind the hotel where we hoped for a Pacific Wren to charm us with its beautiful song, however the only new thing we got was a Downy Woodpecker, a nice bird for the area but still a little disappointing! As we headed out on our long drive for Anchorage, we made a quick stop at the Kasilof River Mouth, where we finally got some satisfying views of Lincoln’s Sparrows! We made another quick jaunt down the road to see our Northern Hawk Owl again for the folks that chose sleep over owling the last time we were in the area. It was still in largely the same area hunting from the treetops even midday! After lunch, we turned our sights again towards our nemesis: the Spruce Grouse. Finally, our story has a happy ending, as we had a family running down the road in front of us in Cooper Landing. We were able to get out and enjoy spectacular views of the female as well as her fluffy little babies which had barely fledged! All our trials and tribulations made this sighting all the more sweeter. To top it all off, we even had another look at Pine Grosbeak, catching everyone up with this stunning northern finch.
Day 15: Today was an extra day we originally had baked in as a cushion coming back from St. Paul. Since that was a no-go, we had a whole new day to play with! We decided to head up to Hatcher Pass for the slim chance of seeing White-tailed Ptarmigan, the final American Ptarmigan species. We had already gotten great views of Willow and Rock in Nome, so this was icing on the cake if we could make it happen. It was a steep hike along the roadside, but eventually we wound our way up to the top and within seconds of arriving we heard and then saw a White-tailed Ptarmigan! Getting the Triple Ptarmigan on a tour is pretty unheard of, and we were very lucky to have wonderful views of all of them! After lunch, we visited a nearby burn area where we hoped for Black-backed Woodpeckers. While we found some more American Three-toed Woodpeckers, the Black-backed wouldn’t show themselves! We ended the day with more Canada Jays, and Swainson’s Thrushes singing our farewells as we finished the tour strong!
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/425539
You can see my iNaturalist report of non-avian taxa at this link: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/field-guides-alaska-the-great-land-ii-2025
You can download a combined PDF of this page and the eBird report at this link: https://fieldguides.com/triplists/aka25bTRIPLIST.pdf
-- Chris and Alex