Alaska, PART 2 (A & B)- Seward Harbor and Wildlife Cruise on Resurrection Bay
Continuing- PART 2A- Afternoon, Friday, August 30, 2024.- For me to have the opportunity to spend at least a few hours closely observing, studying and photographing these species of Pacific Alcids at the Alaska Sealife Center was one of the great moments in my professional avian artist career! Even though it was a limited time, I carry with me a lifetime of information that filled a serious void in my knowledge and understanding of these magnificent west coast seabirds! I have been a professional bird carver for fifty years and this learning experience has ignited my inspired creativity just as if I were starting all over again. Knowledge and inspiration is priceless!!
The Uber driver picked us up at the Center (which turned out to be the same driver that picked us up earlier). She was from Anchorage and ended up in Seward to pick up a passenger who ended up being a no-show! Jen had contacted Uber at the right time as she was actually turning around to head back to Anchorage when Jen made the request a few hours earlier. So lucky us, we were able to hire her, and she was great! She dropped us off at the Hotel 360, and before we decided on what to do for supper, Jen wandered into the gift shop that is adjacent to the lobby. While we were looking around for the usual souvenirs, Jen pointed over to the counter in the gift shop. On the wall there was an advertisement for Wildlife boat tours of Resurrection Bay and the Kenai Fjords. They had several trips listed for this time of year: 5 hour, 7 and 8 hour tours.
Jen and I were going on a 7-hour wildlife boat tour arranged through Viking Cruises scheduled for the morning of Sept. 02. However, tomorrow, Jen and I had the day open for sightseeing or whatever we wanted to do. On Sunday, Sept. 01, we had to check into the Orion at 11;00 am, we wouldn't have the time then. The Hotel tours had a 5-hour afternoon wildlife boat tour scheduled for tomorrow afternoon (August 31) and they had a handful of openings available. We signed up immediately for that! This trip would be a wonderful unplanned bonus!
After a nice relaxed supper in a nearby diner, Jen and I headed back to the room. We sat on the deck and watched the huge Cruise Ship disembark from the cruise ship pier. It had been there since we arrived in Seward. We were anxious to see the Viking Orion come into port which we assumed would be later during the night or early in the morning. All the time we were sitting on the deck we watched the constant Gull activity going in and out of the harbor. Our hotel was located right in the head of the harbor....and even here in this proximity, Kittiwakes were buzzing right by in front of us sometimes only a few yards away. Amazing!!
A little NOTE about the Gulls I photographed on this trip.........I photographed a lot of Gulls! I still haven't gone through all the images of them on my SD cards. Western Gulls are challenging, not only for the different species (from New England), but there are many cases of documented hybrids with names such as Seward Gull, Cook Inlet Gull (Glaucous-winged X Herring), and even the Herring Gulls here look slightly different to me. I saw and photographed many Short-billed Mew Gulls here and some resembled early cycle Ring-billed Gulls to me, which are rare in most of these areas. I saw and photographed many Thayer's Gulls here which are extremely rare in New England. Many of them closely resemble Herring Gulls, so identifying Gulls here to me is challenging! I will label Gulls in this blog as best I can, and I am sure I will have plenty that I have misidentified and mislabeled! I will leave all the Gull id's to the Gull experts.....and I am not one of them!!
Kittiwakes often found little pieces of fish (probably from the nearby processing plant and the numerous fish cleaning stations) and would drop in to inspect what was floating-
This Kittiwake flew under our deck and landed on the deck below us!.....something I never thought I would see a Kittiwake do!
The other Gull that was very common in the Harbor were the very large Glaucous-winged Gulls-
Even the Glaucous-winged Gulls enjoyed a fish dinner every now and then-
I am always looking out for waterfowl, and the only duck species I saw in the harbor were Gadwall-
Actually, this was our first full day in Alaska, and it was spectacular!! I was ready to turn in around midnight, just in time to see the Viking Orion pulling into the cruise ship dock. I woke Jen up and she was so excited (so was I)!!
The end to a perfect day!!
Saturday morning, August 31- Wildlife Boat Cruise, Resurrection Bay- We decided to go for a late breakfast and hang around a bit since the trip started at noon. We would be at the dock at 11:30 am which as it turned out was right out the back doors of the hotel. I was really anxious......I really wanted to see both species of Puffins in the wild. As always, Jen was amused by my excitement my being just a bit anxious to get out on the water!
The day was overcast and raining (lightly at first) with periods of heavier rain. Even though the advertisement banner at the Hotel highlighted Puffins, the Puffins are not the only focus of the trip. Actually, only the Puffins are actually a target species, other birds are not. That is up to you on your own while on the boat. The other targets are Whales of course along with Sea Otters and Glaciers! And actually, since just about everyone on the tour are really interested in Whales mostly, which is exciting in itself. I totally understand the mission of the Captains and the Boat Tour Company. There are other boat tours in Seward that travel to the Kenai Fjords with a mission of finding the Kittlitz and Marbled Murrelets, and the Parakeet, Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets; they know the exact locations to find these Fjord specialties! Maybe for me on Monday morning on the longer cruise to the Fjords! For today, I am just happy being on the boat and seeing anything I can!
The boat left the dock at noon and we headed out of the harbor and out of the mouth between the breakwaters. Just as we passed through the breakwaters, the water was spotted with swimming Kittiwake in all directions.
Looking back towards the breakwaters, they were literally covered with Kittiwake and a spattering of Glaucous-winged Gulls-
Even a pair of Great Blue Heron, roosting with the Gulls-
Bald Eagles were always present in the Harbor, usually perched on the channel markers-
The boat offered Jen and I to get a closer look at the Orion which was close by the cruise ship dock. It would be our home at sea for the next 11 days!-
As the boat left the harbor and into Resurrection Bay, we had plenty of closer views of those magnificent Glaciers!
Since Jen and I arrived in Seward, we would occasionally see pairs and small groups of Trumpeter Swans flying across the Bay flying west, a few times right over our heads at the Hotel. We had several small groups fly across the Bay heading west while on the boat-
The vessel headed towards the eastern side of the Bay. It wasn't long until the first sightings of Sea Otters came off the bow. They were in small groups and scattered across the bay. Beautiful animals, and so well adapted!
Along the eastern shoreline of the Bay, more Eagles roosting in the trees-
The destination at this point was the nesting bird cliffs along the southeast shoreline of Resurrection Bay. This is what I had been waiting for, and we were almost there. As always, I am watching the water looking for swimming seabirds, and I didn't have to wait long.........I started seeing Common Murres! Would the Puffins be next?
A few minutes later, we were here...... the seabird nesting cliffs! I can't even describe how much in awe Jen and I were! These massive cliff walls rising out of the ocean and going as high as you can imagine. It certainly required a moment or two to absorb this. The water was peppered with birds; Horned and Tufted Puffins, Common Murre, a few Pigeon Guillemots and of course, Black-legged Kittiwake. The cliffs were literally covered with roosting Kittiwake! Mixed in with the Kittiwake in these first cliffs were both Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants, a Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Common Murre here and there, and a few Pigeon Guillemots.
At the base of one of the Kittiwake cliffs was a well-known haul-out for Steller's Sea Lions....another magnificent mammal!!
Just yards away from the Kittiwake cliffs were the "Puffin Walls" (as I called it)....and, it was breathtaking!! Being afternoon the Puffins were returning from the open
sea in the Gulf of Alaska in large numbers. They were also accompanied by large
numbers of Common Murres. The cliffs had a good population of both Tufted and
Horned Puffins standing in the cracks on the wall, as well as covering the
water with swimming birds and an endless procession of flying birds coming back
to the walls!! Just amazing! The boat was within 25 feet of the Puffin walls......so many photo ops!!
With SO MANY Puffins and Murres swimming, flying by, over my head, close, far, and in the cracks and crevices in the walls......I felt just like a bobble-head toy standing on the bow of the vessel. My head was going in all directions left and right, up and down, back and forth, and combinations of all three! I honestly didn't know what to photograph...it all happened so fast! I had just purchased a new camera and lens (Canon EOS R7 camera and a Canon RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.5 L IS USM Telephoto lens) and I was still getting use to it and learning it. Several times I had the wrong setting and unfortunately blew many shots......but eventually I figured it out and my images improved!! And the rain often began to pour, so even though I was under cover (a little bit) I had to step back into the inside cabin every now and then. But I still managed to fill my SD cards with images.
Interesting fact- Before Jen and I even got to Alaska I researched all about the birds in this area. Several of the books stated that the Horned Puffin would be uncommon here this time of year and the Tufted Puffin would be numerous. As it turned out, Horned Puffins were very numerous well out-numbering the Tufted Puffins. I also learned one thing....... the commercial media promotion of Puffins had really made its mark. Everyone on board got really excited when Puffins were being observed. They were welcomed with as much energy and excitement as Whales and Glaciers. All the other species of birds; not so much! It was disappointing that no one was interested in Murrelets, Auklets, Murres, Guillemots and Cormorants. That's OK though, more for me to enjoy!!
Common Murre (top left) and a Horned Puffin (peeking out from a crevice, center)-
PART 2B continues........................
To Continue....click on "OLDER POSTS" below right
