PART 2B- Resurrection Bay continues..............

    At one point, the Captain "nosed" the bow of the boat right up to the walls so close you could just about reach out and touch them! She wanted everyone to get a real close look at the texture and configurations of the rock face and to see just where these birds live up close. That was a wonderful treat that I am sure everyone did not expect. The sea was just about calm today otherwise I am sure she would never had done this..... but I really appreciated it! Looking up, way above our heads, you could see Puffins and Murres landing on the wall as they were coming back from their day on the sea. Many of them had bills full of fish. Since the young had already fledged, I guess their daily routines from a month earlier are hard to change. The Captain slowly backed out from the walls and the steady flow of Puffins and Murres continued.

       Puffins were flying back to the walls from all directions, it was really difficult trying to keep the camera pointed at a single target. Many times the Horned Puffins flew in and over your head ony yards above- 

   Because of the dark overcast and the steady rain, it was often difficult picking out the Puffins standing in the cracks, ledges and crevices of he walls. This is especially true with the Tufted Puffins, their dark sooty brown plumage hid them well.

   Because of their white breasts and white cheeks, Horned Puffins were easier to spot, but not when they ducked into a crevice-  

    What I found interesting was the relationship with the people on the boat with Puffins. I was thrilled to see so many non-birdwatchers take such an excited interest in these magnificent birds, just as much as they would with any Whale sightings. The most interesting part to me was, everyone on the boat was so excited to see the Puffins standing on the cliff walls, but the birds flying or swimming generated absolutely no interest at all!! That really surprised me since their were Puffins swimming all around the boat, and often literally within 10 yards from the railings. 

    A very unexpected find for me were two fledgling juvenile Tufted Puffins hanging around the Puffin Walls. I would have expected them to be out in the Gulf of Alaska. Very happy they hung around!

     15 minutes later the Captain slowly moved away from the Puffin walls and slowly moved down the southeast shoreline. That experience (although short) at the Seabird cliffs was astonishing! We had only gone about 100 yards and a small flock of Black Oystercatchers was hanging out with a small flock of Harlequin Ducks in the boulders and ledges along the waterline.  

   

      The boat slowly moved down along the shoreline. Even though we had moved away from the Puffin Walls, the movement of flying Puffins and Murres still continued. To be expected in all of these Wildlife Cruises are the "touristy" points of interest! The boat went up into this large cove and it was announced to make sure you have your cameras ready!! I was expecting maybe more birds, or a seal haul-out area, or whales? We ended up going to a small area that I have named "Selfie Falls"! There is a large overhang of the cliffs that the boat can slip under (at lower tides). The water runoff coming down the sides of the cliff face and forms small "waterfalls" which are nothing more than spread-out trickles of water. Everyone can come up to the bow to stand under the "waterfall" and take their selfies! And that is exactly what everyone on the boat did....for 10 minutes!! I was standing along the port side by the cabin under the overhang and I was jammed against it, I couldn't move! It seemed like all 100 passengers stormed the bow to get these rare photos! While this rare encounter was happening, I tried to look for birds out the port side, but all I saw were hats, hoods, hair and iPhones!! Even the pouring rain couldn't discourage the rare selfies!! I slowly turned around which I found difficult since I was pressed against the wall and looked through the cabin window where Jen was sitting in the nice dry and warm cabin.....she was just shacking her head, she was the smart one!! Its a whole new world! 

   We left the area finally and moved back out into Resurrection Bay north of Fox Island. Immediately, I felt like I was home......Puffins and Murres were everywhere! Its good to be back home!!

   Just as we were leaving the area by Fox Island, an announcement over the p a system said that we would be heading over to the other side of the bay to check out this exciting Glacier. That sounded good to me! Covering more water area is always good, you never know what you will find. I was also excited with the prospect of maybe seeing the bird I wanted to see the most: the Marbled Murrelet. 

   The best part for me was when the mate and Captain noticed that I was the only birder on the boat (most were looking for whales). The mate come up to me on the bow which had finally emptied and said the the Captain wanted to know if there were any birds that I was interested in seeing. I told the mate the species I really wanted to see was the Marbled Murrelet. Since the mate and the Captain were knowledgeable with birds they said they would try and find one. Right after that, the Captain came down to meet me and explained that it was getting late for Marbled Murrelets, but she had seen a few lately so she might be able to find one for me! That was incredible, and I really appreciated that!! 

   We traveled across the bay to the western side and you could see Bear Glacier in the distance. Its amazing blue color really stood out against the dark background and dark overcast skies. Along the way, only a few Puffins, Murres, Cormorants, Kittiwake and Glaucous-winged Gulls flew by.

 

    Bear Glacier is a landlocked Glacier within a large lagoon/lake. The giant chunks of ice that break off from the Glacier "calving" end up in this lake/lagoon and are quite visible from the bay- 

   While we were admiring the Glacier........Horned Puffins and Pelagic Cormorants were buzzing back and forth- 

   It was getting close to the end of the time we had, and the Captain announced that another boat was seeing a Humpback Whale on the other side of the Bay. She said we had little time left and we would only have a few minutes there, but she would give it a try. We arrived in a few minutes across the bay, and then the announcement came.....a Whale just spouted off the bow in the distance. Again, the cabin emptied of people hoping to get a look at this whale about a half mile out. 

   Remember "Selfie Falls" that I wrote about above? Just as the deck filled to the point of being a Sardine can packed with people hoping to see this very distant Humpback, the Captain announced on the p a system "Keith, a Marbled Murrelet is flying by the bow"!! 

   Of course with all the stampeding people overwhelming the bow, I never heard her announcement and never even saw the water!! I only found out because Jen wrote the words "Marbled Murrelet" on a piece of paper and held it up to the cabin window!! Damn, I missed it!! Actually, Jen writing me the note and pushing it against the inside of the window was really funny.... I had a good laugh over that!! I knew I would probably have the opportunity to see one....we still had a long trip to go with many locations to look for them!

When we got back to the dock in the harbor and as we were disembarking the boat, I thanked the mate and the Captain, I really appreciated what they tried to do for me!  

A prefect afternoon and a fantastic birding trip!!

Bird List for today.........

Glaucous-winged Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Seward Gull, Great Blue Heron, Black-billed Magpie, Crow, Raven, Bald Eagle, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Tufted Puffin, Horned Puffin, Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Gadwall, Trumpeter Swan, Harlequin Duck, Black Oystercatcher, (missed) Marbled Murrelet.  Other Wildlife- Humpback Whale, Sea Otter, Steller's Sea Lion. 

Tomorrow we will be checking into the Orion.

PART 3 Continues...........On board the Viking Orion!