Reporting from Alaska: Majesty of the North and Barrow Extension
The 2025 Alaska Majesty Tour commenced in Nome, where we enjoyed great views of a suite of fantastic birds such as Gyrfalcon, Willow Ptarmigan, Bristle-thighed Curlew, Aleutian Tern, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eastern Yellow Wagtail and the dazzling Bluethroat (still in its active song flight courtship stage). A large storm in the Bering had washed a lot of seaweed up on the shoreline and as it began to dry out the area was full of insects. Feeding on the bounty were truly impressive numbers of Red Phalarope and Sabine’s Gulls, as well as a nice suite of shorebirds including both Turnstones, Surfbird, Sanderling and Dunlin, all in their breeding finery.
We then moved inland, traveling through the amazingly scenic Alaska range and the Denali region. Here we found a Northern Hawk Owl hunting in an open spruce bog, a young Boreal Owl in a nest box and lots of very vocal Arctic Warblers along the scenic Denali Highway.
Around Anchorage we found a nesting pair of American Three-toed Woopeckers, a tame Spruce Grouse feeding up in the trees, nesting Pacific Loons and Arctic Terns and some very approachable Blackpoll Warblers.
Our final area for the main tour was Seward, where we found the beautiful Resurrection Bay under full sun this year, with flying Humpback Whales, some close Orca, and an amazing 10 species of alcids including more than two dozen Kittlitz’s Murrelets. The adjacent forests have a strong Pacific Northwest feel to them, and we enjoyed multiple views of singing Townsend’s Warblers, Brown Creepers, Rufous Hummingbirds and handsome Chestnut-backed Chickadees this year.
The variety and abundance of birdlife, interesting plants (like this Western Columbine) and wildlands that we see on this tour is staggering, and contribute to one of the best birding tours available in the United States.
Our post tour extension to Barrow was superlative, and timed well as we witnessed the beginning of the (late) breakup of Sea Ice. Eiders were a bit thin on the ground, perhaps due to the lack of open ocean but we eventually tracked down excellent views of King and Spectacled Eiders, and good scope views of Steller’s out on the tundra. A beautiful starch-white Snowy Owl was hanging around town, and all three jaegers (here a lovely dark morph adult Parasitic) were hunting along the road edges.
We especially enjoyed the amazing array of waders in their breeding habitats including the always popular Pectoral, displaying Baird’s, and even a few surprises like Common Snipe and Ruff. Likely the rarest bird was a very out-of-range Killdeer, an odd sight standing next to Snow Buntings! With the arrival of open water we were happy to spot a couple of Yellow-billed Loons, and this striking Black Guillemot, a perfect way to spend the summer solstice.
