A Celebration of Sea Birds

The Alaska Sea Life Center takes in injured birds and sea mammals and releases them when they have recovered. Last Winter they took in hundreds of Common Murres that were starving in the big die-off. These die-offs are cyclical but last Winter's die-off was the worst in memory.

This is a photo that Bart shot of a recovered murre.

The Sea Life Center is a great place to photograph sea birds in a naturalistic setting, like this Pigeon Guillimot.

Another Bart photo of a murre and a moultling guillimot.

Bart got this great shot of a Tufted Puffin.

I had to be quick to get this photo of a Rhinoceros Auklet.

This female Harlequin Duck was a lot more cooperative.

Bart got this fine shot of a Horned Puffin.

A pair of Long-tailed Ducks.

The male Long-tailed Duck.

A small group of murres.

This male King Eider is just starting its annual moult.

A resting female King Eider.

I could not ignore the spectacular scenery of Resurrection Bay.

This is the scene just off shore from the Sea Life Center. More to come from Seward.

Checking Out Seward

Although I have been to Seward many times, most of my visits have been during the Winter. Things are a little different during the Summer. There is a lot more people and less ice.

First we headed to the harbor where we had lunch at a dockside restaurant.

In the photo above we saw a distant Sea Otter. Can you see it? More on that later.

First Bart had to check out a friend's boat. Bart has a 25ft sailboat, but his friend Greg has a 71ft boat and plans to live on it with his family. I wonder what his wife thinks of the idea?

Then we went after the Sea Otter while the women went shopping. 

It obviously was used to boats and people since it paid no attention to either.

I could not let the opportunity to photograph it pass.

Bart took some of these photos but I do not remember which were his photos and which were mine.

Anyway the otter was playing, Peek-A -Boo.

I see you.

It was a fun subject to photograph.

One parting shot.

From there we continued being tourists and checked out the Sea Life Center.

Kids especially enjoy seeing and interacting with the sea creatures. These last two photos are Bart's photos.

I took the opportunity to get photos of the local fish.

I could not get sharp images in the low indoor light.

Tropical fish tend to be more colorful than cold water fish.

This fish at least had colorful fins.

 There is more to come from Seward.

People Get Ready

"People Get Ready, the train is comin."

Join me on this lovely train ride and adventure that the Quimbies and I took last Wednesday. We left Anchorage very early in the morning.

Bart took this photo of Potter Marsh just south of Anchorage. There was a 70% chance of rain predicted but we escaped Anchorage before the rain started.

Bart and I were accompaned by Bart's wife Sandy and her friend Jean. (Bart photo)

The train first headed south along the dramatic coastline of Turnagain Arm.

For about the first 50 miles the tracks follow alongside the Seward Highway.

The remnants of an avalanche. The railroad uses a Howitzer in the winter to knock down snow build up in order to protect the highway and railroad tracks.

The tracks run close to several glaciers.

Although  it is hard to see in the mist, this is Trail Glacier.

At several points the train stops to drop off, or pick up passengers. These people had hiked to Spencer Glacier and were plagued by hordes of mosquitos.

Eventually we reached Seward where Bart photographed these fishermen.

In the Summer months much of the shore in Seward is lined with motorhomes. Bart shot this photo of me scanning for seabirds. The piles of stones are fire pits.

The only gulls I saw were, Glaucous-winged gulls. There were many.

Northwestern Crows were loitering all over town.

A Double-crested Cormorant with a Bald Eagle in the background.

This last photo of a Sea Otter is just a taste of the great photos we got. You will have to wait until the next post to see some of the wildlife we got to see in and around Seward.

Salmon in the Marsh etc.

The photo above shows salmon fingerlings and their shadows in the sand at the outflow of 

Potter's Marsh. There were many hundres of them a week ago when I visited the marsh.

A pan sized fish. I'm not sure whether it's a  trout, Dolly Varden, (trout relative) or a small salmon. Fishing is prohibited at this wildlife refuge.

These larger fish in murky water are Humpback Salmon. There were many of them in the main channels in the marsh.

They were the most abundant species present. The ratios of salmon species vary throughout the season.

The big boys in the marsh are King, (Chinook) Salmon.

They are silver in color when they first enter fresh water from the ocean. As the days pass, they turn more red in coloration.

The big males can be truly massive. We did not see any really big kings while we were there.

This Muskrat did not demonstrate any concern about the salmon. The salmon paid it no attention.

I'll throw in a few dowitcher photos to this post.

They will all be gone south far too soon.