16 July 2009 First full day in Alaska

My first full day in Alaska! Staying up late to work on journal entries helped me to acclimate to the four hour time difference between Maryland and Alaska. I decided to do some morning birding around my hotel while I waited for my noon departure to St. Paul Island.My hotel sat near Lake Hood which purports to be the busiest seaplane base in the world. It's not hard to believe as I watched these small floatplanes come and go all morning. Apparently many of these planes are transporting sport fishermen to remote locations for the salmon fishing which is kicking into high gear right now.

I took a short video clip of one of these planes as it took off from Lake Hood

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I added a few birds to my list for the trip, including a couple of "red-necks". These were the Red-necked Grebe a diving bird that is fairly common on open waters in Alaska, appearing rarely in winter on the east coast during "invasion years", when northern conditions are particularly difficult. I also found a couple of Red-necked Phalaropes, a shorebird that actually swims along the edge of the shore in tight little circles, snapping up the tiny invertebrates that make up much of its diet. This distinctive behavior makes it easy to identify a phalarope even from some distance. Phalaropes also have the interesting behavior of a role reversal compared to most birds, when it comes to raising their young. The male does the majority of incubation of the eggs and the rearing of offspring. In fact, after laying her eggs, the female often does not return to the nest at all. In fact, in keeping with this nesting behavior, the female phalarope is much more brightly colored than the male, who maintains a drabber plumage that lends itself to better camouflage at the nest.All of this is merely a warm up for the exciting birds that I'll be seeing on St. Paul in the coming days and weeks. Please stay tuned!Species seen today around Anchorage: Red-necked Grebe, Pacific Loon, Barrow's Goldeneye, Greater Scaup, Mallard, Green-wing Teal, Spotted Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalaropes, Violet-green Swallow, Rock Pigeon, Common Raven, Black-billed Magpie, American Robin, White-crowned Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Pine Siskin, House Finch.