Deerfield Herons & Cormorant

Spent a few hours this morning with Valerie and Priscilla in the Hatfield, Deerfield area. In Hatfield, some of the fields are starting to get plowed under, but with everything so dry, it's going to take a little while before shorebirds start to find these fields appealing. There's also a little open water at the Bradstreet Marsh, thus a few Herons were visible. (List Below)

In Old Deerfield, at least one Imm. Black-crowned Night-Heron still continues to be seen where the road splits two ponds before heading out into the cornfields. Also present, Great Blue & Green Herons and a bunch of Wood Ducks. (List Below)

Black-crowned Night-Heron. (Imm)

Double-crested Cormorant (Imm) Also took down info on leg bands, hopefully we'll find out where this bird was banded. (9-23...this bird was banded near Kingston, Ontario during this past summer.)

Green Heron- Deerfield.

Location: Hatfield, Hampshire County, MA, US
Wood Duck 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Green Heron 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
American Crow 125
Eastern Bluebird 4
Northern Mockingbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Savannah Sparrow 4
Common Grackle 925

Location: Deerfield Meadows/Marsh
Wood Duck 22
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2

location: Sunderland

Wood Duck 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1

Belchertown- Yard

Solitary sandpiper-1
Co. Nighthawks -30

Kenai National Park/Seward, Alaska

Arctic Tern- One of thousands seen on this trip. This shot was along rte 1 at an area known as Potter's Marsh.

Mew Gull- This is one common bird in Alaska.

Baby Moose-seen right along Rte 1 on our way down to the town of Seward.

The view from the Chinnook Restaurant was simply spectacular!

We arrived in Seward late Saturday afternoon only to learn the none of the ships had left the harbor the last two days because of eighteen foot seas out in Resurrection Bay. Soooo, the forecast was getting better, but it was unclear that we would be able to get out on Sunday? As it turned out, the weather was with us on Sunday, and would continue that way throughout our tour of Alaska.

We went with the Kenai Fjords Tours, They offer different tours depending on the size of the group and what you'd like to see. The boat pictured above is the boat we used to explore the Islands of the Kenai National Park. This smaller boat was one of the more expensive ways to see the park and Glaciers, but it was worth every penny. (Well done James and Birdfinders)

Harlequin Ducks- Heading out of the Harbor.

Marbled Murrelet- Several close encounters coming out of the Harbor and more would be encountered later on near Aialik Glacier. One of the big target birds on this trip was the Kittlitz's Murrelet, which we came across several pairs near the Glacier.

Sea Otter- Fairly approachable in the Harbor.

Dall's Porpoise- 300 lbs of tough to photograph mammal!

Aialik Glacier- Awesome

This Glacier moves 8-10 feet a day.

Ancient Murrelets

Rhinoceros Auklet

A real crowd favorite - Tufted Puffin

Kenai National Park

Horned Puffin

Almost like glass....beats 18 foot seas!

Black-legged Kittiwakes- Thousands....

Pelagic Cormorants

Steller's Sea Lions

Probably my most sought after mammal on this trip...Killer Whale. We lucked out into a pod on our way into port.

Killer Whales-Orcas