Posts Near Anchorage Map Timeline

Over the last several weeks the algae bloom has ranged from significant covering the surface of the lake in many places to today seeing patches of the bloom here and there on the surface. It can also be observed below the surface near the shoreline.

October flew by leaving us with a couple of light snowfalls. November came around with something slightly more impressive, but it wasn't the same. Mid December decided to make up for all of the snowfalls that we missed all at once, it seems like.

I was watching a flock of redpolls at my feeder when I noticed one unusual member with a huge white body. See photo.

Bohemian waxwings are a wintertime fixture in Anchorage, darting in large flocks from one berry-filled tree to another.

Bird call on a November night in Anchorage. Maybe a great horned owl?

Costco customers in Anchorage have recently started sharing online reports of ravens stealing groceries from their carts and the back of their pickup trucks, and biologists say the behavior could spread around town quickly.

"While teleworking, I looked out the window to see a red breast light in a tree in the front yard in Anchorage, Alaska in January. It was an American robin."

Between the Seward Highway and Hillside neighborhoods, a pair of swans are raising five just-hatched cygnets. This is the first pair of swans to nest at Potter Marsh in the memory of Anchorage Coastal Refuge managers and local birders.

Non-native chukar, used to train bird hunting dogs, spotted in Anchorage.

Unusual winter sighting of a northern shrike (Lanius borealis) could become more common as temperatures rise.

Robins are migratory birds, but may stay in one place if the temperature is warm and/or there is food available.

Mergansers (Mergus merganser) are not common visitors to Cheney Lake, but a flock of about a dozen showed up in early November.

Steller's jay has one tick on each foot. The ticks may be a species that is commonly found on birds or a species that was picked up from a mammal as the bird was scavenging.

It’s the first reported sighting of the falcated duck on mainland Alaska, Fish and Game says.

I rarely see trumpeter swans on the lake, and I don't ever remember seeing them so early.

Spring has come about a month early. Is the mating season for our state bird, the Willow Ptarmigan, early as well?

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) are usually a common visitor to my bird feeder, however this is the first time one has been spotted at the feeder during the 2018-2019 winter.

A flock of European Starlings sighted at a mid-town Anchorage building.

Unidentified Jay sighted in southcentral Alaska, early December.

I've only heard this animal in the spring/summer.

Nearly all emperors winter in the Aleutian Islands, on the western and south side of the Alaska Peninsula, and on Kodiak Island. However, sightings have occurred as far south as California and even Hawaii.

Location:  Two locations in the same Hillside neighborhood:  1st Location:  Metz Court, 2nd Location:  Park Hills Drive – Anchorage,

Never seen anything like that in before.

Earlier and more abundant then normal.

Early spring and early waterfowl

A mysterious condition continues to inflict some Alaska birds

Murres have had a tough year due likely to the Blob effect of warm water and (potentially) displacement of food resources. Many murres have been reported that are sick or starving.