Alaska – Kenia Peninsula
June 17-23, 1994
Tom Pavlik
Cheryl Pavlik
We landed in Anchorage around 11:00pm on June 16th. It was still fairly light out. We found our hotel and slept for a couple of hours. We were up by 6:00am ready to hit the wilderness.
June 17 – We headed south out of Anchorage on Highway 1. The landscape quickly became what we imagined it would – beautiful wilderness with snow capped mountains, some tundra and water. Our first stop was at Potter Marsh. We actually drove by it then realized it would be a good place to stop so we turned around and found the parking lot. There was a boardwalk where we could explore the area. There were several ducks as well as Red-necked Grebe and Common Loon. We also saw out first Moose.
We continued on our way to the town of Kenia where we stayed our first night at a B&B. We stopped along the way as places looked appropriate. We arrived at Daniels Lake Lodge early evening and spent the rest of the day watching out on the lake at Bald eagles and a family of Red-breasted Mergansers.
June 18th – We had quite a drive ahead of us and there never seemed to be enough time to get out and explore. However we did stop at the Kenia National Wildlife Refuge headquarters. We walked and drove around this area seeing many of the same birds as the day before. However we did add Barrow’s Goldeneye and Willow Ptarmigan. We arrived in Homer at our next B&B where we would spend two nights.
June 19th – We got down to some serious birding. We stopped in at the Wildlife Headquarters in Homer and they told us of a spot to find Three-toed Woodpeckers. It was about a 10 mile drive. Sure enough there was a dead tree where a male Three-toed Woodpecker was. We headed back to the "spit" in Homer where we could get shorebirds, gulls, terns and waterfowl. As we hoped there were Black-legged Kittiwake’s, Glaucous-winged Gull and Ring-billed Gulls around the marinas. Along the less populated shoreline we saw a pair of Common Eiders, Whimbrel and a flock Surfbirds.
June 20th – We went Halibut fishing. I thought this would be a great way to combine two of my favorite hobbys. Besides catching several halibut throughout the day I could do a modified Pelgaic Trip as well. As it turns out I added a few birds but without trying to attract the birds through ‘chumming’ and not being able to stop as birds flew near the birding was difficult. I managed to add Sooty Shearwater, Pelagic Cormorant and White-winged Scotor. After getting off the boat we had to drive back to Kenia and didn’t get to our B&B until late.
June 21st – We chartered a boat to do some Salmon fishing in the Kenia River. I was hoping to land one of the 70 pound Kings. As luck would have it the weather had been warm and the run-off from the mountains made for poor fishing because it clouded the water. We didn’t catch a single fish but did enjoy the wildlife. Coming out of the channel at the beginning of the trip we had a beautiful Arctic Loon in breeding plumage about 30 feet from the boat. That was the highlight of the day though we added a few more to our trip list. After fishing we made over to Seward on the east side of the peninsula. We checked into Creekside Cabins late that evening.
June 22nd – It was getting light by 4:00am. I remembered it was offically summer and the longest daylight of the year. I was up by 5:00am and a few birds were around the grounds like Townsend’s Warbler, Chestnut-backed Chickadee and Hermit Thrushes. We had scheduled a couple hour boat trip to the surrounding area. We saw a few whales, and sea lions but also got to see some new birds including several Horned and Tufted Puffins. We also added Common Murre, and Marbled and Kittlitz’s Murrelets. We were off the boat by noon and the weather was getting a little misty. We drove around the small down and discovered a dirt roading heading south of town. We followed it past some nice waterfalls and came upon a bay that had parking near it. We saw a nice flock of Harlequin Ducks, a pair of Surf Scotors and a Black Oystercatcher.
June 23rd – We had to head back to Anchorage. This would be our last full day. We pulled off along the road here and there as places looked good. There was a beautiful lake near Moose Pass that we stopped at. In this area we added Golden Eagle, Varied Thrush and our first Yellow Warbler.
The List: 84 species| Common Loon | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Arctic (Pacific) Loon | 6/21/1994 | Kenia |
| Red-Necked Grebe | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Sooty Shearwater | 6/20/1994 | Homer |
| Double-Crested Cormorant | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Pelagic Cormorant | 6/20/1994 | Homer |
| Canada Goose | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Mallard | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| American Black Duck | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Gadwall | 6/23/1994 | Moose Pass |
| American Widgeon | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Green-Winged Teal | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Canvasback | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Greater Scaup | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Barrow's Goldeneye | 6/18/1994 | Kenia National Wildlife Refuge |
| Harlequin Duck | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Common Eider | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| White-Winged Scoter | 6/20/1994 | Homer |
| Surf Scotor | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Red-Breasted Merganser | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Red-Tailed Hawk | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Golden Eagle | 6/23/1994 | Moose Pass |
| Bald Eagle | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Willow Ptarmigan | 6/18/1994 | Kenia National Wildlife Refuge |
| Sandhill Crane | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Am. Black Oystercatcher | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Semipalmated Plover | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Bar-Tailed Godwit | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Whimbrel | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Greater Yellowlegs | 6/23/1994 | Moose Pass |
| Spotted Sandpiper | 6/21/1994 | Kenia |
| Short-Billed Dowitcher | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Red-Necked Phalarope | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Common Snipe | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Surfbird | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Least Sandpiper | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Glaucous-Winged Gull | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Herring Gull | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Ring-Billed Gull | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Mew Gull | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Black-Legged Kittiwake | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Bonapart's Gull | 6/21/1994 | Kenia |
| Arctic Tern | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Aleutian Tern | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Common Murre | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Pigeon Gullemot | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Horned Puffin | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Tufted Puffin | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Marbled Murrelet | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Kittlitz's Murrelet | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Ancient Murrelet | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Belted Kingfisher | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Three-Toed Woodpecker | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Alder Flycatcher | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Western Wood-Pewee | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Bank Swallow | 6/21/1994 | Kenia |
| Violet-Green Swallow | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Tree Swallow | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Steller's Jay | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Black-Billed Magpie | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Common Raven | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Northwestern Crow | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Black-Capped Chickadee | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Chestnut-Backed Chickadee | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| American Dipper | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Red-Breasted Nuthatch | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| American Robin | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Varied Thrush | 6/23/1994 | Moose Pass |
| Hermit Thrush | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Golden-Crowned Kinglet | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Orange-Crowned Warbler | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Yellow Warbler | 6/23/1994 | Moose Pass |
| Yellow-Rumped Warbler | 6/21/1994 | Kenia |
| Townsend's Warbler | 6/22/1994 | Seward |
| Wilson's Warbler | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Rusty Blackbird | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Pine Grosebeak | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Common Redpoll | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Savannah Sparrow | 6/17/1994 | Potter Marsh |
| Dark-Eyed Junco | 6/18/1994 | Kenia National Wildlife Refuge |
| White-Crowned Sparrow | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Golden-Crowned Sparrow | 6/17/1994 | Chugach State Park |
| Fox Sparrow | 6/19/1994 | Homer |
| Song Sparrow | 6/18/1994 | Kenia National Wildlife Refuge |