Two teams started Friday at 5:00pm in Girdwood where it was spitting light snow.  The birding was tough and slow—even the regular Girdwood birds, such as the Chestnut-backed Chickadee, were absent or extremely difficult.  The teams’ efforts continued after dark with no success at owling.

Another team took the opposite approach and started in Anchorage on Friday evening to moderate success.  They hit the road before 6:00 am on Saturday and headed to Girdwood in near blizzard conditions, and again, birding was brutal.

Saturday in Anchorage was also merciless, and the results showed it very clearly.  Last year, two teams tied with 37 species found.  This year, the winning team of Thede Tobish, Nils Warnock, and W. Keys found only 31.  All credit was given to Thede and Nils when Keys said, “They found everything.  All I did was hand them scones and try to keep the car out of 20-car pile-ups.”

At the final Tally, it was revealed that 9 species were seen that were NOT seen last year:  Canada Goose, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser,  Eurasian Collared Dove, Northern Hawk Owl, Short-eared Owl, Sharp-shinned hawk, Northern Shrike, and Hoary Redpoll.

In addition, FIFTEEN species were seen last year and were not seen this year:  Green-winged Teal, Willow Ptarmigan, Herring Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull,  Boreal Owl,  3-Toed Woodpecker,  Merlin, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Chipping Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Purple Finch,  Cassins’ Finch, White-winged Crossbill, and Pine Siskin.  

Ten species were seen by only one team, and possibly the two best finds of the day were found by the team which logged the lowest total number of species.  Daria and Arlene spotted both the Eurasian Collared Dove and a WOLVERINE near Potter Marsh!  Whoa!

Once again, the ruling principle of the day was, “You have to be in the right place at the right time.”  This was drilled in by The Finely Feathered Fairbankians.  Their team and the winning team were together on the Point Woronzof Road looking successfully at the Northern Hawk Owl and looking expectantly for the reported Short-eared Owl.  The cars were side-by-side and the winning team headed down the road at the exact moment that the Fairbanksians spotted the Short-eared flying down the runway a short distance away.  Later in the day, The Fairbanksians said, “It was totally great that we were both right there when the Short-eared flew right by us.”  And the Winning Team replied, “Huh?  What do you mean?”

Holy Moly! What a Big Day!

The tallies were remarkably similar, and here are the results: The $37.00 prize for 37 species is a tie between Kenna Sue, Karen, Lynn, & Louann and the Thede/Nils/Keys/Rick team. They each will take home $4.62 which comes out to a whopping $.23 per hour (based on the hours the Ladies’ Team put in.

Trapper Dan came in with ONE LESS! species at 36.

Aaron and Enric followed with 34.

Keith and Tyler came in with 26 species.

Overall, 43 species were seen.

25 Species were seen by every team.

4 species were seen by only one team: The Ladies team had a Saw-whet Owl and Thede/Nils/Keys/Rick found Merlin, Glaucous-winged Gull, and Golden-crowned Sparrow.

Six species were only seen by two teams: Barrow’s Goldeneye, Willow Ptarmigan, 3-toed Woodpecker, Gray Jay, Brown Creeper, and the Chipping Sparrow.

It was a brutal day. Kenna Sue says she quit at 11:59. I wimped out, called it quits at 11:50, and headed home. Owling did not work out for me. Shortly after 8:00, I drove 35 miles to my personal hotspot of the Eklutna Lake Road. I drove 10 miles up and 10 miles back stopping every quarter mile to listen and sometimes play calls. After 18 miles and only 2 miles up from the start of the road, I heard ONE Boreal Owl.

Getting back to town at 11:00, I figured I might as well head up to Potter Valley Road and the back side of the marsh and got Zippo.

In contrast, Kenna Sue reports that they started at 4:30 and the first bird was a Saw-Whet Owl on Lynn’s porch! Some guys have all the luck.

Aaron ran into everyone else during the day. Our team saw everyone except Keith and Tyler. I’ll send some photos Rick took during the day including the group shot when everyone except Keith and Tyler were at the Finch Spot.

My personal highlight of the day took place on Government Hill. Thede and Rick had real stuff to do and had left the chase to Nils and Myself, and we couldn’t find a Starling to save our lives. We ran into Aaron and Enric, and Enric said “There’s nothing here but that tree full of a boatload of Starlings.”

Nils and I nodded and shrugged in agreement while secretly saying, “Yippee!! Whoopee!! We just got another species and they have no idea that we’re so lame we didn’t even see a tree with over 100 Starlings that’s only 50 feet away!!”

Thanks to all for a fabulous day!