Rod's Birding: An Alaskan Cruise a board the Star Princess (part 2)

It was Saturday July 15^th and the day we were to board our cruise ship, the Star Princess and after a brief walk around the harbour, taking some photos whilst there were few people around, we dragged our luggage to the bus station for our scheduled trip back to Vancouver. The bus was a scheduled service but most of the passengers were going on one of two cruises. We arrived at the ferry terminal and after boarding the ferry I went onto the deck and saw three Pelagic Cormorants and an adult Bald Eagle being harassed by a Glaucous-winged Gull. I saw two Pigeon Guillemots just after leaving but then spent most of the rest of the crossing queuing for breakfast after which I saw just a single Guillemot.

As we were leaving the ferry terminal there were twenty-eight Great Blue Herons resting at the edge of the sea and just afterwards there were five Scaup on the water. I hadn’t see anything else of note as we arrived at the cruise ship terminal and we were soon on our way to registration, which went smoothly after a short que. With just US immigration and customs to negotiate we were optimistic we would soon be aboard but when we entered the immigration area there were hundreds of people just sat on chairs. We were then told that the US systems were down. After a three hour wait we eventually went through and boarded the ship.

The ship departed Vancouver at 17:30 and hour later than expected and we were at last on our way to Alaska. It was bright and sunny as we made our way out but bird wise I was only seeing some of the birds seen as we walked around Stanley Park two days ago.

After the bags had been unpacked we made our way to the Capri restaurant for our evening meal and shortly afterwards we called it a day.

Double-crested Cormorant

Stanley Park from the ship

The Lion Bridge

Vancouver Skyline from the ship

I was up early on Sunday July 16^th, before it was light but there appeared to be very little on the sea and so I went and got a tea for Sandra and myself. A further check on the sea producing nothing and it wasn’t until I went to refresh Sandra’s tea that I saw several dolphins following the ship to the starboard. I returned to the room and went to the promenade deck with my bins and scope but found that it was closed for cleaning. I scanned through the windows but the dolphins had disappeared but I later found out that they were Pacific White-sided Dolphins.

I returned to the room and set the scope up on our balcony and began scanning from the port side of the ship. It wasn’t long before I began finding auks but their distance from the ship and the still dim light made it difficult to identify them. As the light began to improve I could identify some and after seventy-five minutes had identified ten Guillemots, fifty-two Marbled Auklets, 107 Rhinoceros Auklets and a single Horned Puffin. I had also seen two Surf Scoter, a White-winged Scoter, three immature Bald Eagles, an Arctic Skua, five Ring-billed Gulls, an American Herring Gull and a Glaucous-winged Gull. I had seen three Dall’s Porpoise and my first ever whale, a Humpbacked. I picked up the Humpback Whale on seeing its spout, which I then saw several times and then saw it breach on two occasions.

After going to a presentation on the aquatic wildlife of Alaska we returned to have a word with the naturalist on board, who was in the process of telling other guests that there was a whale showing quite close to the ship. Sandra and I went outside and I saw it almost immediately as it broke the surface of the water. I thought the dorsal looked far too large for a Humpback and was excited that it might well be a Killer Whale. As I scanned other observers were having sighting and I eventually saw it again and was certain that it was a Killer Whale and it also became clear that there were several and not just one.

It had been a good first day on the ship, having a good range of sea birds, one of which, the Horned Puffin, was a lifer and also seeing my first ever whales.

At sea

On Monday July 17^th, we were approaching Ketchikan during the early hours and I saw ten Surf Scoter, fourteen Bald Eagles, eighty-six Bonaparte’s Gulls, forty Mew Gulls, a Marbled Murrelet and ten Northwestern Crows.

After breakfast, we disembarked the ship and went on a short coach journey to an Alaskan Rainforest Sanctuary for a walk through the temperate rain forest. We were allocated a guide and then took a leisurely stroll through part of the forest. Bird wise it was very disappointing as we only saw a single American Robin whilst in the forest, although it did pick up a little when we reached an open area and a stream. As we approached the area there were Bald Eagles calling and saw at least thirty-nine. There were also three Spotted Sandpipers, three Belted Kingfishers and two Barn Swallows around the stream area. A Raven flew over and I was surprised to see a Collared Dove.

Immature Bald Eagle

Adult Bald Eagle

Adult and three immature Bald Eagles

Adult Bald Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfishers

Black-tailed Deer

Carving a totem pole

Totem Poles

Creek Street

Cruise ship off Ketchikan

Cruise ships at Ketchikan

Ketchikan

Dolly's House on Creek Street

Star Princess at Ketchikan

We left Ketchikan just after lunch and headed off to Juneau, which was our next destination. I was on the balcony for a while after leaving and a Humpbacked Whale provided some nice views of the port side of the ship and a saw the fluke of another a little later but others on the starboard side eluded me. During the initial watch, I saw ten Surf Scoter, eight Bald Eagle, fifty Bonaparte’s Gulls, forty-seven Mew Gulls, two Northwestern Crows and four Starlings.

Humpbacked Whale

Ketchikan

Sea plane

At around 18:00 I went to the bow of the boat where there was quite a crowd looking for whales and we weren’t disappointed with seven Humpbacked Whales and four Orca. There were also four Dall’s Porpoise and two Pacific White-sided Dolphins. Bird wise I saw a single Bald Eagle, circa fifty Kittiwakes, eight Guillemots and two Marbled Murrelets.

Orca

We arrived in Juneau quite early on Tuesday July 18^th seeing plenty of Glaucous-winged Gulls as we arrived. There were fewer Mew and Bonaparte’s Gulls and a few Northwestern Crows on the shore with a Belted Kingfisher being seen in flight and whilst docking at least eleven Raven were observed.

After breakfast, I was on a photographic excursion focussing on whales and the Mendenhall Glacier and I boarded a bus that was to take us to the harbour for the boat. As we left Juneau for Auke Bay we saw numerous Bald Eagles and a brief stop to photograph the Mendenhall Glacier, where there were circa twelve Sand Martin lying around a small stream.

Mendenhall Glacier

When we reached the harbour, we were soon on board our boat and heading out at some speed to look for whales. There were a small party of ten Arctic Terns feeding on the far side of the harbour and I then picked up a nice pale-phase Arctic Skua. There were quite a few auks observed as we continued at speed and there was also a masses flock of Surf Scoter that must have included at least five hundred birds.

As the trip was primarily a whale photographic trip the boat continued at high speed until we joined other whale watching boats, who had presumably seen at least one whale. We did eventually see at least four whales, all Humpbacked, but it wasn’t easy to get a good shot but I did manage to get a couple of shots of the fluke as they dived. Whilst we were waiting for the whales to appear I saw a Red-throated Loon, a Kittiwake, a couple of Pigeon Guillemots and at least twenty Marbled Murrlet and a pair of Bald Eagle provided some great photo opportunities.

Bald Eagles

Bald Eagle

Black-legged Kittiwake

Marbled Murrelet

Humpbacked Whale

After returning to the harbour we made another short coach journey to the Mendenhall Glacier and after parking walked through a forest to reach several viewpoints. The glacier is receding and several markers indicated just how far it had receded, which was quite alarming. The guide was very knowledgeable about the flora of the forest and its development as the glacier recedes. The only bird I saw was an American Dipper and then only in flight as it flew down stream.

Forest on route to the glacier

Stream

Mendenhall Glacier

When we got back to the bus one of the participants of the party had gone off for a walk as they hadn’t walked to see the glacier and several passerines flew over but didn’t alight where I could see them but just before we left a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew over.

Once back at the boat I found Sandra and spent the rest of the day visiting the city and on the boat seeing nothing else of note.

Juneau

Juneau dockside cafe

Red Dog Saloon, Juneau

Star Princess at Juneau

It was Wednesday July 19^th and today we were visiting Skagway and when I woke the ship was reversing into the dock and I didn’t therefore have the opportunity to bird as the boat approached the town but there were a few Mew Gulls, six Bonaparte’s Gulls and two Arctic Terns in the harbour.

After breakfast, we booked a trip on the train to White Pass for the afternoon and then walked into the town. This was the most interesting of the stops as the town had some character with the main town having wooden boardwalks around the main shopping area. It was also spotless with not a scrap of rubbish or litter in sight and a real pleasant environment. It was also surrounded by forest on the hills sides and there were plenty of good habitat between the boat and the town but the only birds I saw were a couple of Collared Doves, a Northwest Crow, three Raven and a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco.

Cruise ship at Skagway

Skagway street scene

Skagway

The train ride during the afternoon was interesting and provided some magnificent views as it climbed up to the summit. Again, I didn’t see a single bird but there was a single Wild Goat on a hillside as we descended.