June 1 – June 10 2016

We were able to see all three Cormorants in Kachemak Bay this last week. Unfortunately a rare occurrence anymore. Here is a Pelagic Cormorant, the most common in Kachemak Bay and nests on Gull Island.This next one, a Double Crested Coromorant, is not as common and nests inland. But we do see them from time to time.Can you find the Red-faced Cormorant in this next photo. It is a Juvenile and has a pale bill. Unfortunately they no longer nest on Gull Island so seeing one is a rare occurrence.Belted Kingfishers have been seen often on Cohen Island this spring.It is not often this spring that we see Common Murres attempting to land on Gull Island with all the Bald Eagles in the area.Aleutian Terns were found perched on the debris washed off the beaches by the high tides this last week.I won’t do a bird list for the week but Red-faced Cormorant can be added to the list. There are not as many Humpback Whales around as there were this spring but we did manage to see two a couple miles west of the spit.

March, April and May 2016

Here are a few photos starting from March with a Red-necked Grebe in the Homer HarborThere was also a flock of about 40 Steller’s Eider just west of the spitOk, this isn’t exactly a bird found in Kachemak Bay. We took a short trip to Kauai mid March Shorebirds start to show up in April. After the Rock Sandpipers that winter here head west we often see others that are passing throughThis flock of about 25 Common Eiders were seen only once in early AprilBlack Scoter were still around in March and April. They disappear in the summerHarlequin Ducks are seen year roundThis Wandering Tattler was using just one leg at a timeDespite large numbers of Common Murres dying this last year there were still nearly 5000 that showed up at Gull IslandBlack Turnstones and Surfbirds often hang out togetherWe saw small numbers of Red-necked Phalaropes compared to previous yearsRuddy Turnstone! Not many pass through Kachemak BayThese eventually turned aroundSo we could tell what they wereLong-tailed Duck. Another bird found in Kachemak Bay just in the winterMost of the Yellow-billed Loons we see look like this. We did see one in breeding plumage. Unfortunately I did not get a decent photoAs the name implies, these are fairly commonOften when migrating we will see small flocks of Pacific Loons. Sometimes as many as 20It is pretty easy to tell that this is a Marbled MurreletBut what is this? Anyone want to take a guess?Another look at it from the other sideA few Humpback whales were seen in April and May. The End!Here is a list of birds for March, April and May seen from the Torega:

Common Loon
Yellow-billed Loon
Pacific Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Horned Grebe
Sooty Shearwater
Short-tailed Shearwater
Greater Scaup
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Bufflehead
Red-breasted Merganser
Harlequin Duck
Long-tailed Duck
Black Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Surf Scoter
Greater White-fronted goose
Trumpeter Swan
Double-crested Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
Bald Eagle
Brant
Surfbird
Black Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
Wandering Tattler
Rock Sandpiper
Black Oyster Catcher
Red-necked Phalarope
Black-legged Kittiwake
Herring Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glaucous Gull
Mew Gull
Bonaparte’s Gull
Arctic Tern
Aleutian Tern
Marbled Murrelet
Kittlitz’s Murrelet
Common Murre
Pigeon Guillemot
Horned Puffin
Tufted Puffin
Belted Kingfisher
Rough-legged Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
Northwestern Crow
Raven