Up at the edge of the alpine zone there were singing Hermit Thrush in patches of short willows (left) and on the alpine tundra itself, American Pipit (just below).

Then, along the road, our primary goal: Rock Ptarmigan (below)! This pair had precocial young. We first noted the female (below right) but it was the aggressive male (below left) that took over the defense, flying straight at us several times to deter our approach on foot. Note his red eye comb. We took a few snaps and left them alone.

The major birding highlights, though, were the seabird colonies and the abundant of alcids within Kenai Fjords National Park, visited by fast boat (e.g., thousands of Common Murre, above). We chose to take the "Captain's Choice" cruise offered by Kenai Fjords Tours, a 9-hour ride in a small boat (limited to 16 passengers) that visits the Chiswell Islands NWR (right) and a calving glacier with the National Park.

The abundance of both species of Pacific puffins invariably brings smiles: Tufted Puffin (below left) and Horned Puffin (below right).

None of us had ever viewed Kittlitz's Murrelet up close, so this was a real treat. The birds were found only in the cold glacier water within a couple miles of huge tidewater Aiatak Glacier. The "pairs" encountered were almost surely adult males and young (shown just above; adult to the left). This was very interesting because the juvenal plumage of Kittlitz's was undescribed until Pierre Devillerspublished an account of a juvenal-plumage bird found ashore on La Jolla beach, San Diego Co., California, on 16 Aug 1969 (Devillers, 1972, "The juvenal plumage of Kittlitz's Murrelet," Calif. Birds 3: 33-38). Few photos of juvenal Kittlitz's have been published, so this post shows individuals above, right, and below (left-hand bird). It illustrates variation in juvenal plumage in July, as well as in adults. Compare the adult above (left-hand bird) to the much brighter adult at the bottom of this page. At all ages, note the very short bill of Kittlitz's (compared to Marbled Murrelet), and the much greater 'salt-and-pepper' coloration than the rich brown upperparts of Marbled Murrelet. Kittlitz's also has white outer tail feathers, seen in flight [in the collage above]. Also notice the black 'eye-patch' present to a degree on all birds, formed primarily by a black crescent in front and and below the eye. This shows particularly well on the bottom photo; the eerie green-blue color of the glacier water is also apparent in that shot.