top of page
Birding Tours
Icy Strait
Tour Photos
Click on an image to view the full photo
Hoonah
Semi-aerial view of the tour area at high tide.
Port Frederick
As viewed from the Hoonah ferry terminal, one of the first stops on the tour. The rock on the far right is home to a Pigeon Guillemot rookery.
Sitka Black-tailed Deer View
Long Island Causeway
High tide in early spring.
Long Island Causeway
At low tide.
Long Island Causeway
Glassing for seabirds
Hemlocks and Spruce Tower over Exposed Intertidal Creatures
The Highway
The best birding spots must be reached by traveling along gravel logging roads.
Game Creek
A great place to see Bald Eagles, American Dippers, and Brown Bears, as well as enjoy a birds-eye-view of spawning salmon.
Rest Stop
The birding trail meanders through forest of varying ages.
Trail
Long Island Causeway
Birders watching a Red-breasted Sapsucker
Overlooking Port Frederick
Watching a Red-breasted Sapsucker
Hoonah Harbor
We often make a quick stop at the Hoonah harbor for ducks and gulls.
Something For Everyone
While most of this group was trying to locate the source of some call notes in the bushes, two people were more interested in photographing an invasive black slug crossing the road.
Soaking in Nature
Bird Gallery
Bird Gallery
Birds commonly seen during spring and/or summer in Hoonah. Click on photos to enlarge.
Bald Eagle
Southeast Alaska is one of the best places in the country to see Bald Eagles
Juvenile Bald Eagle
A few weeks after leaving the nest
Immature Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
This nest is one of three along our tour route.
Bald Eagle Parent with Eaglet
This photo was taken with a phone through my spotting scope on a tour. Guests often take photos of these eagles with their own phones also.
Red-tailed Hawk
This Red-tail belongs to a subspecies that only breeds in Southeast Alaska and coastal British Columbia. It is known as the the "Alaskan" or "Grinnell's" Red-tailed Hawk.
Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk
Light morph. This subspecies is encountered occasionally during migration.
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Pacific Wren
Townsend's Warbler
The quintessential warbler of the conifers of the Tongass National Forest, the Townsend's is more often heard than seen.
Wilson's Warbler
Quite common during the breeding season.
Orange-crowned Warbler
Perhaps our most common warbler.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Myrtle subspecies is quite common.
Song Sparrow
Song Sparrow
"Sooty" Fox Sparrow
"Sooty" Fox Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
"Oregon" subspecies
Lincoln's Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
We hear this bird along the trail every day during the spring, but catching a glimpse of him is much more difficult.
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Rufous Hummingbird
Drinking from willow sap "wells" created by a Red-breasted Sapsucker.
Steller's Jay
Steller's Jays are common all over Southeast Alaska
Common Raven
Belted Kingfisher
Pine Siskin
Red Crossbill
White-winged Crossbill
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Defending its nesting territory
American Robin
Male Varied Thrush
My favorite bird
Varied Thrush Pair
Hermit Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Rufous Hummingbird
Male
Rufous Hummingbird
Female
Rufous Hummingbird
Female hiding in the brush
Common Merganser
Male
Common Merganser
Female
Black-legged Kittiwake
Bonaparte's Gull
Mew Gull
Mew Gull
Glaucous-winged Gulls
Herring Gull with Glaucous-winged
Other Nature Observed Along the Tour Route
Other Nature Observed Along the Tour Route
Sitka Black-tailed Deer
Brown Bear Track
Brown Bear
Brown Bears
Bog Cranberry Flowers and Sundew
Stair Step Moss
Oak Ferns & False Lily-of-the-Valley
Temperate Rainforest
Temperate Rainforest
Bunchberries, Clubmoss, and baby Sitka Sruce and Western Hemlock spring from a bed of Stair-step Moss.
Salmonberries
This local favorite can be found in abundance along the tour route, and peak in abundance in June.
Salmonberries
Salmonberries range in color from yellow to dark red, and can be very large!
Blueberries
Early and Alaskan Blueberries are abundant along the tour route. Yum!
Berry Picking
The trail we bird on is also a favorite blueberry-picking spot for locals.
bottom of page