Back to Anchorage and the End of the Trip

Flight from St. Paul island back to Anchorage stopped over at St. George Island.  I had just read the news about the discovery of a new species of whales and that it was the whale washed ashore on this island.   
We could not get out of the plane, of course, but had a glimpse of it!  
アンカレッジへの帰りに飛行機が立ち寄るセント・ジョージ島。ちょうど昨日、ナショジオのニュースでDNA分析から新種のクジラが発見されたと出ていたが、その発見地がなんとセント・ジョージ島だった！　





セント・ポール島は一番高い崖でも100メートル程度だが、セント・ジョージ島は切り立っていて400メートルほどの崖もあり、繁殖している海鳥も多いという。ただしインフラの整備がされていないので、崖までは歩いて行かなければならないとか。



Back on the mainland, still flying...



Most part of the flight, we could only see the sea of clouds.  But some high mountains poked their heads up the cloud. 



ナキイスカ
We went a full day birding in Anchorage, too, and saw a flock of the White-winged Crossbills.



And they were feeding on pinecones.  It looks familiar from the famous book, Weihnachtsspuren im Winterwald! They must have been celebrating very early Christmas!



One of the parents of the nesting Bald Eagle at Potter Marsh.



And this Arctic Tern reminded me of the first time I visited the marsh. It was July, 2010.



とても遠くだったけれど、繁殖羽のアビ。



The last evening in Alaska, after all the birding programs and the dinner finished, I sneaked out to the coast again.  
Everyone was enjoying the long daylight, walking, walking dogs, jogging, cycling, chatting, reading, rollerskating and everyone interacts freely with others.  A skater boy asked me to high touch on passing and I started to chat with a lady from Argentina and we ended up walking around the West Chester Lagoon together.  I was a visitor and a total stranger there but I felt very much at home.