I recently returned from a birding trip to Alaska. Most of the time was spent on St. Paul Island but for a few days I was in Anchorage. Temperatures ranged from 38-63 degrees on the mainland and it was mostly cloudy with rain a lot of the time. On the last day however the Sun finally came out and I spent a little while north of Anchorage looking for birds near Eagle River, AK and then Arctic Valley. The scenery was stunning with glaicers and snow capped moutains majestically rising from the lowlands around Prince William Sound. Just east of Eagle River, AK I saw the first butterfly of the trip (only saw three species) which was a lifer Green Comma nectoring on flowers. I could not get out of the car for photographs but managed a few very poor quality shots to confirm the ID. The second stop was at tree line near the Arctic Valley Ski resort located within Chugach State Park. It offers hiking in the summer and outstanding views of Anchorage and the upper portion of Prince William Sound. It was here I saw the other two species for the trip, Clouded Sulphur and Milbert’s Tortoiseshell (5).
