Birding on the Denali Highway
Birding on the Denali Highway
The Susitna Adventure Lodge offers visitors excellent birding opportunities. The variety of alpine tundra, boreal forest, and wetland habitats in the Alaska Range and along the Denali Highway provide summer or year round homes to a wide variety of species. Lodge owners Paige Drobny and Cody Strathe are avid birders, and love to share their experiences with guests .
SUSITNA ADVENTURE LODGE BIRD LIST
The Denali Highway and Alaska Range is home to a large variety of Alaskan bird species. Here is a list of the birds we have seen since 2020 at or near the lodge. The year columns show the first date seen for that year.| Species | Location | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LOONS | |||||||
| Common Loon | Lodge-Lakes | all summer | all summer | ||||
| Red Throated Loon | 8/7/22 | ||||||
| GREBES | |||||||
| Red Necked Grebe | Lodge-Lakes | 6/1/22 | |||||
| WATERFOWL | |||||||
| Trumpeter Swans | Lodge - Lakes | 5/3/20 | 5/1/21 | 4/22/22 | 5/1/23 | 5/9/24 | |
| Northern Pintail | Lodge - Lakes | 5/9/20 | 5/10/21 | 5/18/22 | 5/16/23 | 3/20/24 | |
| Green-Winged Teal | Lodge - Lakes | 5/10/20 | 5/14/21 | ||||
| American Widgeon | Lodge - Lakes | 5/10/20 | 5/13/21 | 5/20/22 | 5/22/23 | ||
| Blue Winged Teal | Lodge - Lakes | 5/14/20 | 5/9/24 | ||||
| Mallard | Lodge - Lakes | 5/14/20 | 5/9/21 | 5/16/23 | 5/9/24 | ||
| Greater Scaup | Lodge - Lakes | 5/14/20 | 5/9/21 | 5/18/23 | 5/9/24 | ||
| Common Merganser | Lodge - Lakes | 6/6/20 | 5/22/23 | ||||
| Bufflehead | Lodge-Lakes | 5/18/22 | 5/14/23 | ||||
| Bluebill | 6/9/23 | ||||||
| Canada Goose | |||||||
| Barrow's Goldeneye | Lodge-Lakes | 6/14/22 | |||||
| Wood Duck | Susitna Bridge | 6/5/21 | |||||
| Northern Shovelor | Lodge-Lakes | 9/6/22 | 5/9/24 | ||||
| HAWKS/EAGLES | |||||||
| Bald Eagle | Lodge | 5/16/20 | most of year | 4/10/22 | 3/30 | 3/8 | |
| Golden Eagle | Lodge | all summer | all summer | 6/16/22 | 3/10 | ||
| Northern Harrier | Lodge | 5/12/20 | all year | all year | |||
| FALCONS | |||||||
| Merlin | Lodge | 9/1/22 | 9/1/23 | ||||
| American Kestrel | Lodge | 5/16/23 | |||||
| Gyrfalcon | Windy Valley | ||||||
| Peregrine Falcon | Roosevelt Lake | ||||||
| GROUSE/PTARMIGAN | |||||||
| Ruffed Grouse | all year | all year | all year | all year | |||
| Sharp Tailed Grouse | |||||||
| Spruce Grouse | |||||||
| Willow Ptarmigan | all year | all year | all year | all year | |||
| Rock Ptarmigan | |||||||
| CRANES | |||||||
| Sandhill Cranes | flying over | spring fall migration | spring fall migration | spring fall migration | |||
| PLOVERS | |||||||
| Semi-Palmated Plover | Lodge | 5/8/20 | |||||
| SANDPIPERS | |||||||
| Greater Yellowlegs | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/8/21 | 5/5/22 | 5/14/23 | ||
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Lodge | 5/10/20 | |||||
| Spotted Sandpiper | 6/14/22 | ||||||
| Wilson's Snipe | Lodge | 5/7/10 | 5/13/21 | ||||
| Wandering Tattler | Alpine Lake shore | 5/20 | found up at mining lake two valleys up Windy on right. nest found | ||||
| Red Necked Phalarope | Wetland by Susitna Bridge | 6/14/22 | 6/2/24 | ||||
| GULLS/TERNS | |||||||
| Mew Gull | Lodge - Lakes | 5/7/20 | summer | 5/21 | |||
| Bonapartes Gull | Lodge - Lakes | 5/9/20 | |||||
| Arctic Tern | Lodge - Lakes | 5/13/20 | 5/14/21 | 5/21/22 | 5/16/23 | 5/30/24 | |
| OWLS | |||||||
| Boreal Owl | 4/20/23 | ||||||
| Great Horned Owl | |||||||
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | |||||||
| Great Gray Owl | |||||||
| Northern Hawk Owl | |||||||
| GOATSUCKERS | |||||||
| Common Nighthawk | |||||||
| KINGFISHERS | |||||||
| Belted Kingfisher | Lodge - Lakes | 5/21/20 | 5/14/21 | 5/20/23 | |||
| SWALLOWS | |||||||
| Cliff Swallow | Lodge- roof overhang | 5/10/20 | 5/14/21 | 5/21/22 | 5/18/23 | 5/25/24 | |
| Tree Swallow | |||||||
| CORVIDS | |||||||
| CommonRaven | Lodge | all year | |||||
| Grey Jay | Lodge | all year | |||||
| Magpie | Lodge | all year | |||||
| CHICKADEES | |||||||
| Black Capped Chickadee | Lodge | all year | |||||
| Boreal Chickadee | Lodge | all year | |||||
| DIPPERS | |||||||
| American Dipper | Snodgrass Outlet | 6/14/22 | All year | ||||
| KINGLETS/THRUSHES and OLD WORLD WARBLERS | |||||||
| American Robin | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/13/21 | ||||
| Ruby Crowned Kinglet | Lodge | 5/5/20 | 5/14/21 | 6/23/24 | |||
| Varied Thrush | Lodge | 5/5/20 | |||||
| Grey Cheeked Thrush | lodge | 5/14/21 | |||||
| WAGTAILS/PIPITS | |||||||
| American Pipit | Lodge | 5/10/20 | |||||
| WAXWINGS | |||||||
| Cedar waxwing | mile 100ish | 7/9/23 | |||||
| SHIRKES | |||||||
| Northern Shrike | Lodge/Roosevelt Lake | 9/13/21 | 7/11/22 | 4/16/23 - eating meat in dogyard | |||
| WOOD WARBLERS, SPARROWS, BUNTINGS, BLACKBIRDS | |||||||
| Yellow Warbler | Lodge | 6/7/23 | 6/1/24 | ||||
| Yellow- Rumped Warbler | Lodge | 5/3/20 | |||||
| Wilson's Warbler | Lodge | 5/11/20 | 5/14/21 | 6/1/24 | |||
| Black Poll Warbler | Lodge | 5/20/20 | 5/14/21 | ||||
| Lapland Longspur | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/14/22 | 4/11 | |||
| Golden Crowned Sparrow | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/26/22 | 5/15/23 | |||
| Snow Bunting | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 4/15/20 | 4/5/22 | 4/9/23 | 4/31 | |
| Rusty Blackbird | Lodge | 5/8/21 | 5/15/22 | 4/21/23 | |||
| White Crowned Sparrow | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/13/21 | 5/9/22 | 5/15/23 | 5/9/24 | |
| Dark eyed junco | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/14/21 | 4/20/22 | All year | ||
| Fox Sparrow | Lodge | 5/3/20 | 5/10/24 | ||||
| Lincoln's Sparrow | 6/2/24 | ||||||
| FINCHES | |||||||
| White Winged Crossbill | Lodge | 5/9/20 | |||||
| FlyCatchers | |||||||
| Say's Phoebe | 5/10/23 | 5/4/24 |