June 9th, 2012 Another Day in Anchorage

We both saw the giant reddish colored fish swim in an arc and then head back upstream. We watched as it turned sideways and dug its redd while two smaller fish released clouds of milt into the cascading eggs. Two hungry trout stood poised downstream waiting for their chance to gobble fresh king salmon eggs.
An extra day in Anchorage presented itself to us and we talked of going to the Anchorage Museum and then visiting the Russian Orthodox Church. However the wind had died and we grabbed the binoculars heading for  Beluga  and Windy Points.
It was only about seven miles past Potters Marsh and as we arrived we saw a group of people looking up the mountain side. Now Belugas can't climb mountains so we deduced they must be looking at Dall sheep.  Quickly pointing them out to us we both started to watch and then scan the other mountains for more.

There weren't any Belugas in the area, or none that anyone could spot, so we headed further into the inlet. Before we reached Windy point we saw another group of people and as we pulled in two Dall rams stuck out their heads and peered at us below. They left before we got any images but they were the closest Dalls we had seen.
 A few miles more and we spotted more sheep, again high above us. Renita spotted five bedded down and now our total for the day stood at nineteen sheep! So it was time to do some birding. Turning the truck around we drove back to Potters Marsh and headed down the boardwalk.

A greater yellowlegs, stood on one leg, resting. A little further an Arctic Tern was also taking a siesta but not the least sandpipers who were busy plucking insects from the muck. We saw a family of cackling geese peering over the reed tops, and we added another bird to our life list.
King salmon topped our list of things to see as the giant nets in the Pacific hadn't caught all of the fish. You wonder if there is any hope for the salmon as the modern technology has enabled man to find their feeding areas.
So we returned back to Anchorage and picked up our prescriptions. It was a full day of Dall sheep, new life birds, and of course our first King salmon. Tomorrow we head to Soldotna on the Kenai. Clear skies