Dyea birds

[Deborah Boettcher]

4/23/2026

Taiya River between NPS campground and raft haul out 

4 Hooded mergansers

Hard to Identify from this photo but easy with binoculars. They sort of look like buffleheads but the crest is larger and almost meets in back of their heads. Also, there is a little white striping on their backs. The females are quite different from buffleheads in that they have brown crests and buffleheads have black heads with a white patch on their cheeks. They are very handsome birds. 

Also, about 200 redpolls where the trees meet the flats in Dyea.

Sent from my iPhone