To most Alaskans, Mr. Whitekeys is probably best known as the former owner of one of Spenard's most iconic bars, the Fly By Night Club, and host of the Whale Fat Follies musical revue. But lately he's been spending a lot of time in the woods, with binoculars hanging at the ready, listening for the sounds of birds.
Thursday morning in the woods along Campbell Creek, Whitekeys, who is the president of Audubon Anchorage, was leading a bird watching walk for a half-dozen or so amateur bird watchers.
"This is the migration season," he said, "and the songbirds are just getting here." May is the best time to go looking for birds in Southcentral Alaska because they're most likely to be singing, he noted. "It's way harder to see them than it is to hear them," he said.
By the end of June, many songbirds have stopped singing, making the birds much harder to spot.
The free walks take place every Thursday in May, 6:30-8:30 a.m. at the Campbell Creek Science Center parking lot.