The Chronicles of Alaska: Driven to Bird

I could have stayed for two weeks.  I want to, and will go back.  There are so many more birds to see there, and it was too quick a trip to get all the birds I wanted, but considering the weather, I didn't do too badly. I still want the Arctic Warbler and a whole host of pelagic birds.  I will reevaluate after my Vancouver and Newfoundland trips.  There are some birds that do overlap.

I've been to some amazing places this year, but by far Alaska was one of the most amazing places I've ever been.  The sheer majesty of the scenery and all the incredible wildlife.  I came for the birds but was awed by moose and caribou and otters and whales had a whale of a time taking photos of it all.

On my last full day I drove 4 hours in the rain all the way up to Denali National Park.  I could only hope that the skies would clear by the time I got there, or my view of Mt. McKinley would have been more like Mt. Cloud.  McKinley is tall, the tallest mountain in North America, but it couldn't rise above the clouds.  I stopped a lot along the way, scoping the landscape and water for Arctic Loons and any other birds I could add to my Alaska list.  The best I could do were a lonely pair of Common Loons and Dark-eyed Junko,(which was listed on E-bird's rare bird alert for Alaska).

I made it up to Denali in time for both lunch and the clearing skies.  The sun came out, but so did the mosquitos.  Zillions of them.  It was like The Snake Bight Trail, only my target was a Willow Ptarmigan rather the American Flamingo of South Florida.  So I went back to the car for my can of Deep-Woods Off.  I bought it at a gas station after I was driven from the woods earlier in the day, where I was nearly devoured looking for a still unidentified flycatcher.  I made it about 50 feet into the woods before I was driven out after swatting the little buggers out of every open orifice above my neck.

I stopped at the next gas station for coffee, gas and a can of Off.  I filled the tank, grabbed a coffee and sprayed myself all over at the pump and thought I had put the can in the passenger seat.  I did not.  I think I left it on the roof of the car and someone scored a free an of bug spray.

At Denali, I walked the paths down by the Visitors Centre without being able to replenish my bug protection.  I managed, as it wasn't as bad as the bog I had visited earlier, and enjoyed a few birds, including juvenile Gray Jays, and one adult.  No Arctic Warbler, no Ptarmigans, but a fair number of Boreal Chickadees in the trees.

In order to get the Ptarmigan I had to drive to the furthest point in the park, Savage Lake Trail, and along with incredible views of the mountains and even some Caribou resting in a valley, I got a really close view of a possibly nesting Willow Ptarmigan.  It was my only new bird of the day but well worth the trip.

I had a little time on my final morning to bird down in Seward and was hoping to get myself two new birds, an American Dipper and the Chestnut-backed Chickadee.  I missed the Dipper on my first pass by Nash Road, where Ken, my guide from the other day had told me to look, so I headed over to the high school for the Chestnut-backed Chickadee.  Along the way I stopped along the water and found  pair of Harliquin Ducks bobbing in the surf.  At the high school I searched in the rain for about half an hour without finding Chestnut-backed, but heard and found a Gray-cheeked Thrush atop a small tree.  With just a half hour before I had to head back to Anchorage for the long trip home, I found the American Dipper right where it was supposed to be on Nash Road.  I heard it calling several times on my other two visits but finally got a short look at it as it flew and "dipped."  The Dipper was my 20th new Year bird and the 392nd of 2012.  I saw a total of 52 species while in Alaska.

Oddly enough, after 5 days of gourmet gas station cuisine and putting nearly 1600 miles on my rental car, it was on my way back to Anchorage airport that I had one of those "priceless" moments.  As I was passing the mudflats just south of city, I had to stop.  Out on mudflats, through my scope, I saw a dozen Bald Eagles.  8 adults and 4 juveniles.  Just hanging out, probably a mile from a stand of pines, where you'd think they would hang out.  Pretty amazing.

I also saw lots of cool animals.  The birds were great, but it was the total package, birds, mountains, scenery, land and sea life that made this trip a trip of a lifetime and a place I shall return to, perhaps even later this year.

Speaking of being driven to bird, after a 12 hour trip back to civilization, one of the first things Sue and I did after I arrived home was spend a lovely morning together birding in Colonel Sam Smith Park.  It was nice to just see birds without any targets in mind.  However, sometimes when you aren't looking for anything, that is when you find something.  In this case a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.  I first saw it, then heard it a few times, but Sue didn't and thought I was imagining things.  Finally, Sue heard it too,(verified by my iBird App), and I had my 392 bird of 2012.  With trips to Vancouver and Texas before the end of the month, I should be over 400 by Canada Day.

260 miles to Denali,(one way), was worth it for a Willow Ptarmigan:

Aeroplan Ticket to Alaska:            $119.00
Hotwire Hotel Room for 5 nights: $199.00
Seeing a dozen Bald Eagles on the mudflats, on the Seward Highway: Priceless

The Chronicles of Alaska: Birdy Old Men

And I say that with affection.  Heck I am 51 and my guides for the day in the Kenai,(pronounced Keen-eye) Peninsula were older and much more experienced than me.  Then again, there are kids in Elementary school who are more experienced birders than me.  Ken and one of his friends, who summers in Alaska, took me on an inland tour hoping to find a nice mess of Alaska birds, but it was a grey and sometimes rainy day and though we were seeing birds, there were not the numbers they were used to.  Everywhere we stopped, they told me about a terrific bird that would have been a lifer for me, that they had just seen the day or week before.

We drove around for about 7 hours and had a lot of fun and I enjoyed their company and learned a lot from the two of them.  The big score of the day was another Sandy Komito nemesis from 1998, the Great Grey Owl.  We drove up a back road on the chance it might still be there, as it had been reported days earlier by the wildlife folks.  And had we driven up a few minutes later we'd have missed it.  It just happened to have taken flight as we were passing by, swooping down from a tree into a small bush.  We got the scope on it and had some great looks at a great owl.  My ninth owl of 2012 and number 384 for the year.

After a few more misses, the American Three-toed Woodpecker, for instance, we had a close encounter with a Brown Bear, a "brownie" as the locals call them, and that was pretty exciting and even worth the miss on the woodpecker.  Afterwards,  we went down to the mud flats where we scored a Parasitic Jaeger. a Semipalmated Plover and a Northwestern Crow.

Back at Ken's Cabins, we waited a second time for the Stellar's Jay, but it just wouldn't show.  The Bank Swallows did fly in and that pushed my Big Year total to 388.  I had a great time, though, birding with these guys and they always had a good story to tell and served a good picnic lunch in the car along the way, complete with cookies.  Even though I didn't get to see as many new Lifers and Year birds as I had hoped for, it was an honour to have Ken take me around his own stomping grounds and teach me a thing or two that I can put to use on future Alaskan trips.  He also put me on to locations where I could find an American Dipper and Chestnut-backed Chickadee in the Seward area.  But that was for another day.

Great Gray Owl,(Taken with iPhone through scope):

Parasitic Jaeger,(He was a long way away):

Semipalmated Plover,(He was closer):

Northwestern Crow,(Can you tell the difference?):

The Chronicles of Alaska: Pelagic Photos

Black Oystercatcher

Black-legged Kittiwake

Common Murre

 Pigeon Gullemot

Red-faced Cormorant

Rhinoceros Auklet

The Chronicles of Alaska: H&T Puffins'n Stuff

I didn't get sea sick!

That's right.  I took all the proper precautions I failed to take in Florida and survived 9 hours on a pelagic trip in the Kenai Fjords off the coast of Alaska.  I started at 4 am with 2 dramamine and took 2 more every 3:45 minutes and though I was at times queasy, I was never sick.  At times I was sleepy, though that got everyone about halfway into the trip, for when I opened my eyes, it appeared that it was nappy time for everyone on the boat, as I looked up, all 6 of the other passengers were sitting or slouching in various poses of sleep.

But I didn't ride the boat just to see if I could beat the sea sickness.  I was there to see sea birds.  And sea birds I did see.  Along the way there were whales and porpoises, and sheep and mountain goats and black bears.

The day started in the rain and it only got worse from there.  It was cold and wet, which is fine when you're in a swimming pool, but not when you're on the ocean in a boat.  There were seven passengers on a boat that normally carries 17 souls.  The 7 of us had to continuously go back in the cabin in between short bursts of birds, to try and stay warm and dry inside when the weather was at its worst.  Had there been 17 of us,(there was only room for 8 bodies indoors), I am sure we would have had to draw straws to decide who had to remain outside in the storm.  There was only one other couple who were birders, and the rest wanted to see any wildlife, so we had to compromise and I decided to not pull a Sandy Komito-like mutiny and went along with the majority rule.  Besides, Sue would have been very upset with me if I didn't return with photos of whales and bears, and well, anything else I saw besides birds.  The glaciers weren't bad to look at either.

The boat, Captained by the very able Sherry and assisted by a trainee Captain and our Steward Justin, sped along at a nice clip and then would slow down any time we came upon birds or other wildlife.  That was our cue to leave the comfy warmth of the cabin and venture out on deck with our cameras.  First up were the Red-faced Cormorants.  I had all the other Cormorants in my hand, so this one made up the Full House.  White butts like the Pelagic Cormorant,(which we also saw), but a distinct red face.  I only got one good photo where you can see this, but the bird was in flight so it's not the best.

Trying to take great photos on a grey day on a rocking boat with a wet camera is not impossible, but it's not easy either.  So photos will be shown for purposes of seeing porpoises but will not necessarily be art in every case.

We visited a few glaciers including a huge one at the halfway point of our trip, the size of Niagara Falls.  A frozen Niagara Falls.  We were a mile from the monster ice wall but it seemed like no more than a hundred yards.  Perspective at the base of a glacier does not work.  It was an awe inspiring sight.

But I was there for birds, and along the way saw 10 new species for the year, including Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled and Kittlitz's Murrelet, Northern Fulmar and Rhinoceros Auklet.  We saw, not just Black-legged Kittiwakes, but were able to enjoy what they call the Kittiwake Highway, as hundreds of them fly back and forth to "Home Depot" for nesting material.  It's a two way street and accident free, unlike human highways.  My favourites, naturally, were the Puffins.  We found the Horned Puffins early in the trip but it wasn't until on the way back that Sherry finally found us a pair of Tufted Puffins, to complete the set, and make my day.

By the time we returned to the dock the sun had come out, the weather was beautiful for walking around the city of Seward, named for U.S. Secretary of State William Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia during the Lincoln Administration.  If Alaska had stayed in Russian hands Sandy Komito would have never reached 748 in 1998.

Here are the Puffins.  I will post more photos when I return to civilization on Sunday.

Horned Puffin:

Tuffted Puffin:

The Chronicles of Alaska: Day the First

Holy Cow! I am in Anchorage. What on earth is a 51 year old man doing here, doing a big Year, having only been a birder for 5 months and 5 day?

Easy, having a fantastic time!

Really, I don't want your sympathy.  I can handle it.

And, I saw a Black-billed Magpie and an Arctic Tern, giving me 374 birds for the  year.  In just a couple of hours after arriving in Anchorage I saw 15 species between Earthquake Park and Potter Marsh.  It was a fun day and Alaska is an amazing place.  I am wishing I had more than 5 days here.  I could spend 2 or 3 weeks.

Oh, yeah, I saw my first Moose in the wild!

The Chronicles of Alaska: Day 0.5

It seems like every trip I take on my Big Year is the Trip of a Lifetime. The Dry Tortugas in March, Point Pelee in May, Arizona in April and now Alaska in June.

Of course, I am not there yet. I am sitting at the airport in Vancouver awaiting my flight to Anchorage. Too bad the Xantus's Hummingbird has yet to return and the Crested Mynas will likely never return, or I'd have taxi'd it around the city early this morning for something to do besides sitting in an airport lounge.

I flew into Vancouver last night/early this morning. Luckily, I had a whole row to myself at the back of the plane. I watched 4 or 5 episodes of Big Bang Theory on the in flight TV, then stretched out for about 3 semi-uncomfortable hours of not much sleep. I wasn't about to try that again at the airport, so I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express close by, got my rewards points towards my Areoplan account, and a free breakfast. So, even though i still have hours to go before I bird, I will be rested and refreshed by the time I arrive in Anchorage. The 20 minute chair massage didn't hurt any either. Well, a little bit when she dug her elbow into my shoulder blades. Still not feeling sorry for me? Didn't think so.

I checked the weather report for Anchorage a few days ago and was promised rain and cool temperatures for much of my trip. Luckily, weather forecasters rarely keep their promises. I just checked and it now looks like it will be sunny most of the time and a little warmer than I was expecting.

With an hour to go before my flight I sit here in the airport listening to the music from Raiders of the Lost Ark. How nerdy am I?

Oh, just saw my first bird of the trip.

Pigeon.

Poop.

Think I will see if I can watch The Big Year on Netflix.

Drat, they don't have it.

I should be Tweeting this. Ha Ha.

I think there is an App for that. Off to set up an account.

Adventure Alaska

It's finally that time.  I am heading to Alaska with a hefty wish list of birds I hope to see both on land and sea.  The anticipation is really starting to build and I can't wait to get started.  Only problem, I don't leave until 11pm tonight and don't arrive until 2pm on Tuesday.  When one uses reward miles to travel, one is not always in control of one's travel itinerary.  Oh, Woe is Me.  I expect no sympathy.  This truly is a trip of a lifetime.  I hadn't gone into this Big Year planning on going to Alaska, but somewhere along the line I knew that, just like going to The Dry Tortugas, a Big Year would be incomplete without Alaska.

So off I go, a pelagic trip from Seward to the Kenai peninsula on Wednesday; birding on land in the same area on Thursday; Denali on Friday and on my arrival and departures days, Tuesday and Saturday, birding around Anchorage, my home base for the trip.

This is exciting and the first of a string of trips I have planned from now until mid July.  I hope I can keep up.  This might be both the most gruelling and thrilling year of my life.  The folks who are doing full out Big Years have my admiration.

Back to Alaska:

What do they eat in Alaska? I picture whale shushi.

Do they have the McDonald's with the Free Wi-Fi?

I've always wanted to see Frozen Tundra.  Do they have that in the Anchorage Metropolitan area?

What if I get monumentally sick on the Pelagic?

How much Dramamine to take?   I'd hate to fall asleep and not see any birds.   But I'd hate to be sick and not see any birds.

What if I don't see any birds?

My stomach hurts.

Don't forget the Imodium.

Or the Dramamine

Maybe I should get a patch.  Or a copper bracelet.

Feeling sorry for me yet?

Didn't think so.

Wish me good birds.