Wordless Wednesday

Skywatch Friday

Cotton candy sunset in Alaska. Looks good enough to eat.

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Wordless Wednesday

A belly-up stuffed crocodile in interior of Alaska. What's up with that?

4-2+2

Do we need boots? I asked the guide. He nodded. Ok. I shrugged, so it was going to be a little soggy hike. It was only a mile. I was thinking positive thoughts; after having spent a whole exhausted day hiking in the soggy, muddy, Alaska wilderness last week; I knew what was coming, but, hoped for the best. (This should be a warning… all Alaskan have knee-high rubber boots called Xtra Tuf for a reason—even the little kids have them.)

I hopped out of the van and pulled on my Neos. I strode confidently after the guide. We were after Great Gray Owls, a target bird for me. There was a stand of aspen trees and an old nest site—maybe there were some owls around this year. We were no more than around the bend in the path before it got wet, squishy even.

Hmmmmmm. Not good. I slogged along. Maybe I should mention that I am short. Lifting my leg over each hummock of grass and hoping for solid footing and sinking mid-calf in water was disheartening. What am I talking about…it was hard work. Lift, step, squish, lift, step, sink, lift step, yank. There was moss, and reindeer lichen, and other sorts of water loving plants; beautiful, but when you step on the grass/moss/stuff you sink. As you pull your foot up, the vegetable matter tries to keep your boot.

Grumble. Grumble. Grumble. This had better be worth. We hiked for 20 miles—OK it was only 3 miles in all but it felt like 100. After several turns and the shedding of multiple layers, we arrived at the stand of trees. Whew. We crept into the stand. (Well, maybe not crept. There were 5 of us and we were cracking branches when we stepped and splashing in the water. Any respectable owl would have fled.) We stood in the grove of trees and listened and watched for about an hour. Nothing. There was a single white (maybe gray) feather attached to the tree where the nest was/had been. We heard lots of birds. We saw Wilson’s Warbler, Pine Grosbeaks, Boreal Chickadees. No owls. But that is what birding is sometimes.

We slogged back the way we had come. I fell behind. I was tired. I was disgusted. I am more of a distance hiker, not a sprinter. The others were younger, spryer, and I admit it, more fit. I was just putting one foot before the other, like a mule at Bryce canyon.

While there were neither Great Grays nor Hawk Owls on this Owls of the North trip; we did see Saw-whets, and Boreals. As a bonus, we also saw a Short-ear, and a Great Horned. So of the 4 targets for the trip, we missed 2 but gained 2 others.

Overall, the Owls of the North weekend with Wilderness Birding Adventures was terrific. Aaron, our guide is an incredible birder, knows where the birds are and is nice guy. I would totally bird with him again. I got 7 new lifers. If you are thinking of going on a birding trip to Alaska, hook up with them. But, I hear Nome is the place to go for birds of Alaska. You might have me on the trip. If so, hope there is less hiking in the muck.

Wordless Wednesday

Stop the Car!

Surprise!

I have been to many birding festivals. Some of them are large, well established affairs; while others are small or new or both. They are all so different. The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival in Homer Alaska is in its 15th year. It is well organized with field events, workshops, boat tours and fun-filled (can I say zany?) evening doings. There are lots of people yet it is small enough that I keep running into the same folks over and over again. It is sorta like having friends in town.

One of the joys of birding in a new location is knowing that many of the birds will be new. For some of them, it is simply a matter of going to where they are and bingo—like the Red-faced Cormorant. Others, I have searched high and low for, to no avail—like those irruptive Crossbills. But when there is a surprise, it is an unexpected bonus. The surprise for me was an immature Yellow-billed Loon. They are around, but not common. There had been talk about one being found, but then it disappeared. No one at seen it recently. I asked the captain on our boat trip if there was any chance that it was still around. He didn’t sound hopeful. Oh, well. We all shrugged. He offered the possibility of an Aleutian Tern. We all happily abandoned the loon for the tern.

Coming back into the harbor after seeing Tufted Puffins, Red-faced Cormorants, thousands of Common Murres and one Aleutian Tern; what should appear next to the boat, but the oddest, palest loon I have ever seen. It just popped up beside the boat and then disappeared. Surprise!



Gosh, I love surprises. You just never know.

On the Spit

Here I am in Alaska. I flew into Anchorage and rented a car to drive down to the Kenai peninsula. It was a 4 hour drive from Anchorage. The days are incredibly long up here, so I rolled in with daylight to spare. The first day in town, I tootled around to get my bearings and did a little birding on my own. The weather was spitting rain and cold. (Those leopard print silk long johns really came in handy). I wore 5 layers of clothing. Brrr. But, hey, it's Alaska. I rented an apartment over the Sealion gallery on the Homer Spit. (The spit is that sliver of land that sticks out into the bay.)


The scenery up here is unbelievably beautiful. This is the view from my balcony. I am able to watch the mountains change with the different weather patterns and light. The storm clouds roll in and are magnificant. Look at that sky!


But the next day the sunset is a pale cotton candy pink.


I couldn’t figure out why everybody who has been to Homer ends up taking so many pictures of scenery. But being here, I now get it. So, I am going to show you the view first to get it over with. If you still want more, go to my Flickr page in a few days. I'll post more there. I promise no more shots of my view.

It is so beautiful is it almost painful. I can't image living with this everyday.

Northern Exposure

I am heading off to Anchorage for a business trip tomorrow morning at 5am. I will be taking some vacation as well. As luck would have it, the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival is the 4 days preceding my business trip. I do not know if I will be able to blog from Homer, Alaska; if I can I will let you know what is happening. I will be driving back to Anchorage on Sunday. Then after the conference, I will be spending some time with the good folks at Wilderness Birding Adventures on a Northern Owl weekend.

Packing for something like this is always a struggle for me. Since I often squeeze in some birding time on business trips, you would think I would have a system after all of this time. The crux of the matter is the outdoor clothes are often bulkier than business wear. This trip was particularly hard to pack for, since the forecast says mid 40s and rain the entire time I am gone. So, I had to pack, not only the rain poncho, but rain pants, Neos, and cold weather gear, like long underwear, wooley hat and gloves. Yikes, I hope I don’t need all of this.

So I will be out of touch for about 2 weeks. Hang in there. I will have cool stuff to tell you when I get back.