No - not done with the puns yet. And Nome may be where the heart is, but it is also where the interesting lifers are, particularly those with long distance flight stats. We started the day where the road crossed by a fogged in estuary of sorts where gulls and terns accumulated. We looked for Aleutian Terns that migrate as far as 44K miles, from north to south pole.
A different tern... Arctic terns and one flashy, black hooded Sabine's Gull.
A Parasitic Jaeger did a fly-by
Took a while but we finally spotted a small group of - LIFER FER ME - Aleutian Terns sitting on a gravel bar. They are the three birds in the foreground with the white area just above their bills.
Fun fact: Aleutian terns do not defend their nests, they just fly away when trouble hits. It's theorized Aleutians nest among Arctics because Arctics vigorously defend their nests, and Aleutians may benefit by nesting alongside their feistier cousins.
So what? We can always try our nesting luck again next year.
After a bit we headed out, traveling east, our eyes open for spotting critters, winged & unwinged. On the unwinged sort, we found a cow moose with a calf. Everyone saw the calf but me. It's there but its below the tops of the scrub.
Moose in the Mist
I wasn't too bothered by the fog really - that is, until a rare opportunity popped up on the Bering Sea. A flock of full-on breeding plumaged Red Phalarope! I mean, Jiminy Christmas! I sometimes see these fascinating teeny-wienie birds way the hell out on the Pacific Ocean. So on this extremely rare occasion, we saw them in a fairly large group with the weather too foggy for clear pix. RATS! Oh well. The females are colorful, with rust feathering and yellow bills. Hey, just enjoy.
Red Phalaropes: Just imagining this had been taken on a sunny morning makes my head ache!
Oh, and this Lapland Longspur, a species I last saw in the year 2000.
Male Lapland Longspur surveying his kingdom
Common Eider out for a swim - here's to seeing Spectacled, King and Stellar's Eiders this week too,
Then, HERE COMES THE SUN!
Two Laplanders!
Pacific Loons, one on nest, the other on patrol
Common Redpoll, looking all blushed and stuff
But enough peripheral birdies and such. We were after lifers (for 'moi') after all. We headed up into the foothills. Our target birdie - the Northern Wheatear - another long distance flyer that gives the Aleutian Tern a run for the birdseed. Richard took us to an area where the Northern Wheatears are known to hang. We looked and looked, and finding some obvious birders along the roadway, we asked if they had spotted the Wheatears. There were satisfied nods, Minutes later I was happily shooting a zillion photos of this fellow.
Make Northern Wheatear looking kind of like a Mockingbird, but sooo much cooler!
Richard looking all happy that we got our bird!
Honestly, never in a zillion years thought I'd ever get to see a Northern Wheatear.
You mean Lil' ole me? Aw shucks M'am...
With the big Bird of the day, there was nothing left but for us to sit on our laurels and enjoy all the other creatures.
Lapland Hopping Lessons
I dun good,
Lovely Tundra Swan
Late in the afternoon we walked along a wooden boardwalk, and what popped out from under it? This sleepy, scratchy & weary looking Red Fox. Not my best sighting or the best fox poses, but better than the old poke in the eye.
There's no place like Nome; yeah, I’m working the puns this week. Get used to it. Where was I? This is day two of my Alaska trip. We were up early, seeking sustenance at a cute little local restaurant, Pingo Bakery & Seafood House.
If you think they look cranky before coffee, you ought to have seen me
My Breakfast 'Womlet'
The Pingo is good because it is too small a dining room for the other much larger birding or photography tour groups. That means no competition for seating, being waited on or whatnot for our small group of five. I had the 'Womlet' which is half of a seafood omelet along with a Belgium waffle and fresh fruit. The omelet part of it was interesting, containing halibut, red king crab, brown rice and a little soy sauce. Much more savory than my normal breakfast fare, but it was tasty.
Yes, that was a hefty meal, but at least I managed to not give in - this morning - to the rack of crispy & fresh pastries made right at the Pingo.
Loved the red crab designs on the baskets
And I also restrained myself from buying or bartering for any of the interesting looking baskets on display.
After breakfast we hit the local Subway sandwich shop to buy our lunches, then we hit the road.
The first fun bird of the day was this Stick-nosed Chicken (Wilson's Snipe) we spotted on a phone line.
Our big goal for the day was to drive north to Coffee Hill, to hike around searching for one of the main target birds, the Bristle-thighed Curlew. Along the way we frequently stopped to check out what birds were singing or nesting, both of the above or doing their own thing.
Northern Water Thrush
At every stop there were hosts of little birdies, all singing their feathery bums off. Northern Water Thrushes trilled, Yellow Warblers and scads of Grey Cheeked Thrushes were flinging themselves into the air and winging it for fun of it all. Every stop I could hear the weird winnowing calls of the Stick-nosed... I mean, of the Wilson's Snipes, which uttering their traditional 'I'M HOT STUFF, COME NEST WITH ME!' calls.
Enough snow cold & ice there for ya Skippy?
A bridge stop
Where dem birbs at? Everywhere, I assure you.
Loved seeing Willow Ptarmigan mid-molt. They are snowy white in the winter and this bird is on it's way into molting into its brown summer plumage. I've only ever seen them before in brown summer plumage.
Surely this is a red-necked Chicken? Naw, it's a beautiful Willow Ptarmigan
I was in the center back seat, staring at the scenery for birds as we drove along. I caught a glimpse of a ducky sort of bird on the hillside. I shouted out to Rich and stopping, he backed up the car until the bird was in sight. We stared - a shore bird, but wth was it?
Then Rich called out,
'Bristle-thighed Curlew!'
Parked, we jumped out of the truck and headed uphill on the spongy and damp tundra. By the time we were atop the first hillock, the Curlew had meandered quite a distance, and what with the shrubbery I didn't quite get the once-in-a-lifetime photo of my 'Lifer' bird. Still, I was happy, and received back slaps n' pats from the guys for having spotted this bird that you pretty much have to go to Nome to see in North America.
That's as close as I got to a 'full body' shot of my Lifer bird. Alas, not close enough to see even a hint of it's bristled thighs (the sight of which is damned near to being birdie porn).
As the bird receded into the distance, Rich gave me a big ole' high five, saying, "I'm going to buy you a beer. You saved us three hours of trekking over Coffee Hill, searching for a Bristle-thighed Curlew."
Beer? Who needs a stupid beer?! My reward was not having to climb up hill over over dale looking for curlews! WHOOO HOOOO!
Yeah, the rest of the day was gravy. I was ecstatic when we spotted a lone male Musk Ox, galumphing along the roadway.
Does that beast have a tail.. .er... never mind...
By no means was that the final musk ox encounter of the day. When we stopped for lunch, I noticed fluff on the branches of shrubbery... holy crap... could that be Qiviut?! Qiviut is undercoat of muskoxen - a prized fiber. It is picked by tribal women for spinning into yarn and knitting up cool scarves and such. I nearly lost my XXX seeing the fiber, right there in front of my amazed eyes. In 1997 on my first trip to Alaska I had paid $30/oz for raw qiviut. Here was 'gold' you could spin, almost literally growing on trees!
I asked Rich to take my picture, something that I don't often find joy in, but this was an event worth commemorating for prosperity. Don't 'cha think I look the teensiest bit like I belong in the arctic?
As I picked a small bagful of qiviut, a big old herd of Muskoxen, with several adorbs calves appeared on a distant hillside. And as the day progressed I lost count of the number of Muskoxen seen.
There were playful calves in most of the herds spotted
But birds! So many species I don't see more than once in a decade.
Pacific Golden Plover in full on breeding duds
Arctic Tern - long wings and tail for long distance migration
Male Blackpoll Warbler that sang and put on a little show
American Tree Sparrow not in a tree
But wait! That's not all. Richard found us the kind of bird that birders dream of viewing... the Bluethroat!
And sadly, that is NOT my photograph. The Bluethroat - which flies in from Eurasia - landed itself on shrubbery and didn't hang around long enough for impressive photos to be taken. Oh well. You don't want to see my photo of the bird. No really - you don't.
Of the equally valuable non-birdie sort, this Snowshoe Hare has shed mostly shed its white winter coat
Saw loads of other birds of course, but the little devils didn't necessarily get close enouh or still enough for photos. Ah! The week isn't over yet so there is a lot to look forward to. The best 'thing' of the day were the Muskoxen. I've long wanted to see the magnificent critters and now I've seen dozens and the week is young.
It's been 17 years since my last visit to AK. Not sure how I stayed away for so long. I was supposed to be here last year, but you know - sick. So, here I am making up for lost time. Flew to Seattle on Tuesday and on to Anchorage today. I arrived late morning, but my flight to Nome was not until early evening. That left me with loads of hours to fill between my flights. There was nothing to do but wander the Anchorage Airport and kill time. I'm an excellent time killer. I mean, time 'filler'.
Wandering about I admired the loads of artwork scattered about
There were a pair of Canada Goose in the terminal... I watched, but as they didn't do anything but stare back, I moved along.
I gave in to a little window shopping at the many, I mean MANY shops in the terminal These fur scarves were interesting...
The 'rose' on the fur is - well, it's fur.
Interesting how the Alaska furs are snipped and dyed so artistically. I wonder in what other states could one wear a fur and not get rode out of town on a rail?
Stop trying to tempt me into purchase oh baskets with cute bone ornaments in their middles - salmon left basket, bear to the right
Got a kick out of this tee-shirt
There is a small museum of Native Alaskan 'arts', i.e., beautiful hand made tools, baskets, clothing and such, in the Terminal. Hurrah! I got my museum fix.
Superlative collection of baskets from many regions of Alaska
Grass socks made of native Alaskan grasses. I think they would be worn inside one's seal skin boots.
This is an intricate loon mask
I was so busy photographing the flags over this archway that I paid no attention to the words "Do Not Enter". I innocently wanted through it and as a result I had to go through TSA yet again. *sigh*
These flags were too much distraction for me
At long last it was time for my First Class from Anchorage to Nome. First Class fare to Nome was only a little bit more than coach fares, so why not? Thus I had my first ever fancy schmansie first class flight. Go me! Waited until the lady next to me hit the rest room to ask the air hostess to take my picture. If they could see me now! *dons top hat, grabs cane'.
The route from Anchorage to Nome isn't direct. The jet first flies north of Nome to the ensie wiensy town of Kotzebue. Now THAT is a small airport!
Beautiful Downtown Kotzebue
The Nome Airport was just as small too, but I've flown into smaller. At the Nome Airport I spotted my Yellowbilled Tours owner and leader, Richard Cimino. He is a cheery fellow who introduced me to the rest of our group: Tom, Bill and Rolly. Richard drove us to the Aurora Inn where our rooms awaited us. The Aurora was stuffed to the gills with birders and photographers from around the world.
Dropping off our luggage and we were off, first for some reconnoitering over dinner at a Nome diner. Here we were practically reminded that 'eats' are super expensive when pretty much everything must be flown in. At our table, Richard gave each of us a folder containing lists of birds we hope to see and a map showing the routes he will drive us over this week.
Once we were all wised up, we headed out for a little evening birding. As Nome is just a little south of the Arctic Circle, we had daylight a plenty. We drove east, adjacent to the Bering Sea, where lots of gold dredging get-ups were on the sandy beach. Richard said that gold dredging is a bustling business in Nome, as vast numbers of Ruth Goldberg sort of home-made vehicles hunt for gold. There is a required distance from shore for the gold dredging, is based on the size of the dredging contraption.
But we were here for the birds - so many birds! There were three types of Jaegers overhead, loads of Arctic Terns, Brant Geese flew along or lolled along the Bering Sea.
Red-necked Loon
Bar-tailed Godwit, a shore bird I don't see too often
And of course the reason there are so many species of birds up in Nome, is NESTING! Loads of different birds - warblers, shorebirds, several gull species, ducks and the lot, visit Nome to take advantage of the nesting opportunities.
A Long-tailed Jaeger nesting on a little hillock
Beautiful and wary Red-necked Loon nesting in reeds on a small pond
When we'd very nearly had our fill of night time/daylight birding, we headed back to the Aurora Inn to ready ourselves for tomorrow's adventures.
