Today we started birding at the edge of town, in the once-upon-a-town, Ukpiaġvik, which is Inupiat for 'the place where we hunt Snowy Owls'. Just today, on this spot today Snowy Owls were absent, unless counting the giant beauty on the huge sign above. The ancient village site is next to the ocean and we crossed a wooden boardwalk, out over to bluffs to to look out over the iced-over, therefore, unviewable sea.
Long ago, the prehistoric village was dotted with homes of thick earth walls, set into the ground. They looked like yurts (bottom center-ish on the photo above) with elongated entryways. The homes had low entrances to help keep cold air at bay. The people there heated their homes with whale oil, and yes, those brave hunters back then hunted the gigantic bowhead whales, and their descendants today continue to do so.
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| The wooden boardwalk |
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| At the bluffs, but looking back towards the town |
There were not a lot of birds present today, but there were some flitting about.
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| White-rumped Sandpiper, pecking around for insects |
Lapland Longspur in similar pursuit.
The view from the bluffs almost confusing. I mean, you can see plenty of snow, but where is the ocean exactly? It's under the massive stretches of slowly melting snow.
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| Where is the ocean exactly? |
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| Close up of a newly melting spot of snow bound ocean by the shore. |
Next we drove off to the hinterlands. Richard driving carefully along while the other 4 of us had our eyes peeled for whatever 'cool' birds we could spot.
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| Pectoral Sandpiper, named for its breast striping |
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| skittering Amercan Golden-Plover |
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| Molting American Golden Plover |
One Plover was molting, and showed an interesting and artistic pattern on its face.
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| Montezuma Quail |
We all thought it might really be a Montezuma Quail, though we are a tad north of the quail's New Mexico habitat.
Richard told us on his every spring visit to Ukpiaġvik, a different bird species is the most numerous. One year sepia tinted Long-tailed ducks might be sparse, the next year they might be everywhere, every time you turn around.
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| Lovely male (rear) and female (in front), Long-tailed ducks |
This year's super numerous species is Red Phalarope, many circling like tops in every puddle. Next year? Ostriches? Uh... maybe not.
Sally spotted something different - a Ruddy Turnstone, racing about down from another bluff we drove along. The turnstone - assuming it was a turnstone - then promptly vanished, causing Sally to suspect she'd hallucinated (as we all assume when stupid birds are here one second and gone the next. Luckily, by a miracle the bird raced in front of my camera's viewfinder, so I got shots. Shortly thereafter, several Ruddys popped up, and we were delighted to add a new species to our trip list.
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| Ruddy Turnstone, which is also not a Montezuma Quail |
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(not my photo)
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After assuring ourselves we'd located & recorded every single feathered neighbor of the Ruddy Turnstone, loons, gulls, ducks and all, we drove over to a mining area with an enormous mini-lake. There we spotted a lovely flotilla of yesterday's lifer Stellar Eiders. The females are rather drab brown, but the males have a wonderful lime icee pompom on the backs of their noggins.
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| Flotilla of Steller's |
But today's goal is to find our final 'lifer' Eider, We drove along a road where an 'informant' (not CIA, a trip leader in a van) told us we should find our target bird. The road was a semi-dreadful Ukpiaġvik road, and Rich told us to hold onto our seats as he sped through an obstacle course of puddles. Uh... no. The mini-van we were in didn't have 4 wheel drive, this being Ukpiaġvik, not Palm Springs. I was already sitting quietly in the car, telling myself a beautiful lie, that life would go on as normal if I didn't get to see a Spectacled Eider on this trip. Woe is me, right? Just then, Rich stopped, calling there was a duck or something on the road up ahead. HOLY MOSES PACKING A SIBLEY GUIDE!
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| Lifer Spectacled Eider stopping to stare at us mid road crossing! |
The incredible, marmalade-billed, lime green with a blot of vanilla sherbet headed eider, was waddling north on the road, headed for a little pond. Behind him, in quite a hurry, raced Mrs. Spectacled Eider.
The Mrs. was cryptically feathered, difficult to see against the dried grasses.
Both finally arrived at the little pond right around the time we were all done high-fiving and trying not to shout with birder's 'GOT THE LIFER!' relief.
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| Having a swim in their private ice pond |
Huzzah! It's wonderful getting to see all three of the Eiders I hoped to see. Such bizarre birds in their feathering. Look at that drake below. Doesn't he look like he got a bit plastered, then fell asleep at a frat party? The next day, waking to the sound of his buddies laughing, the poor sod must have peered down into the water, and saw THAT face, someone must have stenciled on him with a Sharpie.
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| "If I ever catch the bozo that did this to me..." |
Lapland Longspur in similar pursuit.
