The next day Kevin got to sleep in (he was feeling pretty miserable) while the rest of us went to Fat Freddie's for breakfast; it so happened that everyone at our table (Phil, Walter, and Merrill) was ex-military, so we sat around telling war stories! Dorothy also asked me to check behind my TV for an air freshener, as they were doing everything they could to make "the stinky van" more bearable! After that we took a potty break and then headed out the Kougarok Road, which was fantastic! It was mostly upland tundra habitat, and at the first stop had a singing Yellow Wagtail, plus Tree Sparrows and snipe. A little further on we had a Pacific Golden Plover, and in the dickey department we had both redpolls (some of which were stained yellow from pollen), Whiteys and Goldies (sparrows) in their summer homes, and Wilson's Warblers and Northern Waterthrushes singing from the willows. The best treat for me, however, was several roadside Willow Ptarmigan! Further we found a few Rocks, and Kevin gave us what was probably the best ID clue yet: the Rocks stay white later than the Willows! He also told us to check the bill size to differentiate the females: Willow has a bigger schnozz. The most visible mammal was Arctic Ground Squirrel, affectionately called Low-brush Grizzlies by the guys…
Heading out the Kougarok Road
Willow Ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird (males above, female at left)
Male Rock Ptarmigans (right) keep their white winter plumage much later than male Willows; females (left) are almost identical to Willows and must be differentiated by subtleties such as bill size.
This was the raptor road as well, as a harrier kept spooking the ptarmigans. We had a displaying Spotted Sandpiper along with a Semipal around Salmon Lake (frozen over), and as we hugged the Kougarok River we had several things that liked the rushing water, including Harlequin Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, and a Wandering Tattler! But before long we came to some more heath where Marshall (I think) heard a Bluethroat, and as we all piled out and Kevin played the tape, this displaying male put on a great show! Most everyone with digitals got great shots!
Kougarok River and associated birds... Wandering Tattler
Harlequin Ducks
The guys find the prize of the day: a displaying (showing off the tell-tale rufous tail
Bluethroat! feathers. This photo was taken with
the "naked" 10x optical zoom;
compare with the digiscoped images
below!)
The two left pictures were taken through Kevin's scope; the two right ones were taken through Nancy's
Heading on, we had a neat pair of nesting Long-tailed Jaegers, and at a potty stop several Varied Thrushes were singing ethereally. We stopped for lunch at a little grove of trees that was jumping with stuff (Kevin said one tour group found a Black-capped Chickadee here, which is a rarity, so the pressure was on), so while the guys set the food out we wandered around and added Yellow, Blackpoll, and Orange-crowned Warblers to the list, as well as more waterthrushes and Wilson's.
Lunch stop Nesting Long-tailed Jaeger
After lunch we found some open water with Black Scoters, a pair of Red-necked Grebes, and some Greater Scaup. As we got higher we got into American Golden Plover territory, with the flared white stripe, and as we headed over the pass with its boulders surrounded by snow we looked for Wheatear; I couldn't get over how much it looked like that national park in Norway that my guide Frode took me to! We also had a large herd of Reindeer, which Kevin told us not only were introduced but were only considered a smaller race of Caribou, not a separate species. But it wasn't long before we arrived at Coffee Dome (actually, the hill across from it), the famous Bristle-thighed Curlew Death March Site, and the guys were right: it did look rather innocuous, but you had to hike through tussocks, and that's how Alice broke her ankle last time! So she, Jean, and I decided to "guard the vans" while the rest of the crew went for the curlew. The Covills both brought dual hiking sticks, and Ray said later that had it not been for them, he would have fallen 50 times! (We were told it was like hiking over bowling balls covered with loose carpet...) Kevin and Marshall headed the pack, but the instructions were to go slow and take your time; they'd locate the bird and then wait for everyone to catch up. We three girls had a good time; at one point I walked back to a little culvert, praying a Grizzly wasn't hiding in there (multiple bear stories prevented me from doing my planned 20 minute out and back exercise walk), when suddenly a ptarmigan exploded from the side of the road and nearly gave me a heart attack! Had some fighting Tree Sparrows down there, and on the upper five minute leg, I thought I did see a bear in the distance, which sent me scrambling back to the vans, but it turned out to be a bear-shaped bush! So I sat and listened while the girls read, and had Red-shouldered Hawk-like Long-tailed Jaegers flying overhead (they kinda reminded me of coyotes) and a Whimbrel, but they didn't scare a Bristle-thighed our way! (Kevin told the story of how on one trip, one British fellow went down the road to "check out a bush", and came running back saying, "I heard something that sounded like a Black-bellied Plover!" So they all hightailed it down the road, Kevin played the tape, and there came the curlew, right next to the road! He didn't think that was ever gonna happen again in a million years, but I sure wouldn't mind trying it...) Presently we could see the gang coming over the hill, and they had success! They had surrounded the bird and Marshall got some great shots (as far as I could tell with the glare); if he ever sends me one I'll post it here (hint, hint, Marshall ☺)!
Scenes on the way to the Bristle-thighed Curlew site Going over the pass
Introduced Reindeer, which is actually just a smaller race of Caribou
Female American Golden Plover The infamous knoll which one must traverse to see the endemic
curlew (looks pretty innocent from this angle, huh?)
Those desperate enough to try for this bird ready themselves for the Death March (I was not among them...)
And they're off!
Some of us kept to the relative safety of the road; here Alice examines a willow
Even along the road you have to be American Tree Menacing sky against the mountains
careful, as a Grizzly could easily hide in Sparrow
the willows!
The trekkers return, led by Ray and Ruth...
...and they had success! (Marshall, Ray, Walter, Happy campers! (L-R, standing: Alice, Jeanie, Nancy, Dorothy,
and Merrill) Merrill, Phil, Ruth, Ray, me, Jean, and Grace; kneeling: Kevin and
Marshall (Walter's taking the picture...)
Heading back down the road...
Heading on, Grace spotted a Merlin in a small tree, which subsequently took off and caught a vole or something when we blinked! Kevin headed on down to a place by the river where you could look down on what used to be a Gyrfalcon nest, but this time it was apparently being used by a Rough-legged Hawk! He gave great views and even vocalized for us! A Say's Phoebe was also hanging around the building where we parked, and we smiled at the family down by the river who were swimming with the minimal amount of clothing on, while we were all wrapped up in cold weather gear! Kevin drove us down to the end of the road where there's a bridge and more BT Curlew territories, but they're much harder to get to (and he ran into a bear in one territory he was scouting out), so the Coffee Dome pair is known as the "sacrificial pair".
Dark morph Rough-legged Hawks Local family down by the river (it must feel a lot
warmer to them than to us!)
Walter philosophizes with Ray and Phil... Bridge at the end of the road
Heading back...
More scenes going back... Crag that hosted a Gyrfalcon nest
The two vans accidentally got separated at that point, but we finally got connected and all headed out to Pilgrim Springs, an old orphanage site, where there was a small poplar forest. We got a few more things in there such as Gray-cheeked Thrush, Cliff Swallows, Lesser Yellowlegs, and Rusty Blackbird, plus tons of displaying snipe. I almost didn't go because it was already sprinkling with a threat of heavier rain (which it made good on), but decided to join them after all, and I'm glad I did, despite the wet! There had also been a Goshawk nest in previous years, but we dipped on that, so we headed on back, enjoying a very tame Tree Swallow that watched us from the fence!
Meadow at Pilgrim Springs Heading into the poplar forest
Here comes the yukky stuff!
Inside the forest Lesser Yellowlegs
White-crowned Sparrows (something for my fellow San Diegans to Tree Swallow
ponder--these could be the very same individuals that spend the winter
in your back yard!)
On the way back down the road, we stopped again at Salmon Lake for some more Black Scoters (these were closer to the road), and had another Rough-legged Hawk sitting by the road, only this one was extremely pale, with a dark belly band! We were enjoying the spectacular scenery and more of Kevin's stories when I noticed a couple of birds whizzing across the road in front of us and yelled, and at least one of them turned out to be a Gyrfalcon! We all piled out and got great looks of him in flight, and then later as he was bombing a Golden Eagle sitting up on the mountain! That was a great last bird of the day!
Salmon Lake (I think...) Very pale morph
Rough-legged Hawk
Gyrfalcon mountain
Rainbow--a perfect end to the day!
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