It was still miserable the next morning, but the gang had gotten the duck and the pipit, so Judy especially was happy! We set out for North Point, our best chance at King Eider for Nancy, and miracle of miracles, there he was in the surf! He kept coming closer, too! We also had lots of Harleys and vocalizing Oldsquaws in a pond, plus some very cooperative Rock Sandpipers along with a turnstone!
Hike to North Point Ruddy Turnstone
Rock Sandpipers
Distant King Eider Long-tailed Ducks (males have the long tail)
Becky said the hike to the only good Red-legged Kittiwake cliff was quite a trek, so we opted to go to the cliffs we went to previously, where Marshall said the one nesting Redleg was still in the same position (we were hoping it might be turned towards us or standing up so you could see the red legs). But we got great looks at all the regulars, including peek-a-boo puffins and cormorants (and Pelagics this time, too). We headed back for one last wonderful lunch, then took one last peek at a pond where Kevin could drop off the Magic Ball (an orange fishing buoy that all the VENT tours sign and then leave in this one field; there was a trip from the 90s still visible!). It was still kinda drizzly so a few of us opted to stay in the bus while Kevin et al took the thing out and laid it to rest with great sentimentality, it looked like! I had the job of guarding the doorway to ensure no foxes would wander in (seriously; they were quite tame there) and heard this strange doodly-doodly-doodly that sounded familiar from the tape, but I couldn't place it. Turned out to be a displaying Wood Sandpiper (probably the same bird as before)! We got one last look at a Red-legged Kittiwake bathing in a pond before we got word that the plane was coming in (there was always the possibility that it would be so socked in that the plane couldn't land, and conversely fly out, so that we'd inadvertently have an extra day there), so we headed over to the airport and checked in. We teased Kevin because a sign up on the wall declared that all antlers had to be shipped; he had just told us the story of how he was once barred from taking a set of Moose antlers on the plane because they could have been used as a weapon! We lounged around awhile, then boarded our tiny little Saab for Anchorage (with no refueling stops; that surprised us)! Had some great views of glaciers and ice fields coming in, but boy was it good to get back to a warmer, sunnier climate!
One last visit to the cliffs...
Red-faced Cormorant Black-legged Kittiwakes (on nest at left)
Parakeet Auklets Fulmar Tufted Puffin
The gang goes to deposit the Magic Ball, an old fishing buoy which VENT participants autograph each year!
Ice fields coming into Anchorage