Denali National Park!

Today was awesome!!!

We left Trapper Creek this morning and drove to Denali National Park! It was too cloudy to see Mt. McKinley, but it was sunny to start out (a rarity up here) so I went for a hike! Margaret was not feeling up to a hike so I went out alone and chose a "moderately strenuous" trail through a spruce and birch forest along the ridge of a mountain! I was probably not in shape enough for a 400ft elevation change with 15% grades, but was beautiful and a ton of fun!! And hiking through the spruce trees, I was able to find a SPRUCE GROUSE!! Another life bird for me! It didn't take long while I was hiking for the blue skies to turn to poofy grey clouds that quickly began pouring rain. I got soaked, but it was a lot of fun anyway, and the rain even helped keep the mosquitoes away! Below are some photos from my hike!

After we left Denali, we drove though Healy and saw THE Fairbanks 142 bus that was used in the Into the Wild movie! An exact replica of the one that Chris McCandless actually stayed (and died) in. If you don't know what I am talking about, go read Into the Wild, and then watch the movie! It is an excellent book, and I don't even like reading. A little farther down the road, we actually passed Stampede Trail!!! The road that he hiked into Denali on and where he stayed in the bus for the summer. When I first found out I would be coming to Alaska, I hoped I would be able to see some of the places Chris McCandless was, like Denali and Fairbanks, but I NEVER imagined seeing the bus from the movie or seeing the actual Stampede Trail! I wish I could have hiked down that way a little bit but it was raining, and getting late anyway.

On the way to Fairbanks we saw a moose with a calf and then as I looked out on a little pond at some ducks, I saw ANOTHER moose getting a drink of water! Tonight and tomorrow night we are staying in Fairbanks. Tomorrow afternoon we will head out with some researchers who study breeding Boreal Owls. We will even get to watch them band some chicks out of a nest box!! I can't wait!

Of Birds and Mosquitoes

Yesterday we didn't do any driving, we relaxed in Soldotna, walked around town, and birded some at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. We went on what was supposed to be a guided hike with he NWR naturalist, but since it was only Margaret and I and since the naturalist's husband is an ornithologist, it turned into a bird walk down an off-trail path to see breeding Aleutian Terns.... LIFE BIRDS for both Margaret and me!! While we were looking at the terns and completely drenched in deet, thousands of mosquitoes were buzzing around our heads, bouncing off our arms, landing on our jackets, and biting my legs through my pants! Totally worth it :) Aleutian Terns are pretty distinct and pretty awesome!!

Braving the mosquitoes for a life bird at Kenai NWR!!

Today we drove from Soldotna over to Seward and then headed north towards Denali. We made it as far as Trapper Creek, AK. On the way though Seward, we stopped to bird along a road that was right on the edge of the water. We saw another harbor seal along with six Marbled Murrlets, a Black Oystercatcher, and   lots of Harlequin Ducks, including at least 3 males in breeding plumage!!

Marbled Murrlet in Seward, AK

Tonight we are at mile 114.6 on the Parks Highway and Mt. McKinnley was supposed to be visible from mile 115.6 so I walked down the road once we set up camp but all I saw was trees and no mountain view of any kind. It was nice to get out and walk anyway and even though the sky was totally blue to the north, I made it back just before the hail started from the storm coming in from the south!

Pretty scenery along the roadside

330 Year Birds for 2013!

Here are some trip numbers:

I have been gone for 23 days
I have seen 225 species of birds since I left Mansfield, Ohio on June 12th
72 species have been Life Birds!
84 have been new 2013 year birds
I have added birds in 8 states
and 2 Canadian provinces.

These have contributed to me seeing 330 species so far in 2013 and 362 life birds!

Today we left Homer and birded at a few locations between Homer and Soldotna, where we are staying tonight. We didn't see anything new or especially exciting,bird wise, but we did see another Harbor Seal and another Moose! I got out of the car to walk down a trail to try to see the moose better but it had vanished. I did see some evidence of a moose being around though!

My size 7.5 shoe with a fresh moose footprint!

We drove through Anchor Point, Alaska today, which is the most western city in the US that can be accessed from a highway! We also went to the most expensive grocery store I have been in yet, in Soldotna. I spent $29.08 on apples, bananas, a loaf of bread, and a Halibut filet. I cut the filet in strips and breaded and fried it tonight for dinner! It was caught in Homer, so I'm assuming it was fairly fresh and it was DELICIOUS!! It was the best fish I have had yet!

The view from the campground in Homer where we stayed last night!

HAPPY 4th!!!

I haven’t had reliable internet recently so that’s why you haven’t seen any posts from me. It has been an eventful few days though!!

Two days ago we mostly drove and didn’t do any real birding. Even still, I saw some Common Redpolls while I hopped out to take some pictures at a rest stop!! They are one of my favorite winter birds and I saw my lifer Common Redpoll on my birthday this year, I saw them again in the Upper Peninsula and finally had one on my feeder in March!!

Yesterday we drove through Anchorage to Homer, Alaska. Alaska is SO beautiful!! (Not that I doubted it would be!) We stopped outside of Anchorage to bird at Potter Marsh after we passed a MOOSE on the highway munching on leaves!! Potter Marsh was beautiful and I saw some nice birds! Probably the best were the pair of Artic Terns with their fledgling!! I watched (and took photos) as one of the parents continually caught small fish for the baby. The baby begged but the adult must have been trying to get the fledgling to eat on its own because instead of feeding the baby, it just dropped the fish in front of the baby! The baby continued begging and the adult continued dropping fish on the rock next to the baby! I also saw some fuzzy baby Mew Gulls!

Notice all the fish on the rock left by this fledgling Arctic Tern's parents!

Last night we stayed at a campground right on the Homer spit. I wandered along the spit and looked at lots of amazing artwork being sold by local artists. After I was bored with shops and people, I walked along the beach back towards the campground. I was talking to my mom on the phone and I nearly dropped the phone while grabbing my binoculars when five birds flew above my head… Brant geese!!! I knew what they were before I got my binoculars but they were life birds for me so I wanted a good look!! I got a great look and I was excited because these are geese that I had been searching for last fall in Ohio!!

This morning we went out on a boat to look for sea birds and other marine animals! It was a TON of fun and I saw several new life birds and mammals! I even saw a sea star, which hopefully one of my marine biology friends will be able to identify for me! My favorite animals of the trip were Tufted Puffins and a Harbor Seal!! So awesome! I also saw sea otters, pigeon gillemots, common murres, black-legged kittiwakes, pelagic cormorants, bald eagles, black turnstones, glaucous-winged gulls, a few herring gulls and a common raven! I even got to see one of the young bald eagles get a pigeon gillemot!

Common Murres on Gull Island 

An immature Bald Eagle right before its Pigeon Gillemot dinner!

Sea Otters hanging around Gull Island in Homer, Alaska

After the boat trip, we went birding at Wynn Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful park with a pretty nice trail system! Although, at one point we accidentally started following the trail maintained by the moose instead of the trail maintained by the park and ended up turning around when we reached a bog! I didn't see any moose, but I did see plenty of moose turds and I picked up some moose fur! Moose fur is hollow to keep them warm. I never knew that! (Or if I did, I forgot!)

Some type of Lupin in Alaska

Another lovely glacier view, this one is from Wynn Nature Reserve in Homer, Alaska

Whitehorse, Yukon (The REAL Best Place on Earth)

Today we spent the whole day in Whitehorse, Yukon. I woke up this morning around 2:45 and it was STILL light outside!! It never got dark last night, if I wasn't so tired, I may have stayed out to enjoy it! This morning, we birded in the campground to start, but the birds were not out singing or moving. We walked around and explored downtown Whitehorse. I am not usually a fan of cities at all, but I love this city!! I really feel like I could fit in happily here. We went to Alpine Bakery, which is mostly organic foods and snacks. I got an amazingly delicious chocolate walnut roll. Afterwards, we drove around looking for a place called the Fish Ladder. We got there in time to watch a fish filleting and grilling demonstration! I tried a really tasty Arctic Char with spruce maple seasoning! If you are interested in a new flavor for you fish, try adding spruce tips, maple syrup, grainy mustard, and salt/pepper to taste. I also squeezed some lemon juice onto mine... and I think I could have eaten about 3 whole fish, it was so good!

Whitehorse, Yukon

While we waited at the Fish Ladder for the Yukon Birding Club, a porcupine showed up outside!! It was so cute, and since it wandered in behind a fence, I was able to be about 2 feet away from it! We met up with the YBC and entomologist Syd Cannings for a field trip to a local pond to look for birds and damselflies. It was a TON of fun!! I ran around catching dragonflies for a while, saw my lifer Gray Jays and Olive-sided Flycatcher, caught a Wood Frog, spotted a White-winged Scoter (a year bird for Margaret), saw a Red Fox, got some great contacts for coming back up here to do some research, learned a lot about local plants and insects, met some really cool people, and overall, just had an AWESOME time!! One really interesting thing I learned is that most of the birds in this area are Eastern birds (Myrtle Warbler, instead of Audubon's, Yellow-shafted Flicker, instead of red, Slate-colored Junco, instead of Oregon, etc.) This is because of the way the glaciers receded. As the moved down, they still blocked the western species from expanding their territories, but the eastern species were able to expand westward from the north. By the time the glaciers were gone, the eastern species had already taken over the area so the westerns couldn't move in! Other areas near here to the south have all of the normal western species, but up here, they get a lot of the same birds we see in Ohio! Cool, right!?

Syd Cannings teaching the YBC about Damselflies

Me properly holding a live dragonfly so I could examine it better!

Green Bog Orchid

YBC catching insects in a local pond

After we left the YBC field trip, we went back in Whitehorse and explored the S.S. Klondike and found some Mew Gulls and Arctic Terns!

S. S. Klondike

What an awesome day!! Tomorrow (Sunday) we are heading to Alaska and probably won't have internet for a few days. I will post again as soon as I can! Until then, check out some of my trip photos on my facebook page!

Why did the Ruffed Grouse Cross the Road?

To get to her chicks!

Here she is crossing in front of the RV on the Cassier Highway (We were stopped!) to chase after her ~8 chicks that ran to the other side! My best guess is that the chicks were 3-4 days old.

Ruffed Grouse female

We are on the AlCan and made it to the Yukon Territory!! We are staying two nights in Whitehorse, Yukon. The Yukon is awesome! Everything I imagined it to be and more... Tomorrow we are planning on going out on a bird/dragonfly walk with the Yukon Bird Club as long as we can find the location! We will also be heading out to explore the Yukon in the Whitehorse area and look for birds at some local hotspots!

I took this photo of myself in the beautiful Yukon Territory

In addition to the Ruffed Grouse, we also saw a Northern Hawk Owl today in a recovering burned area. He was awesome and just sat in the tree hunting while I got great looks through my binoculars and snapped some photos! Margaret and I saw both of these birds on our trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in February with Ethan Kistler and Gary Cowell, but it was fun to see them again, and find them on our own! I must have good luck at spotting Ruffed Grouse, because I was the one that found them both times!!

Northern Hawk Owl

Getting close to Alaska!

Yesterday was a ton of fun! We drove up the Cassier Hwy part way, then turned onto the Glacier Hwy to Stewart, BC/Hyder, Alaska. We spent the afternoon birding and sightseeing in Stewart/Hyder. I saw four new life birds! Northwestern Crow and Mew Gull in British Columbia, and Varied Thrush and Pacific Wren in Alaska! Varied Thrush is an awesome bird with a really neat and unique song! Visit this link to see and hear a Varied Thrush: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/varied_thrush/sounds

Yesterday morning we also visited some first nations people's totem poles and a really old, beautiful church and bell tower (see below). The Cassier Highway is proving to be extremely beautiful! Today, even though it rained the whole day, we saw some incredible scenery and even saw some good birds and a second American Black Bear!!

 As beautiful as the area is, I am extremely disappointed and saddened by the amount of clear cutting going on up here. It is unbelievable how many trucks go by filled with logs, how many timber yards have thousands and thousands of trees piled up and how many lovely mountain-sides are completely bare, torn up, and ugly.

Tomorrow we head up the rest of the Cassier Hwy to the Yukon and hopefully make to the Alaskan Hwy!

Glacier View

Today was eventful. It was pouring rain when we woke up and most of the morning. It sprinkled off and on the rest of the day as well. We drove 370 miles today and since it wasn't all looping up and down mountains, we actually made some progress towards Alaska! We are staying the night in Smithers, BC which isn't too far from the Cassier Highway that we will be taking up to the Yukon!

We made a few stops for some quick birding, stretching, running, and dog walking and heard three new birds for the trip: Alder Flycatcher, Hammond's Flycatcher and White-throated Sparrow! Here is one of the rest areas where we stopped along the highway:

While we were on the road, I was listening to music with my eyes closed (not sleeping!) when I was startled by a loud noise and something hitting my face. Apparently a truck threw a rock into the windshield right in front of me and it hit hard enough to shatter a part of the window and send little glass shards flying onto me!

Before we arrived at the campground, we stopped at an RV wash. It was actually fun to get out and wash the RV and try to get all the bugs off.

Tonight we are staying at a campground called Glacier View, and it does have a beautiful view, although the glaciers are nearly melted. Here's what I'm seeing:

Q is for Quail

Today was a fun day! I am really enjoying British Columbia... the birds and scenery don't get much better! This morning we saw a nice variety of birds at a rest stop along the highway! We picked up Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-naped Sapsukers and more! We continued driving up and down mountains to get to Osoyoos to bird. Osoyoos is a very beautiful city that doesn't seem like it belongs in North America. It is also the home to some excellent birds! We found at least three pairs of Osprey, two on nests, and I picked up five life birds: Long-billed Curlew, Black-headed Grosbeak, Cinnamon Teal, California Quail, and Yellow-breasted Chat!

The quail was so cute, and I found him just by luck! After I found him, I later saw two females and Margaret found another female leading seven young quail across the path! I looked in time to see the last one scurrying behind. It was fun to see that quail because I remember quails from my ABC flashcards as a young child. I always remember seeing the funny bird on the Q is for Quail card and thinking there wasn't really a bird that looked like that!

California Quail

So far on the trip I have seen 55 life birds!! I also hit another milestone on my life list; the Long-billed Curlew made 100 life birds that I have seen just this year! I left Ohio with 290 species on my list and I currently have 345! How many do you think I will end up with by the time I return to Ohio?

A view of Osoyoos from a mountain

The Best Place on Earth

Yesterday we did more driving than birding and ended up in British Columbia. When we crossed the border the sign said "Welcome, The Best Place on Earth" and it didn't take long being in BC to realize that weren't kidding when they put that on the welcome sign! BC is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen (and not even *actually* seen.) It is prettier than anything you see in photos and the movies. See for yourself...

Although we didn't do any major birding, I still saw six new life birds!! The campground we stayed in the night before in Montana had a nice trail down to a river. We hiked that trail in the morning and I saw a Chestnut-backed Chickadee and a Violet-green Swallow! While checking my email outside, I had a Black-chinned Hummingbird hovering about 10 feet in front of my face, just long enough for me to get an amazing look at him!!!

Along Route 3 in BC, we pulled off on the side of the road and there happened to be a trail down to the lake pictured above. We took the trail, mainly because there was snow and I have been wanting to play in the snow since I saw some on the mountain tops a few days ago! It ended up being great birding!! I saw my lifer  Steller's Jays which made me happy because they remind me of one of my favorite birds from Guatemala! I also saw lifer Mountain Chickadees and a Barrow's Goldeneye!

I also saw a mountain goat while driving yesterday! No pictures, but it was pretty cool to see!! The mammals on this trip are just as interesting as the birds, and I have been very lucky to see so many neat mammal species already!! Next I am hoping for bears :)

We are getting ready to leave Catherine Lake, BC to head further north towards Prince George. I can't wait to see what kind of beautiful scenery and birds I will find today!!

Here's a photo I took through the window of the view we had while driving!

Mountains and Eagles

The last two nights, Margaret and I stayed in an extremely rustic campground at the top of a mountain! It was beautiful and relaxing and we saw some great birds including roughly 100+ Red Crossbills calling and foraging in the pines! I saw many new life birds but I think my favorite was the Clark's Nutcracker! The other life birds I saw at that campground in the Little Rocky Mountains were Red-naped Sapsucker, Say's Phoebe, Spotted Towhee, Townsend's Solitaire, and an amazing look at a white-throated Swift!

Margaret took a beautiful hike 3 miles up the mountain and the scenery was unforgettable. Last night was also got to enjoy a long thunder and lightening show from our mountain top camp site. The dogs disagreed about it being enjoyable, but I was happy!

The view from our hike through the Little Rocky Mountains in Zortman, Montana

This morning we woke up early and went to the Charles M. Russel National Wildlife Refuge. There was a beautiful 19 mile auto tour but we only made it through about 3 miles before the flooding was too bad to continue. It was disappointing that we didn't get to see the rest, but I still saw two life birds: Lazuli Bunting and Bullock's Oriole! Along the way from there to where we are now (Great Falls, Montana) I got another life bird and one of the most beautiful birds I have seen!! This awesome GOLDEN EAGLE!!!

Tonight we are staying in Great Falls and hoping to head up to Calgary, Alberta tomorrow. I heard from a friend today that the area is flooding badly and roads are closed, so we will see how that goes, but we will be looking for Great Gray Owls within the next few days!!