June Week 3

21st June

Today was a day of rest. So a group of us headed out to Point Barrow mid morning were we had a fly over Long-tailed Jaeger, flocks of Long-tailed Ducks moving past along with the resident Glaucous Gulls at the whale carcass. As we arrived at the carcass a Polar Bear was wandering off over the ice shortly followed by a second that started of at the food source before moving off. A third bear was spotted distantly over the ice near the pressure ridges.



Once back at the trailer we headed off in a truck first to Freshwater Lake where there were a group of 4 King Eiders, 3 Arctic Terns and a male Spectacled Eider but the biggest surprise was on the journey through Barrow when an immature Bald Eagle flew along the coast landing on the edge of the sea ice. We continued to the landfill were a short scan over the marsh to the north produced the white male Ruff along side a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. A flock of 30 Snow Geese flew over before a group a four Canada Geese were spotted alongside Middle Salt Lagoon.

20th June

Winter set in today as snow flurries were frequent but the fine dusting had no impact, high of –1 degree celsius. This was to be our last day of foot surveys so it was going to be a long day. We drove right to the end of Gaswell Road and then walked a further kilometre to our starting point. The survey started immediately with a flyover Peregrine and the finding of a White-fronted Goose. The tundra held all the common species such as Lapland Longspur, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin and Parasitic Jaeger. Approaching the half way point a Arctic Fox jumped up into view before heading out over a marsh where a group of five distant Sandhill Cranes could be seen. After a brief lunch stop we headed back north seeing a pair of Spectacled Eiders on a flooded pool, 2 pairs of Red-throated Loons and a single Western Sandpiper (first one for Barrow).


Arctic Fox

19th June

An easy day for a change as temperatures fell to a high of 0 degrees Celsius. Continuing my recovery from my prolonged cold I was given a short plot for the day. The plot circled a lake that held the usual Pacific Loon, Pintail and Long-tailed Duck as well as a nesting Black Brant on a small island. Further on and a female King Eider was flushed from her nest. On route back to Narl a pair of Spectacled Eiders frequented a roadside pool.


Black Brant

18th June

The morning started as the fog rolled in, we headed out to the far end of Gaswell Road to another survey plot. With in the first few metres a bird appeared to my left, it was a large shorebird flying away thankfully it banked to reveal a long straight bill then all the plumage features confirmed a new world bird for me, a Hudsonian Godwit. The rest of the walk way very quiet with just a Pomarine Jaeger and 6 Spectacled Eiders.

After last night the two fox hunters headed to Point Barrow so I tagged along. The sun was out once again and on arrival we found a Polar Bear with a cub walking across the ice heading west. We follow them as the cub was having a great time running, sliding and generally playing across the ice as they moved. After a while a very distant bear appeared between the ice before disappearing again. The mum and cub that we think was maybe 2 years old (about 2/3 the size of the mother) did a big arch before heading back in towards the carcass. We stayed and watched them for a while feeding before leaving the to it as we headed back for bed.


Polar Bear

17th June

Temperatures started to decrease towards zero as the days plot was relatively quiet as 1 pair Spectacled and 8 King Eiders were counted as were 2 Pomarine Jaegers. I however found my first Long-tailed Duck nest along with 2 Glaucous Gulls nests.

Braving the cold still with my illness I just couldn’t stay behind when the whole gang were off on an ATV ride to Point Barrow. Travelling the 4 miles or so along the coast heading northeast on the shingle beach the clouds cleared to leave a glorious evening. Arriving at the point we pulled up on the ridge some 200m from a rotting pile of whale carcass from the previous years hunting. Straight away there was a shout, “there out on the ice” I looked and immediately locked onto the reason behind the trip as a Polar Bear walked off away over the ice. WOW! I looked left to see a second bear feeding on the whale without a care in the world surrounded by a couple hundred Glaucous Gulls. Further scanning gained two distant animals out on the sea ice.


Polar Bear

After staring in amazement at the bears for some time we continued past the most northern point of Alaska out to Plover Point the actually tip of the spit. On our return to Point Barrow the bears had returned with 4 in close proximity of the land and a further three distantly out on the ice. We just couldn’t believe that there were 7 animals out on view, beyond our wildest dreams! One bear was so chilled out he spent the whole time flat out on his tummy on a small pressure ridge of ice in the distance. At the end of our stay the bear feeding on the whale started to wander a little towards us as he sniffed the air, coming a little closer he could not smell us so he rose up onto his back legs to get a better sniff (what an impressive beast, thankfully he was still a safe distance). Still nothing, he took a few steps closer and tried again, this time he figured us out and turned the other way back out onto the ice. Ecstatic with the experience we left the bears in piece.


Polar Bear

16th June

The survey area today took me north of Gaswell Road up to the coast of the Beaufort Sea. It was another long day with 3 Spectacled and 10 King Eiders seen as well as 60 Snow Geese that flew overhead. The nest tally included 3 White-fronted Geese, American Golden Plover, Red Phalarope and Semipalmated Sandpiper.


American Golden Plover

15th June

Today was the day I finally succumbed to one of the illnesses floating around the house but not to grumble we headed out to the days plot. It was a nice sunny calm day and straight away a new bird for the whole trip flew over in the form of two Snow Geese. A little further and a male Spectacled Eider jumped up in front, then a pair of Long-tailed Jaegers flew over low before giving amazing views as they walked over the tundra past a White-fronted Goose sitting tight on her nest. The 16km hike finished several hours later with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper.


Long-tailed Jaeger


White-fronted Goose

June Week 2

14th June

Today I was given the pleasure of tramping through Footprint Lake with three other lucky people. The survey got off to a great start with a male Spectacled Eider, another flyby Long-tailed Jaeger with 2 Pomarines and then a scarcity for the area in the form of a Short-billed Dowitcher. Further on we finally found our goal 4 male and 2 female Steller’s Eider (a relief considering this has been the hotspot). For the last quarter of the walk we actually found dry tundra, which made the walking easier. The survey ended with 3 Ruddy Turnstones and 2 Killdeer on the edge of Middle Salt Lagoon.


Spectacled Eider

13th June

An early morning look along the beach got a Common Eider and 2 Red-throated Loons on a small area of open water were the Middle Salt Lagoon empties into the sea. Next a Killdeer flew past, not a bird I expected to see up here.

Today’s plot was adjacent to Freshwater Lake and the terrain was much more ideal for waterfowl. Starting off there were a pair of Pacific Loons on the lake with Arctic Tern flying overhead shortly followed by a Red-necked Grebe (scarce bird this far north). We were soon seeing birds along the plot with totals of 1 Spectacled and 20 King Eiders, 4 Yellow-billed Loons flew over, a Peregrine and then a distant lifer flew past, Long-tailed Jaeger (finally seen one!). Nests found today were two Semipalmated Sandpipers and a Dunlin.


King Eider

Returning back to the house one of the trappers (Fox control) had seen a Ruff so after our evening meal we headed out along Gaswell Road and turned off towards the landfill were we located the fine white male in all is splendour on an open marshy area. Also noted along the road was a pair of Steller’s Eiders.

12th June

Today was the start of foot surveys on a cloudy cool day. The team is split up into 3 groups of roughly four people and are given a plot that will be checked for any Steller’s and Spectacled Eiders along with any possible predators such as Snowy Owl, Jaegers, Glaucous Gull, Raven or Foxes. The plots vary in size and shape and seem to range between 8 and 16km of walking over the wet tundra.

The plot got of to a good start with a single Baird’s Sandpiper but the best bird was an adult male Snowy Owl that perched on small mounds. This year owls are very scarce due to the lack of food so I was pleased to get one on the first survey plot. Whilst walking around its inevitable to bump into the odd nest or so, I managed a Greater White-fronted Goose, Long-billed Dowitcher and a Lapland Longspur.


Snowy Owl

11th June

Most of the day was spent with final training for the foot surveys with just the return of the Yellow-billed Loon being noted along with a flock of 60 Common Eiders migrating over the sea ice.

10th June

A morning jolly up Gaswell Road started off with a Gadwall, followed by 7 Pomarine Jaegers and 2 Black Brant with Eiders noted as follows 8 Steller’s, 4 Spectacled and a King.


Steller’s Eider

An evening trip added a Peregrine to the list as the fog started to roll in.

9th June

The only birding today was a trip down to Freshwater Lake on the south side of Barrow. Birds noted were a pair of Steller’s Eider, 4 King Eiders, 4 Arctic Terns and 6 Parasitic Jaegers.


Red Phalarope

8th June

A cloudy calm day with warm temperatures of 5 degrees Celsius. An early morning walk around the built up area of Narl produced Hoary and Common Redpolls. Then at noon another short walk found a cracking Varied Thrush hopping around on the tundra edge, the bird showed distantly and must have been a spring overshoot. Heading south I came to Middle Salt Lagoon with its narrow stretch of open water around the border. Nearly instantly I picked up a loon cruising along, picking up my binoculars I found myself staring at a smashing adult Yellow-billed Loon.


Yellow-billed Loon

Anyway back to work! The afternoon passed quickly and once after our evening meal a couple of us headed out to admire the loon some more, he had moved around to the over side but once there it showed well, along the road between two lakes were Semipalmated Sandpipers, Lapland Longspur and then a small passerine moved on the waters edge. This bird was only the second I have ever seen with the last being back on Fair Isle last autumn. It was an Arctic Warbler and was also seen in similar circumstances with no trees anywhere near. This bird is however a regular visitor further south in Alaska.


Arctic Warbler

Arriving back at the house as a group were off for a drive so I jumped in, we headed out along Gaswell Road seeing a total of 16 Steller’s Eiders mainly in Footprint Lake. Further on we found a group of 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers displaying by the road. On our return back midnight passed as the evening sun continued to shine from high in the sky. (in actual fact the lowest point is about 01:30 hours)

June Week 1

7th June

Up at 3.30am on my way back to the airport where I boarded for a flight making two stops on the way to my destination flying over Mount McKinley (Denali) the highest mountain in North America covered in snow before travelling over large grassy plains before landing down into fog. Then the final stretch of my journey brought me over a very white sea on the northern edge of Alaska as we dropped in over the sea ice to the remote town of Barrow where I was going to help with a monitoring program of the endangered Alaskan population of Steller’s Eider. Landing just after ten and I had already seen Pintail, Long-tailed Duck and Glaucous Gull from the window. Stepping out onto the tarmac I was surprised to feel how warm it was as the sun was shining. Meeting up with some of the team we headed out to the house. The most common/only passerine seen on route was the Snow Bunting, they definitely take the place of House Sparrow up here.



Meeting up with the rest of the chaps I got settled in. After tea I headed out with a few guys to do a road survey for Steller’s Eiders. As we headed out to the tundra there was very little snow cover (vanished in the last week I was told and earlier than normal) and lots of marshy pools. Many shorebirds with the most numerous starting with Semipalmated Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope (little stunners!), Long-billed Dowitcher, American Golden Plover, Pectoral Sandpipers with just a couple Semipalmated Plover and Dunlins. On the water were mainly Pintail and Long-tailed Ducks with a few White-fronted Geese, 2 Tundra Swans, 2 Pacific Loon, 1 Red-throated loon, Green-winged Teal and Greater Scaup. Flying around also were 3 Parastic Jaeger (Arctic Skua), 1 Pomarine Jaeger and 2 Sabine’s Gull. The only addition passerines were many cracking Lapland Longspurs and a couple Savannah Sparrows. Oh I can’t forget the eiders I suppose! First spotted were pairs of Steller’s Eider on the small pools (19 counted), then a distant pair of Spectacled was seen out in the heat haze followed by a single male and two female King Eiders. Ending a first great day a flock of 30 Common Eiders migrated along the coast over the sea ice.


Steller’s Eider

6th June

It was time to move on and continue my discovery of North America, three hours later I was sat in the airport at Toronto ready for my flight just after noon. After a connecting flight I arrived in Anchorage Alaska at 19:15 local time. I only had a brief visit to the city so I found a hostel and headed out. First I found some lagoons that were covered with Red-necked Grebes, as well as Great Scaup, American Wigeon and a single Arctic Tern that surprisingly had a reasonably sized chick in a colony of Mew Gulls. Walking along the coast I found Black-billed Magpie, Violet-green Swallows and White-crowned Sparrow. Arriving at Ship Creek there was hundreds of people all fishing the water (I guess the Salmon must be starting?). Overhead patrolling the creek were Herring and a few Glaucous-winged Gulls. The light finally started to go as I made my way back to the hostel at midnight.


Glaucous-winged Gull

3rd – 5th June

The wind swung around to the north making the late migration very slow as we continued to catch about thirty birds a day. Flycatchers were the most numerous with many Traill’s of which they are practically impossible to split in the hand with the current knowledge. The feeling is that the majority of the birds we have caught are Alder with two Willow caught on the 3rd. Dave is starting to look into the wing formula on the birds and from our small sample there are some promising signs. Otherwise just a few Grey-cheeked Thrushes seem to be moving. Well the final tally of birds caught during the spring fell just short of 6,500 as the nets were taken down on the 5th of which there were 107 different species.

Trip Total = 195 Lifers = 49


Traill’s Flycatchers

2nd June

A cloudy day and banding was still slow but another new bird was caught in the swamp net, a female Hairy Woodpecker. Around were two singing Alder Flycatchers, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds and the Tufted Titmouse still lurked in the wood.

An afternoon exploring for shrikes started with a brief stop along Babylon Road where we were immediately greeted by two alarming Upland Sandpipers. Finally managed to find these odd looking birds. Continuing north we cross out of the county and started to check a grassland area where Bobolinks, Meadowlarks and Eastern Kingbirds were numerous. A stop at a marshy area attracted Marsh Wren as a Virginia Rail was heard calling. Continuing on we bumped into another Upland Sandpiper. Arriving at the publicised site on our second stop we located a distant pair of Loggerhead Shrikes actively feeding.


Upland Sandpiper


On route back to the point we made a detour via Kaiser Cross Road were shorebirds were still in good numbers with 2 Black-bellied Plovers, 2 Whimbrel, 14 Semipalmated Plovers and 70+ Semipalmated Sandpipers. Also present with the sandpipers was a single Western but the best find was an Eastern Milk Snake that was lead across the road, this smart looking snake is sadly very rare so we moved him to safety.


Eastern Milk Snake

1st June

The start of a new month marked the end of the migration monitoring period so it was now time to play with some non-standard banding. It was a calm day with sunny spells and despite all our tape playing things were slow with 2 Canada Warblers, 6 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers some Traill’s and a very late Ruby-crowned Kinglet being caught. Some presumed none breeding Canada Geese flew over north with a total of 225. There was a surprise mid-morning at the feeder when a Tufted Titmouse appeared and was successfully caught later. 8 Chimney Swifts feed over the harbour at dusk.


Tufted Titmouse

May Week 4

31st May

Even quieter than yesterday with a brisk westerly wind blowing. The nets were very quiet with poor total of just over thirty new birds, best being Canada Warbler and Northern Waterthrush. A walk around the harbour found very little evidence of migrants except for a couple Blackpoll Warblers at the lighthouse. Birds setting up residence include Black-billed Cuckoo, Warbling Vireo, American Redstarts and many Yellow Warblers. The Canada Geese goslings continue to grow and on arrival back at the yard an Orchard Oriole made a brief stop.

30th May

A relatively quiet day today with a gentle westerly wind.

The afternoon was spent at Lake on the Mountain where the observatories board meeting was taking place. I had a walk around finding an Eastern Bluebird along with Meadowlarks, Bobolink and Baltimore Orioles. The highlight of the walk however was seeing some new dragonflies and butterflies. Back at the lake and four Black Terns were feeding over the water.


Beaverpond Baskettail

29th May

Rain over night cleared at dawn to leave a warm dry day with sunny spells. It was obvious that birds were still around from yesterday as 8 Canada Warblers fell into the nets straight away. There were a good variety of birds being caught with 3 species of Thrush, 4 Flycatchers (9 Traill’s and a Kingbird), 16 species of Warblers and several Red-eyed Vireos. Cedar Waxwings reached a milestone today with 7 birds taking us over 10 times the previous spring record of 56! The morning’s total catch came to 152 birds with the best being a female Blue-winged Warbler.


Cedar Waxwing


In the afternoon a walk found much the same with a Canada Warbler in traverse but viewing is becoming increasingly hard in the wood now. However I did finally find a Giant Swallowtail when I actually had my camera. Spent a bit of time after chasing the calls of frogs around the marsh until I found a Grey Treefrog. Back at the house at dusk when a skunk pottered by searching for food


Giant Swallowtail

28th May

The weather remained unsettled with frequent showers all day writing off any banding! A walk early morning saw a Semipalmated Plover and 2 Least Sandpipers on the spit in the harbour along with 2 Caspian Terns, 12 Herring Gulls and 30+ Ring-billed Gulls. Out again after dinner I wandered around the harbour finding several warblers on route to the lighthouse. A Canada, Mourning, 4 Black-throated Green, 12 Blackpoll, 3 Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided with several Yellow and Magnolia Warblers. A look at the spit produced no waders but a Buff-bellied Pipit instead. Back to the obs added a Traill’s and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher as a cuckoo called in the distance.


Buff-bellied Pipit

27th May

A day with no wind but many showers. At 8am we were lucky to get the nets open for about 3 hours however we just caught over 30 birds but a nice selection. Male Blackburnian, 2 Black-throated Green, 2 Blackpoll, 3 Grey-cheeked Thrush and mustn’t forget a male House Sparrow. A wet afternoon gave me a chance to catch up with this blog (a bit anyway).

26th May

Birds just love a brisk easterly wind for moving up the lake. Should I say water birds as the woods were dead with only 36 new birds caught. Back to the lake though and a watch from 06:30 to 07:20 was rewarding with a passage of 1200 Pale-bellied Brant, 111 White-winged Scoter, 122 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 ‘tern’ spp. and 2 Long-tailed Ducks sat off shore.


Brant


A trip to Kaiser Cross Road to revisit the flooded areas was good for shorebirds. There were roughly 2 Black-bellied Plover, 50 Semipalmated Plover, 6 Semipalmated Sandpiper, 20 Least Sandpiper, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs and 20 Dunlins. Wildfowl consisted of a Black Duck and 2 Green-winged Teal with a group of Mallards. Over the back an American Bittern sat proud over a marshy area, blowing his chest up and calling loudly as he bounced the sack of air up and down.

25th May

A glorious sunny day with a light north easterly wind but my thoughts were back in the UK. The nets were very quiet today with a handful of Magnolia, Yellow and American Redstart. Two Traill’s Flyctachers were also caught along with two Yellow-bellied. At 10am I disappeared inside to watch a computer screen as what sounded an amazing football game developed with Burnley putting on a fine display. I could only dream of what my sister was experiencing. As the final whistle blew I couldn’t believe it, and still can’t, that the mighty CLARETS from the north are in the PREMIERSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

24th May

A wet start to the day as showers moved through but there was no wind. From the lighthouse we witnessed a movement of waders with an estimate of 250 Dunlin past with the odd little one thrown in as well. However more unusual were a flock of 52 Whimbrel followed by a second group of 80. As the weather cleared out to leave a sunny day a Whip-poor-will was found roosting high in a tree. The nets were finally opened with the most prolific species being once again Cedar Waxwing with just over 70 caught. A leisurely walk to Traverse in the evening was unusually quiet.

23rd May

A quiet day for migrants as a light northerly halted any movement. Census was poor with just 39 species noted with the best being 3 Blackpoll Warblers and Scarlet Tanager. But there was something new for me skulking under bushes at the starting point, a Fisher that is a type of martin.


Blackpoll Warbler


Once ten o’clock arrived so did David after finishing his birdathon around the county reaching a tally of 145 just slightly down on last year. Shortly after the wind switched to easterly followed by a flock of 250 Pale-bellied Brent flying low over the lake heading north. Other noteworthy sightings were 3 Mourning and a Canada Warbler, Osprey and again very briefly the Red-headed Woodpecker that perched on Dave’s car for a moment.

22nd May

Another very warm day with little wind and a close encounter. It was Dave’s big birdathon today starting at 10am so the hunt was on to see what we could find. The nets soon picked up Veery, Swainson’s and Grey-cheeked Thrush as well as Mourning, female Hooded and Nashville which are thin on the ground now. Around the trail were at least two Black-billed Cuckoos and a Yellow was also reported, by mid morning the black-bills found their way into our nets.


Black-billed Cuckoo


Just after lunch I headed along the coast towards Point Traverse spotting a flock of waders on the rocky shore, there were 32 Dunlin and a Semipalmated Sandpiper. Approaching with care I got within a few metres of the feeding flock enjoying the close views that are usually difficult to achieve back in Britain. I had been watching them for some time when a mighty “whoosh” was heard and the flock took flight. Looking up from my camera I was stunned to see a immature Peregrine just metres away from me circle round before swooping to the shore picking up a rather dazed dunlin before heading off along the shore. (Arrrgggghhh, why did it not get the one I was photographing?)


Semipalmated Sandpiper and Dunlins


Later a look in the harbour found 3 Least and Spotted Sandpipers with the resident Killdeers as the lake starts to look empty of wildfowl with just a handful of Long-tailed Ducks, White-winged Scoter and Red-breasted Mergansers left. Back just by the banding lab the Red-headed Woodpecker showed very briefly once again.