Alaska Part II

From Haines AK we drove into Yukon Territory where, while stopped at a rest area, we lucked into a tough bird to see- a Northern Goshawk who we watched fly across the road from his roost, and into the woods.  We stayed at the beautiful and well maintained Cottonwood Park Campground on the shores of a truly tropical colored Kluane Lake and walked its pebble beach shores.  This Canadian visit was short since we headed back into AK the next day to stay at the “world famous” Sourdough Campground and Breakfast Café in Tok.  I actually booked this campsite due to the fact that they had sourdough pancakes; Chuck loves sourdough! We couldn’t resist participating in the pancake toss with winners earning a free sourdough pancake breakfast, and of course, Chuck won a free breakfast! The Reindeer chili in a sourdough bread bowl was pretty good too.  Falling off the ‘gluten-free wagon’ was (almost) worth the gastric price I paid later.
Asking at a Welcome Center about locating a few target birds for the area (after watching a Barn Swallow “Spring Break”) we were referred to the Huck Hobbit’s Homestead in Slana, AK.  What a glorious bit of misdirection!  We ended up at the last true homestead issued by the State of Alaska, where Steve and Joy Hobbs have settled their property with the Alaska self-sufficiency mindset. 
At their birdfeeder, we saw our first Redpolls, Pine Grosbeak, found our first Gray Jay in their woods, and watched a Boreal Chickadee feeding her young in a nest built into the top of a tree stump. Though their property was not actually a birding site, they stopped, gave us a tour, and shared a bit about the history of their property, their way of life, as well as coffee and homemade cookies!  They have restored an old outlaw’s cabin with a pond view as a guest retreat for those interested in complete peacefulness with unique Alaska touches; we have dreams of returning for a stay.  In addition, they have a greenhouse for fresh vegetables, stockpile at least 2 years of firewood in advance (per Steve- so that if something happened to him, Joy has time to replace him), trap for furs in the winter, and cure the pelts that Joy crafts into items sold in gift shops.  In addition they offer “Full Service Experiences”.  I can imagine no better guides to true Alaskan experiences.  Again I was struck by the romance of living off the land, crafting and using what is at hand, and being as self-sufficient as possible.  I am afraid that for us the romance would end very early in the first winter.

From Huck Hobbit’s Homestead, we traveled to Anchorage where we spent an unsuccessful day birding a hotspot which had reported sightings of the rare Terek Sandpiper, before flying to Nome, where we hoped to add many new birds.  And we did!  Nome was very exciting birding in an unimaginably dismal place to live.  I believe that every piece of equipment ever brought to Nome is either cobbled up and still in use or left where it died to rust and/or decompose.  Being a gold mining town (past and present), there is quite a bit of old abandoned equipment, not to mention more recently abandoned trucks and snowmobiles.  There is nothing to recommend Nome from our perspective other than birds.  This was, and still is, a gold mining town focused on extracting gold and other resources, but we struck it rich with 22 new bird species.

Birding in Nome means driving the three main roads, and we had a Jeep reserved for our three full days of birding but with the rental period starting the next day. So after arriving we walked the mile down to the harbor and found our first Pacific Golden Plover and Tree Sparrows on the way.  At the harbor we discovered other firsts-a lone Parakeet Auklet, Thick-billed Murre, and Long-tailed Ducks.  The Long-tailed Duck is one I had been looking forward to seeing, and we were not disappointed to see them in breeding plumage.  Chuck was frustrated that he saw the Aleutian Tern, but since I didn’t, we could not add it to our list.  Thankfully for marital harmony, we saw it again on the third day.

While waiting for our Jeep the first morning, we whiled away our time in the parking lot with three wild MUSK OX!  A note on the Inn door warned that they were there, and were dangerous.  Only in Alaska.  Musk Ox are renowned for their soft fur, called quiviut.  Advertisements state that is 8 times warmer than wool, finer than cashmere, hypoallergenic and unshrinkable!  A wonder yarn with an outlandish price of $40 or more per ounce means that locals can earn a little extra cash by gathering the wool caught by brambles on the Ox paths.  I couldn’t resist gathering a sample too, and it is delightfully soft. Soon our Jeep was ready. Note to readers- DO NOT rent (basically wear) a two door sport jeep, though in my defense it is the only one they had left when I made my June reservations the previous November.  Chuck says he has chest high wading boots which are easier to get into.
The Nome roads are horrible, especially in the Jeep, which is why the rental company requires that you do not drive on any but the three main roads.  We chose one of the three roads for our first day and found four new birds, the Long-tailed Jaeger, Northern Shrike, Arctic Warbler, and Bluethroat.  The Bluethroat is certainly one of the sought after and most beautiful birds to have found, given their limited range, and although we got good looks we got only below average pictures.  We were happy to add the Arctic Warbler to our “warbler collection”.

Day two was the more productive from a species count standpoint, and we added the American Golden-Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, Pomarine Jaeger, Sabine’s Gull, Aleutian Tern, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, and Lapland Longspur.  Though not our first look at Common Eiders, we were able to get much more satisfactory looks at this handsome bird. It was on the third day that we found our more unique birds- the Arctic Loon, Red Phalarope, Slaty-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl, and Northern Wheatear.  The Short-eared Owl flew from in front of us, across the road, allowing Chuck enough time to turn the Jeep and give chase.  He perched on driftwood to pose for us, but the drizzly conditions didn’t allow good pictures.

In spite of the cold, rain, and windy weather in Nome, we did see unique birds.  I regret that we missed seeing the Bristle Thigh Curlew and Gyrfalcon through no fault but our own; poor planning and research on my part.  Thankfully we have more than 6 months left to find others.