Juneau II: Mendenhall Wetlands, Mount Roberts Trail

We started day two of my Alaska stay at the Mendenhall Wetlands. It would be another wet, cloudy morning, but we got a nice walk in and I got to see my first rufous hummingbirds!

That afternoon we changed from galoshes to hiking boots to take the Mount Roberts Trail up near Gastineau Peak. We were really hoping to find some ptarmigan, but if there were any along our hike their camouflaged plumage was completely effective. We did, however, have a LOT of interactions with the hoary marmots. At one point we were sat on the ridge enjoying water and a snack with a young marmot within a trekking pole's length.

The clouds were heavy at the mountain, and glimpses of Juneau below were as rare as they were vague. At least until we turned back, at which point the clouds opened up and allowed a fair bit of blue sky and sunshine.

Juneau I: Sheep Creek, Nugget Falls, DOGS!

The flights from the Twin Cities to Seattle and Seattle to Juneau went smoothly, and a short layover at Sea-Tac provided an opportunity for me to lightly shade Washington state on my eBird profile. At JUN, I was picked up by my friend who was sporting some truly inspirational attire of which I unfortunately did not think to grab a picture of, but alas, the storm had begun.

The sudden transition from hot, dry Midwest summer to wet, gray Alaskan summer was quite nice, honestly. I had figured the steady fifty-degree temperature would feel cold, but it was never an issue, and after a night of sleep, my friend and I headed out for my first real day in Juneau, Alaska.

Stop number one was the Sheep Creek Delta where my friend took a rod to catch and release some dollies while I photographed the gulls and corvids hanging about. This gave me my first look at short-billed gulls: the first lifer of the trip!

After Sheep Creek we headed into the Mendenhall Valley where the day's drizzling wasn't to be found. En route, we grabbed the dogs from my friend's girlfriend's house to get them out on a walk. Their rain jackets turned out to be unnecessary, but they sure drew a lot of compliments from those we encountered on the Nugget Falls trail. Also encountered on the trail, my second lifer of the trip: the chestnut-backed chickadee (of which I failed to get any decent pics of).

The day had one more first in store for me. After dinner and some more time with the dogs, my friend took me to the Salmon Creek Reservoir where we searched for porcupines in the fading daylight. After walking a short ways, we happened upon a mossy rock at the trail's edge and the first porcupine I've ever seen!

We headed back down the hill and happened upon no less than three porcupines within a hundred feet of where we'd parked. The highlight of the entire day was when a young porcupine which had been crawling up the chain-link fencing backed down from the fence and slowly walked straight at my friend. It came within feet, and we were both certain it was about to scale my friend when we backed off. It was a really cool and hilarious moment and a great end to my first day in Juneau.

Also, doggos!

Pre-Alaska Alaska Trip

The big trip of 2022 was to visit a friend in Juneau at the end of July, but before flying out of MSP, I hit the North Mississippi Regional Park while running an errand to the city, then swung by Afton State Park for a little mother-son outing.

North Miss. RP didn't lend any unusual sights, but it was nice to get out to a new place in the Cities, while at Afton I spotted my first sedge wrens and blue-gray gnatcatcher of the year and got a close up look at a rather unwary white-tailed doe.

(slightly) Westward ho!

For all the miles of grasslands I've browsed my first few years of birding, I've yet to spot some of North Dakota's most sought-after residents. LeConte's, Baird's and Nelson's Sparrows have eluded me. On Thursday I headed out on a short trip, hoping to add some of these prairie specialists to the life list along with a few other species.

The Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge was the first stop, and what a great way to start. Blackbirds, kingbirds and waterfowl flanked the road, providing many first-of-year observations within the first few hundred feet, and after working my way up and around an elevated corner, I happened upon a foursome of lifer snowy egrets!

Further along the road an American bittern popped out of the reeds to make a short flight. This was only the second bittern I've spotted. Not much later I saw a pair of cattle egrets cruising across Chase Lake. The second lifer species of the day!

I continued counting geese and egrets before turning to leave the NWR. I was almost back to the refuge boundary, paused to photograph a gadwall couple, when a small figure slipped through the reeds and let out a series of grunts but feet from me. My first Virginia rail! I wasn't able to grab a picture but did catch audio of a few of the rail's grunts.

From Chase Lake I worked through a maze of gravel roads in various condition--taking a considerable chunk of time to bypass a body of water which didn't appear on GPS--and paused to photograph a field filled with gulls, then some marshes populated by shorebirds and ducks. A pitstop alongside the Kunkel School Section Prairie netted a handful of chestnut-collared longspurs--another lifer!

With the sun diving for the horizon, I pulled into the Horsehead Lake WMA to sleep to the score of blackbirds, black terns and sora. It was a restless night thanks to the plethora of ticks requiring plucking from shirt and pants, but I felt quite recharged come sunrise.

Friday was a relaxing tour of Kidder County's gravel roads, and not long into the day I added the willet to the life list!

The gulls were out again and providing plenty of antics. At one little roadside marsh, a black tern and a killdeer were mobbing a ring-billed. At the next stop, three ring-billed were warring over breakfast.

In the end I never did see nor hear the sparrows I was seeking, but I'm more than happy to add snowy and cattle egret, chestnut-collared longspur, willet and Virginia rail to the life list. Now it's time to rest, relax and enjoy some Melee.