Growing Geese, Grackles, Garden

It's awesome to see birds in different places. It's also nice to see familiar feathery faces. Now that I'm back from Alaska, almost all of my birding for the next two months will be close to home. Each day I look outside, I see fledgling grackles, sparrows and more. The early flowers are also coming into color for the summer, bringing in some flies, bees, butterflies and other little pollinators.

I went down to the park this morning to see how the waterfowl are doing. The six families of Canada Geese ranged from downy, yellow fluffs to almost full-sized geese.

Juneau '24, Part IV

After the big day on Mount Roberts, my friend and I gave ourselves a relaxing morning, then hopped over the bridge to bird Douglas Island. We managed to hit a few nice spots and see some new birds for the trip while also conserving energy for the next few days where we would be staying the night at Point Bridget State Park.

Our first stop on Douglas was the Nine Mile Creek which, in the middle of the afternoon, was pretty underwhelming. I was hoping to spot my first Vaux's Swifts, but there were hardly any birds beyond some gulls.

Next, we paused at one of the scenic overlooks on the North Douglas Highway and scanned the shore for birds. Our luck was a lot better here. We saw Pacific Loons flying over the water. A pair of Harlequin Ducks basked on the rocks. A ways off the shore, there was a big pack of scoters. I took a few shots, seeing White-winged and Surf Scoters in the mix and wouldn't realize until I got back from Alaska that there were two (or more) Black Scoters--lifer! In the middle picture, the Black Scoter has the small, plain-black, rounded head and the solid-orange bill.

Just around the bend was the Rainforest Trail. No lifers, but the trail led us to my first Alaskan Red-winged Blackbird and Red-necked Grebe! We also saw and heard plenty of Red-breasted Sapsuckers.

Our last spot for the day was the Eaglecrest skiing area. Not a ton of birds around in the stretch that we walked, but we did we get some close looks at the Steller's Jays and juncos.

And then some dinner and relaxing.

Juneau '24, Pt III

 So, on May 26, I got to hear my first Sooty Grouse up close but out of sight and had about the most distant possible view of a Rock Ptarmigan on the Perseverance Trail. The day after, my friend, his partner, the dogs, and I regrouped on the Hemlock Slope of Mount Roberts. Once we made it to the tram, we started hearing some Sooty Grouse very close by, and we spent some time poking about the spruce trees to get eyes on it. Somewhere in the range of 10-15 minutes, my friend's partner locked eyes on the grouse well up in the tallest tree.

Nice! It was cool to see the bird we had been hearing the past few days. After taking a bunch of shots, we continued on the trail towards Gastineau Peak. The area around the tram was packed with folks off the cruise ships, but the trail quieted as soon as we hit a mildly tricky bit of snowpack. From there until the peak, we saw only a few other hikers and trail-runners.

We didn't see many birds either. I kept my camera packed until we got to the ridgeline, and just before the summit of Mt. Roberts, we began to scan the area for ptarmigans. We were soon in luck.

A ptarmigan that wasn't just a white spec on a distant mountainside! We watched this Rock Ptarmigan mull around its bit of rocks for a while before summiting Roberts. We were about to start heading down when another Rock Ptarmigan came flying in and landed on some rocks about twenty feet away from us! We couldn't believe it. I had to move back so that my 800mm could focus.

The dogs were super good as usual and patiently waited while I photographed the Rock Ptarmigan. Stoked on luck, I put away my camera, and we began hiking back down the mountain. At one point we stopped for a snack and to get a look at some of the brown birds which turned out to be, as I was hoping, my second American Pipits!

The way down to the tram was a blast as my friend and I glissaded every snowy decline we came upon (and which didn't lead into a cliff). Our pants were soaked, but it was super fun and super worth it. I kept my camera packed away for the hike down which wouldn't matter as we wouldn't come across many birds or other critters.

An afternoon, night, and morning at Sheyenne NGL

One of the birds which continues to come up on my eBird alerts is the Eastern Whip-poor-will. The last few years, the species has been reported at one of the campgrounds of the Sheyenne National Grasslands. Hoping to hear the Whip-poor-will's iconic song, I packed up and headed over to the grasslands yesterday afternoon. I arrived at the Jorgen's Hollow campground around four o'clock and got my tent ready for the night before heading out onto the nearby Oak Loop Trail.

It was pretty glorious goings in the beginning--temperature in the seventies, a nice mix of blue sky and light clouds, plus a gentle breeze. As I left the lightly wooded first part of the trail, the breeze stepped up to a good and steady wind. Nothing too crazy but enough to make it harder hearing and seeing birds in the wavy grasses and swinging branches. I still was able to spot my first Great Crested Flycatcher and Field and Lark Sparrows for 2024 while hearing my first Grasshopper Sparrows among other birds.

Near the end of the trail, I came upon a bunch of these critters.

The loop put me back near the campgrounds where I filled myself on granola and junkfood and re-read some of Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. Daylight began to fizzle out, and after going to the bathroom I grabbed my camera to snap a few shots of the campgrounds area and my favorite form of pest control: the Common Nighthawk!

With easily accessible camping sites, I've learned you're at the mercy of your neighbors. Most of them were great last night. The car-campers in the two spots beside me hardly existed for all I could tell. But it only takes one bad neighbor to make the night long, and I was getting pretty worried when quiet hours rolled around and I was still hearing the country music and conversation over the steady chugging of a diesel generator from the campsite furthest from mine . . . I was relieved when they did quiet down not much later, but the night would still be long. The main factor was the rain which swept in sometime after midnight, coming down quite heavy and quite loud on the rain cover of my tent. I maybe got a few hours of sleep in the early morning, but waking up throughout the night allowed me to hear a singing Sora and a chorus of coyotes. No Whip-poor-wills, unfortunately.

After what sleep I did get, I was out of my tent with sunrise and back on the Oak Loop Trail.

I walked about a quarter of the loop before stopping to get my eyes on the Grasshopper Sparrows, and once I did that, I turned back and headed for camp to pack up and hit the road. Even though I didn't get my ears on the Whip-poor-wills I was hoping to, I'm glad that I went out for the night. Hearing the booming wings of the Nighthawks and the yowling coyotes was really cool, and I know it will be that much more rewarding when I do get to experience the Whip-poor-wills' song!

Juneau '24, Part II

On the first day of 2024 Juneau birding, I netted three lifers near the Favorite Channel. The next day was constant rain and gave my friend and I a buffer day which we used to run errands and watch some movies, paintball, and Melee.

The next day, May 26th, would see on/off drizzle under steady clouds, and after breakfast, my friend and I headed over to the Perseverance trailhead. There, we met my friend's partner and these familiar faces:

The goals for Perseverance were Sooty Grouse and Rock Ptarmigan, so under the clouds we hit the trail.

It was all mammals early on--squirrels, porcupines and a very distant mountain goat. Squint at the middle of the third picture here and you might make out the goat's fuzzy, white shape.

The next big sightings were some birds that I saw in Juneau two years ago. We were passing over Gold Creek when I spotted the little bobbing gestures of an American Dipper--the bird which took my friend and I hours of wandering along fast-running streams and creeks in 2022 to find. After crossing the stream, the trail opens up which let us really hear the calls of Sooty Grouse and let us spot a male Townsend's Warbler foraging among the spruce.

The precipitation opened up as well, going from drizzle to light rain. We continued along the Gold Creek, scanning the surrounding mountainsides for ptarmigans while Hermit Thrushes mewed and flitted about the rocks and brush. The further we got up Perseverance, the thicker the snow got. We paused at one point to assess and scan.

Somehow, I managed to see that Rock Ptarmigan through my 500mm. Appearing even smaller than the goat from earlier, the ptarmigan is the white spec at the top of triangular rock formation (centered in the photo). We take those.

Sooty Grouse: heard. Rock Ptarmigan: (barely) seen. Goals achieved. I made the call to turn back down the trail despite my friend's suggestion that we could try and get closer to the ptarmigan. We hustled through the snowy spots and were back at the vehicles about a half and five hours after starting out. We said goodbye to my friend's partner and went our separate ways. While on the highway to my friend's place, I spotted some Northern Shovelers on the Twin Lakes, so we made a quick pitstop to watch them and an energetically foraging pair of Greater Yellowlegs.

From there, it was dinner and lazing before sleep. The next day would be a big one.