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.

Juneau '24, Part I

One of the year's big trips is in the books. I made my third visit to Alaska, spending roughly ten days hiking, birding, and goofing around with my best friend and returned this past weekend. The trip was a ton of fun and, as a birding venture, really great. The day of my flight out of MSP, I drove down to my sister's place in Blaine where I had a few hours to hang out before going to the airport.

A couple of weeks ago, my brother-in-law and sister were planning to remove the Christmas wreath hanging over their garage. They hooked it on a pole and brought it down to find a few surprises.

This little wreath currently houses three families--Robins on top and two House Finch nests within the inner circle! When they saw the nests, they quickly hung the nest back over the garage.

From MSP, I flew to Sea-Tac International Airport. My originally very tight layover turned into an overnight layover as my flight out of the Twin Cities was delayed, but I was able to do a good bit of reading and managed a few hours of sleep behind an Alaska Air customer service desk. When the sun came up, I spent a little while looking out the windows for birds but identified only a flying crow. The way up to Juneau was smooth, but the weather on my arrival was pretty gross. My friend picked me up from the airport and after running some errands we hung around inside for the rainy Thursday.

But Friday was pretty glorious, and we took advantage of it. We woke up for low tide and headed out for the coast. We were almost to the Shrine of St. Terese when we spotted a guy with a long lens shooting from a van pulled to the opposite shoulder. This led our eyes to:

Nice start to the trip! This American Black Bear was calmly browsing the roadside vegetation and even tolerated some not-so-subtle folks who stopped right in front of the bear for a picture . . . 

The shrine was equally quick to deliver. We had positioned ourselves so I could get a few shots of the Harlequin Ducks when a pack of lifers landed on the rocky shore nearby--the first Black Oystercatchers of the trip! Some red squirrels were also poking about the rocks nearby.

We continued along the shore of the point, spotting Surf and White-winged Scoters and Murrelets, then moved into the trees to observe the second lifer, a Red-breasted Sapsucker, up close. The Sapsucker flew right past us before landing low on a mossy tree trunk.

My friend and I spent a few minutes completing the labyrinth before vrooming on. We made a quick check on the Salt Lake off Amalga Road where I saw the first Common Merganser and only Great Blue Heron of the trip, and then we drove to the Scout Trail along Eagle River. Here, we took our time, walking about three hours. There were lots of gulls, corvids, and some songbirds. The most exciting things for me were a lone Sanderling on the beach, a flying flock of Pectoral Sandpipers and the Canada Geese which alluded me on my previous Juneau visit!

Lena Point was our next stop where we spent an hour looking out into the channel for birds and marine mammals. Here was a species I was really hoping to see for the first time--the Pacific Loon! I was extremely happy to record thirteen of the loons flying low over the channel. They were quite far away, but it was awesome, and there would be plenty more loons to see!

Next up on our busy first day of birding was the Mendenhall Wetlands. We hit the well-birded Airport Dike Trail in a pretty dead time of the afternoon. We managed only a few birds but nabbed the first Barn and Tree Swallows of the trip!

The day's last stop would be the network of trails around the Moose Lake/Dredge Lake area in the Mendenhall Valley. The trails are practically in my friend's backyard, so it was a very convenient location for a walk right around dinnertime. I didn't record a ton of species, but I did see my first Ring-necked Ducks and Ruby-crowned Kinglet for Juneau!

Well, that sums up the flights and first day of birding in Juneau. Time to go through some more pictures!