May - June 1998

by Tom Bishop

MOUNTAINS

I saw a gorgeous view of Mt Rainier, Hood, St. Helens, and Adams, flying in from Los Angeles to Seattle. There I met my friend Brian who flew in from Calgary, and we went on to Anchorage and Nome. From a distance we saw Mt. Logan, the highest mountain is Canada and only 450 feet less than Mt. McKinley. More impressive was Mt. St.Elias; the pilot said it was the highest mountain from top to bottom in the world. Best of all was McKinley, a gigantic white mass, which we saw from the right side on the way to Nome. There was a stop at Kotzebue, an Inuit village sticking out into the Arctic Ocean. We didnt see any eiders from the runway, just widgeons, but we were above the Arctic Circle! On to Nome.

NOME

We had rented a 4 wheel drive Explorer, which was good, as the roads are paved in town only. There were many washouts but luckily Brian loves these driving challenges. (In fact, the last day, Teller Road was closed at 20 miles out, and Kougarak Rd at 50 miles.)

Safety Lagoon, 5/29 and 6/1: lifers were

• Yellow Wagtail (saw quite a few)
• Long-tailed Jaeger (quite a few)
• Aleutian Tern (3 at quite a distance,5/29, 1 or 2 overhead, 6/1)
• Bar-tailed Godwit (20, some quite red)
• Slaty-Backed Gull (3)
• Stellars Eider (a pair at the bridge)
• (I looked hard for Arctic Loons but all 15 or so Pacific!

• Bluethroat (at mile 32)
• Willow Ptarmigans: just past the Rock Ptarmigans on Kougarak Road, as we got to lower elevations, we began to see Willow Ptarmigans everywhere. Unlike the white Rock Ptarmigans, the Willow Ptarmigans were in spring plumage. Taking the Kougarak Road is a memorable experience; Alaska is so vast.
• Rock Ptarmigan (at mile 31.5,32,32.5, pure white)
• N.Wheatear (pair at hill S of Copper Ck, rocky area near road)
• (Bristle-thighed Curlew, we miss, but hear later they are at mile 71.5, walk up hill there)

• (Common Ringed Plover nests at Penny Ck, it is pouring, and we find 4 Semipalmated Plovers there, but no sure Ringed.)

We stayed at the Nugget Inn which was pretty good.

Just down the street from the Nugget Inn (about 5 buildings east) is the Nome Convention and Visitors Bureau. A good place to visit. They have a blackboard of the latest rare bird sightings there.

• Hoary Redpoll: 5 along Safety Lagoon Road.
• Glaucous Gull: 20 along Safety Lagoon Road.

PRIBILOFS

No direct flights, so back to Anchorage, and then next day to Pribilofs. A nice flight, with relatively good weather. There were 2 small (25 people each) buses which took us around St. Paul, giving us a tour. The town has a population of several hundred. The locals are very friendly. I saw the following lifers in the first 2 days (we stayed 4 days, in case of bad weather, which came on days 3 and 4):

• Red-legged Kittiwake (10) beautiful
• Northern Fulmar (5) what a bird, swooping up in front of us on the cliff
• Short-tailed Shearwater (3) far away
• Fork-tailed Storm-petrel(1) during the Fur Seal lecture, we birders found this.
• Red-faced Cormorant (25) perhaps my favorite of the trip, an intense red color on the head, with blue, and a strong flier with bigger, brighter white flank patches than the Pelagic Cormorant.
• Wood Sandpiper (3) in NE, Fantasy Wetland, Asian strays
• Thick-billed Murre (10) good comparison with Common Murre
• Least Auklet (50)
• Parakeet Auklet (25) Wow!
• Crested Auklet (15) Double Wow!
• Smew (1) a female

• Olive Tree-pipit While climbing up rocks for the McKays Bunting (very rare there), most of us (not me) saw this rare Asian stray.
• Rock Sandpiper (40) A trash bird! And I had driven many miles for it in California.
• Common Pochard (1) a female
• Eurasian Skylark (2)
• King Eider (4) including a striking male
• Snow Bunting (25)
• Horned Puffin (20)
• Tufted Puffin (5)
• Red Phalarope (10)
• Snowy Owl (2)
• Short-eared Owl (1)

Take all my numbers of birds with a grain of salt. Also, almost all these birds in the Pribilofs were seen very close, close enough for great photos with a 400 mm lens. I saw a wild Arctic Fox while

searching for the McKays. It was silver-blue with a large white tail and almost came close enough to touch. There are other tamer brownish Arctic Foxes in town which act like cats.

The Pribilofs are cold, but not terribly so. I brought a down vest which I never used. Expect rain, although we had one wonderful sunny day.

The TDX (Aleut Corporation) run things, and very well. Call them at (907) 278-2312 or better yet, Reeve Airline at (800) 544-2248.

DENALI

Only lifer was:

Arctic Warbler (1) Brian and I counted this as a real coup as they don't come in force until after mid-June. They have a loud constant one note call.

We met my wife Carol and her Mom here and took the bus tour, seeing Dall Sheep, Grizzlies, and Moose. Also 30 miles of the Denali Highway, seeing Gray Jays (quite dark), Blackpoll Warblers, Gray-cheeked Thrushes, White-winged Crossbills, Trumpeter Swans, Red-necked Grebe, and Barrows Goldeneye.

MY TOTAL COST (no tour, Brian and I share rooms if possible, car)

Pribilofs (4 nights including airfare) $1140
Round Trip Los Angeles to Nome 790
Hotels, Food, Car Rentals, Gas 1300

Total for 14 nights $3230

Tom Bishop
bish@home.com