6/6/2024 - 6/8/2024
Alaska. Utqiagvik, even! I was not sure I would be back here so soon. Do not get me wrong. There was (still is) a lot of the state left to see. It is a big world, though. And, when you live in a house with someone who bitterly wants to see a polar bear like I did on my previous visit here... it can seem like a tiny house, at times. A plan was crafted. Once again, I reached out to my friends at Sabrewing Nature Tours and asked about pulling together a trip. We needed to squeeze the trip in prior to their regularly scheduled trips, but that did not seem like an issue. I wanted to visit Nome to do some photography. I had a lot of targets in the area, and she wanted to see muskox. We would then slip up to Utqiagvik to, hopefully, see polar bears and get in some eider photos. I still dream of getting great Spectacled Eider shots. With schedules, etc. the plan worked out to where we would spend 4 nights in Nome before taking a day of travel to get up to Utqiagvik for 2 nights. It was risky, but it was the best we could work out. Carmen and I would be travelling with Jamie from Sabrewing. She is an great guide and a friend of mine.
We had just spent a very windy 4 nights in Nome and made it to Utqiagvik without issue. While the travel went well, we were not happy with what greeted us up here. Everything was still covered in ice and snow. A good portion of the roads were not open. It is part of the continuing issues with climate change. The El Nino over winter certainly did not do us any favors, either.
Utqiagvik lies at the top of Alaska. It is bordered by the Chukchi Sea. The warmer temperatures and warmer seas are keeping the waters open later into the year. This is driving greater amounts of moisture into an area that is considered a desert climate - just one that is covered in tundra instead of sand. The greater amounts of moisture particularly hit hard this year; as, initially, it did not come as snow. It came as rain and ice. This froze the tundra under a blanket of ice. Everywhere we drove, there were caribou carcasses lying across the tundra. Unable to get through the ice to the grasses below, they starved in numbers. Arctic and Red Fox were also strewn across the area. I imagine their access to voles was cut off. So, things were a bit bleak. Not just from a birding perspective, but also for the wildlife that calls this place home.
The birding was a bit slow. We had decent weather for our time here. With the tundra and ponds frozen, there just was not much that had ventured in from the sea, yet. We had zero eider of any species the first day. There were a large number of Greater White-fronted Geese walking around the open grasslands. What little open water there was around was dominated by Tundra Swan and Long-tailed Duck. There were a good number of Brant around. My best guess is that they were all piled up here waiting for things to thaw out further inland. Shorebirds were plentiful in the open areas. We had about 48 hours of light ahead or us. We would do the best we could.
6/6 -
It was cloudy-bright when we flew in. The clouds were just at 300 foot, according to the captain. This is the minimum height for flying into Utqiagvik, again, according to the captain. Looking out the window, it was shocking to come out of the clouds and to be so low to the ground. The pilot had kept the speed up on the plane in case we needed to abort the landing, and it felt a bit dicey when we hit the tarmac and started trying to get slowed down. We got through luggage claim (a unique experience) and got checked-in at the hotel before grabbing some food. I pulled on waders, and we headed out to try our luck. We had lost a lot of light, in the meantime. I am not sure it was really worth the effort of going out. We mainly scouted to see where we could even get to. We, again, did not have a 4x4. One was requested, but you kind of get what you can get. This held us back a bit. About the only thing I shot that was worth keeping was a lone American Golden-Plover.
We called it a "night" and opted for an early start the next day.
6/7 -
We had one full day. We were going to make the best of it. Unfortunately, I was careless the night before and left my pack in the car. This would come into play later in the day. I eventually needed to swap out batteries. I put a fresh one in. It immediately registered half charged and quickly exhausted. Luckily, I always travel with three batteries... except it did the same thing. The overnight cold of sitting in my pack had sapped my backup batteries. I found myself back at the hotel for 90 minutes doing what I could to get batteries charged. It was a lot of lost time at a time when I could have been shooting.
There is no real good way to lay out the day. We were limited on what roads we could drive and by what roads were even plowed. We were basically just kept driving in loops and constantly rechecking areas. Things change quickly up here. You can drive by and have a large number or ducks in an area. The next time you drive by it could be empty. You just have to keep trying. So, what did we see?
Well, there is the ever-present Snow Bunting. It is amazing to see these birds in this plumage. It is also amazing that they primarily fill the role of the House Sparrow up here. Sure, they are prettier and sing a beautiful song, but they are in every abandoned car and dumpster around.
As I mentioned, there were a lot of Tundra Swan, Greater White-fronted Goose, and Brant around. I did not put a lot of effort into photographing these species. I am not sure why, in retrospect. I just kept hoping for better options, I guess.
There were shorebirds around, but not in huge numbers. As noted above, we had an American Golden-Plover. We saw a good number of Dunlin, but I never worked out a shot of one. Pectoral and Semipalmated Sandpipers were around. We did not have any Sanderling, White-rumped or Baird's this trip. Long-billed Dowitcher was conspicuously absent. We did find a lone Western Sandpiper.
I did manage a couple quick shots of Pectoral Sandpiper that I love. I had just finished a few shots of this bird. I think I had gotten back up to my knees and was looking around when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned and raised the camera as the bird flew right at me and then veered off to my side. I managed to fire a few shots and caught him in the frame for two of them. It speaks a lot to the power of these cameras.
There were a number of phalarope around, but there were not many Red-necked. All I managed to photograph were Red Phalarope.
Our first evening, we had a pair of Sabine's Gulls out feeding in the waters around Footprint Lake. This was the best accessible area of somewhat open water that we had. A lot of activity happened here, and it turned over constantly. When we came back by this area (after having driven it a few times) and the gulls were back, I was both surprised and not surprised. Mostly, I was happy they were there. We made a slow walk out, and the gulls remained pretty content. They would fly up and then circle back. Instead of listening to Jamie and being ready to photograph the bird in flight, I just sat there dumbly, on my knees, in the slushy ice water and watched. They are a beautiful gull. So, while she got a nice flight shot, I got shots of the birds staring at us while standing on the snow. Better than nothing.
For ducks, we had Long-tailed Duck. There were many about, but most were not in very accessible locations. We found a small pond earlier in the day with a few ducks in it and managed to get positioned for some shots. I am not quite sure what happened at this point, but both Jamie and I ended up with a lot of blurry shots. I guess I know what happened, but we both were caught a bit off guard by it. We were shooting eye-level. We are actually laying on some ice and shooting across the water. The birds were close. I think what happened was the sun came out slightly. Just enough to heat things up a bit, and we ended up catching a bit of heat distortion coming off the water. It was not a lot, as we could not see it, but shooting through it at eye-level for the ducks was a lot. I did end up with some sharp shots, but the ones that should have turned out the best were unusable. Here are the shots from that session.
A little later in the day, we came across another pair in an even smaller pond. I was not quite eye-level for these shots. There was a deep mud puddle and a small snow bank in the way. I crouched down as low as I could get without putting myself in the mud or behind the snow bank. The ducks warily paced back and forth in the pond and dove to feed. The male lined up in front of me and kind of faced me down for a minute. Then he bolted right at me. I jammed on the shutter release and got a sequence of him running across the water at me. The female was underwater when this happened. She came up a short time later and then swam around for a while looking for him. When we came back by later, the male had returned, but the female had left. It might be a lonely spring for him.
This pretty much covers the common birds we had this day. We had a few special birds, though. While I was recharging batteries, Jamie had done a little research and had a couple of surprises for me. We will get to them in a minute.
Up first though is a Sandhill Crane we found. This bird is not overly uncommon up here. I do not recall seeing one on the previous trip, although that could be a poor memory at work. What makes this bird interesting is that it is of a different subspecies than we get here in Indiana. In fact, it is the only member of its subspecies. This would be the "Lesser" Sandhill Crane. The "Greater" Sandhill Crane consists of four subspecies. While they are all considered Sandhill Cranes, what marks this bird as different is its head shape. Instead of being elongated, it is round. It gives the birds an overall cute appearance.
One of the birds that Jamie had worked up info on was a Curlew Sandpiper. I have seen one of these before but was happy to see one again. I was hoping for an entirely brick-red bird, but this bird was still transitioning. It was a bit shy. I really only ended up with one decent shot.
The other bird was one that we had heard about on the way in from Nome. There had been a "black" Ruff reported near the King Eider Inn, where we were staying. It is the first bird we looked for when we arrived. The report was a couple days old, and the bird was not to be found. What Jamie had found was a second Ruff report. This one was a "red". It was on the edge of town and was commonly seen chasing female Pectoral Sandpipers. It appears that the bird cannot (or does not care to) tell the difference between a female Pectoral and a female Ruff. When a female Pec would get close, he would break into a display and then eagerly chase after them. Often, this would result in the bird flying and us having to relocate it. I have seen Ruff before but not this close and not in this plumage. It is amazing how large this bird is. It is also a bit gangly and, in my opinion, a bit unattractive. It is pretty cool when it displays, but otherwise it looks a bit like an odd chicken. When it displays, it dips its head. This means that it is, inevitably, somewhat blocked by grass. You take what you can get with a rare bird.
That evening, we had scheduled Carmen's Polar Bear trip. We were using 71 North Tours for this. It is not part of the normal tour, private or otherwise. This company offers a 2 hour tour out to Point Barrow. Here is where whale carcasses are disposed of. This attracts bears. The company had shipped in a large 3-row SUV for taking people out to the point. It was large and very noisy. This would work against us. We were about a half mile out from the carcass but could still see a bear was there. We tried to shoot from a distance, but all we got was heat. The heat inside the truck was cranked way up, and the cameras were hot. The ground was putting up a lot of distortion, too. We got back in the truck and started to close the distance. The trail took us straight to the point and then cut right to loop behind the carcass. Unfortunately, this put the bear on the far side of the carcass and behind a ridge. There was no sneaking up in the oversized, loud truck. As we approached, we could just see the top of the bear as it bolted for the ice. We got out to try and shoot, but it was hopeless. The bear had grabbed a large piece of whale and ran about 200 yards out onto the ice. It put the food down and ate at leisure. It then walked a little closer, scratched at the ice a bit, and then laid down. We watched for a little bit, but the bear was not going to move. All I really got was a fuzzy documentation shot that says, "well, I saw a polar bear." I feel a bit bad for Carmen. I know she wanted a better experience and a much better shot. At least she got to see one.
6/8 -
We fly out today. Forecasts indicated that the clouds would possibly clear overnight. We set alarms for 2 and 5. When I woke at 2, I had a message from Jamie that it was still cloudy. We got out at 5. I must have been tired. I left my backpack in the lobby. You know. The thing I keep my batteries in. Yeah, I am not the smartest person. I am normally very reliable; so, I am a bit surprised at myself.
The sun was out when we got out. And things were changing. We got out to Footprint Lake and had eiders! There was also fog.... There were several small flocks of Stellar's Eider flying around. These birds were very edgy, and we tried shooting from the car. The fog made this nearly impossible. We also had a horrificly injured King Eider. It looked like it had hit the power lines. It was swimming well, and we did not see it when we came back by later; so, I am not sure what happened to it.
We drove into town and had the Curlew Sandpiper just waking up for the day.
We checked a lake near the airport and had a King Eider swimming around. It was foggy, and the bird flew out. Things were looking up, though. We just needed to find a Spectacled. The clock was ticking. We did not fly out until 5 PM; so, we had a bit of time. We just needed some luck. We checked a few more areas but did not have anything. As we drove back by the pond, we both spotted a pair of King Eider on the water. We parked and started to make an approach. The birds had moved up onto the snow on the far shore to rest. It was still a little foggy, but we moved into the water and started crawling on our knees where we could. Neither of us brought tripods; so, the going was a bit tough. It is hard to keep your balance like this. We finally got within a decent distance and started shooting. The birds would alternate standing up and walking a few steps before sitting back down. We shot for a bit and then decided to walk back. It was not going to do much good for me to get closer. The birds looked comfortable, and I did not want to push them into the water. We backed up a bit and then stood and started the slow trudge back. That is when I stepped on the steel drum. I knocked something with my toe and, instead of backing out of the step, I raised my foot and tried to put it down. The barrel was iced, and I slipped a bit as I tried to put my foot down on it. I think the thing that saved me was that the water was a little deeper. It kept me upright and the camera dry. The rest of the walk back was much slower and more cautious.
It is amazing how much larger the female is than the male. You really just cannot tell until you see them side by side.
We got back to the car and decided to make another run out to Footprint Lake. The fog had cleared and it was brighter. There were still a number of Stellar's Eider about. We had a fairly large group circle and land not too far from the car. They looked a bit content, and I slipped out of the car. I could not really kneel down here. The grass was too tall. Instead, I kept my head down and shuffled me feet to move through the water and ice. It worked out much better than I thought it would. They eventually swam out to my left, turned around, and then flew past me.
This really covers most of the excitement for the day. We stopped to shoot a few other birds throughout the morning, but it was not anything new.
We found a group of cooperative Red Phalarope. I mean... when are they not? They are some calm birds. I wish I had the time to work out a way to really capture how these birds spin in the water. I think it would take something like a slow exposure with a flash burst at the end. Or maybe a dual exposure where you somehow setup the first shot with a slow shutter speed and the second with a quick. I do not know, but I think it would be neat to pull off.
There was also a Glaucous Gull that was feeding on something out in the water. He circled a bit, and I remembered to grab some flight shots this time. Whatever he was eating was still dripping off his bill as he circled by.
The surprise of the morning, and, of course, the thing Carmen missed out on was the Arctic Fox. This guy was looking a bit rough. He is really just shedding his winter coat. He shot off like a canon, but I got a few shots of him as he scampered across the snow and ice. His nails are freakishly long.
It was about here that I realized my camera batter was low, and that I had not brought my pack with me. I, honestly, could not have left it in a safer place. It was at the inn and right by the door, where it would have been next to me as I walked out and left it behind. The thought of losing the pack terrifies me a bit. It has been just about everywhere with me since I bought it. It has been a truly amazing and reliable piece of equipment. It is also the most comfortable pack I have ever wore. #teamGregory I was pretty happy when I found it at the inn.
Having said that, we of course, stopped to shoot the Ruff when we spotted it on the way back to the inn. I was pretty sure the pack was safe. And... this is a Ruff. It was not in its usual area, and Jamie made a random turn down a neighborhood street on the way back. We both looked left as we passed an opening in a snowbank and spotted the bird down in the water. We were like, "there it is." We stopped and got around where we could get some shots. We did not notice at the time, but we were already getting a little heat distortion. The clouds were thinning out. The bird, of course, was up to its usual antics.
Instead of heading directly back out after getting my pack, I made the call to pack up the room and then head back out. We needed to be out by 11 (we thought, really 12), and it was already around 10. We took some time to pack up and then head downstairs. There, I was greeted with a cloudless sky and zero hope of shooting again for the rest of the day. We spent some time driving about to look for birds. Nothing new. Definitely no Spectacled Eider. We grabbed food. I caught up on notes. I peered wantingly at the sky; hoping for some cloud cover. Instead, time passed slowly. We got on a plane and said goodbye to Utqiagvik.
I badly want to return here some day and shoot Spectacled Eider. It is a big world, though, and I am not getting any younger. It is hard to say if I will make it or not. I have a long list of places I dream of visiting. Time, money, resources, and luck willing, I will make it to a good portion of them. Right now, I do not have any plans. I guess I better get to making some. As always...
Thanks for reading,
Mike
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