Winter Birding on Lopez Island

With so many microclimates and microhabitats in the San Juan Islands, there are very different places to explore and even different birds to see depending on which island you are on. Because of the convenience of the ferry schedule, when we decide to explore another island, we usually go to Orcas, but yesterday we decided to go for the extra early and extra long ferry rides in order to explore Lopez Island. Good decision!

Locally known as "Slowpez", Lopez is definitely the quietest of the larger ferry-served island with about half the population of Orcas and a third of the population of San Juan. It's also been nicknamed "the friendly isle", in part because every car waves to every other car as they pass each other anywhere on the island. I've only been to Lopez a handful of times myself, which means there are still parks I have yet to explore over there. After our visit yesterday, I think I actually prefer the Lopez over Orcas, because there are more coastal access points with dramatic landscapes and fewer in the way of hilly wooded hikes.

One of the main reasons for our trip was to go birding and try and add some species to our year and photo year lists. Our first stop in the morning was to Fisherman Bay, where both the species and photographic opportunities added up quickly!

Belted kingfisher in the early morning light at Fisherman Bay

Great blue heron at Fisherman Bay

Heading out the spit at Fisherman Bay

Abstract rock and tree reflection at Fisherman Bay

Our next stop was Shark Reef, which is on the opposite side of San Juan Channel of our regular stomping grounds at Cattle Point. Unlike Cattle Point, which is all open prairie, you hike through the woods to get to the rocky Shark Reef.

Boardwalk at Shark Reef

Shark Reef, on the east side of Cattle Pass

Next we searched for one of the main target species for our trip: the wild turkey! While they used to be found on other island including San Juan, currently the only flock of wild turkeys on the island makes their home on Lopez. We were just about to give up when we came upon a group of more than 20 of them! I'm not sure why they are so much more fun to watch than many other birds, but they are - I suppose it's because they're very expressive, comical, and have lots of social interactions.

Wild turkeys on Lopez

It's surprising to see such a large bird fly - not only over this fence, but even up into the trees above!

Our next stop was Iceberg Point, a place I amazingly had never visited before. There are miles of hiking trails there and we only got to go out to the point in one direction, so we will definitely have to go back. While the birding was decent, the scenery is absolutely stunning.

Iceberg Point

It also offered a different perspective on Cattle Point:

The geology is complex and amazing throughout the San Juans as well, and Iceberg Point was no exception.

Hummel Lake was pretty quiet, but seems to be one of the first locations swallows show up in the islands each year. With reports of some already in nearby Skagit County, the early arrivals might not be far off! We settled for this picturesque common merganser though:

Our last stop before heading back to the ferry was out to Spencer Spit, but we got waylaid on the way there at first by a northern shrike (which would only perch on fence posts, so sadly will not quality for the photo year list which has the theme of photos "without the hand of man"), and then by these sheep. Have you ever seen sheep run before? I don't think I have!

Unlike the ferry ride there, the ferry ride back was in the daylight, so we continued birding from the boat (as we again stopped at every island on our way home). 

An up-close view of double-crested and pelagic cormorants at the Shaw Island ferry terminal

No luck on the shrike, but I did get a rock pigeon picture "without the hand of man"! I like this theme because it makes me attempt different and more challenging photos, such as in-flight shots. The different challenge means the first rock pigeons I saw this year perched on a man-made structure didn't "count", but I like this result much better!

In the end we tallied 52 species on the day, the highest single-day total yet this year! Not at all a bad showing, and after a several year gap in visits, we will definitely we going back to Lopez sooner rather than later.

Portrait of a glaucous-winged gull at the Orcas Island ferry landing

Caution: Wildlife

When you build a road through the wilderness, it is inevitable that large animals will find their way onto the pavement, creating potentially dangerous situations for both wildlife and drivers. It also creates some amazing wildlife viewing opportunities. Early on our trip I was intrigued by the signs warning drivers to look for everything from moose and caribou to sheep and wolverines on the highways. We ended up seeing many of the species right where predicted. Here is a little series I put together showing the often creative signs and the animals on or near the roadway. I think these photos demonstrate an interesting juxtaposition between wilderness and civilization. Most of these photos were taken in the Northern BC Rockies, and the others on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska.

Woodland caribou:

Wood bison:



Stone sheep:

Moose - probably the most common of the bunch, and hence the most often hit. In one town we saw a sign alerting drivers to how many moose have been struck since last July 1 (a whopping 174 in this case!)

And though they didn't often have signs warning you about them, nearly all of our bear encounters came along roadsides as well:

Into Denali

Wilderness is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium ~ Sigurd Olson, conservationist

Denali. The word is Athabascan for "High One" and was given to North America's tallest peak, also known as Mt. McKinley. Yet it has come to mean so much more than that. Say the word aloud. Denali. It evokes pure wilderness.

Today we traveled 66 miles into Denali National Park. Before I go further, I have to say I am extremely impressed with how this park is managed. The National Park Service is succeeding in both preserving wilderness and managing human access to experience it while sending a strong environmental and conservation message. It's really reassuring in a time of so many environmental issues to see something done so right.

As part of the plan to reduce human impacts on park wildlife vehicle access to the park is limited. While anyone can drive the first 15 miles of the only road that eventually leads deep into the park, after that vehicle access is mainly restricted to shuttle and tour buses. We rode one of the shuttle buses which pauses to see wildlife and also makes stops at set points where you are allowed to get out.

Now on to the animals! First of all, grizzly bears. Also known more popularly as brown bears in Alaska, as I had hoped we got to see our first grizzlies of the trip today in Denali. We saw two adults together, and our guide hypothesized that it was a male following a female. The picture above is of the bear that was being followed, presumably the female. The photo below is of the other bear who was lighter colored and potentially the male:

We got amazingly close looks at them and it was cool to see how little heed they paid to us. They just came out of the bushes, tromped along for a little ways, and then disappeared again without giving us so much as a glance.

From one of the largest animals of the day to one of the smallest, we also saw lots of Arctic ground squirrels. These little mammals were abundant, and as cute as they are they are also an important food source for most all of the larger animals that live in the Arctic tundra.

I was very thankful that our driver was also a bird-watcher himself and thus was also looking for birds and, even better, stopping the bus to look at birds! We got a closer look at some willow ptarmigans, a bird I saw for the first time earlier in the trip. Unlike the other ones we saw that were still partially white, the ptarmigans in Denali were already in their full brown summer plumage. Notice how the legs are feathered all the way down to the feet.

In addition to the ptarmigans, we spotted several golden eagles (year bird 197) including a great look at a juvenile perched on the hillside below us. The most exciting bird sighting of the day was a gray morph gyrfalcon (year bird 198, NA life bird 330), another bird I had really hoped to see on this trip. For those of you who aren't familiar with this bird, think peregrine falcon but much larger! This was my tenth lifer of the trip, and we are only halfway through!

Another fantastic sighting was a good look at a mother moose and her two calves. Having two offspring at a time is typical for moose, and as our driver explained, more than half of moose calves are predated upon so for the mama moose it is a good insurance policy in terms of successfully passing on her genes.

Dall's sheep were a common sighting today. We saw several groups including one nursery band of nearly 30 moms and young. This adult male was grazing just below another group of five males that were lounging on the hill above:

Another new mammal for me was the barren ground caribou. Going through the BC Rockies we spotted two woodland caribou, but these are their tundra counterparts. In BC we saw a female and a young male, so I was really hoping to see some adult males with their impressive antlers. My wish was granted as we saw two separate groups of males, including this big guy:

Another cool mammal sighting was a brief look at a hoary marmot! No photos of that one, but if you saw my post featuring yellow-bellied marmots from earlier in the trip they look similar but are blue-gray in color. We also saw a red fox carrying a lemming back to its den. I learned that if a fox is carrying its prey, it probably has kits and is carrying them back food, otherwise it will likely eat right on the spot. The only big mammal we didn't see were the wolves, which are a rare sighting though 70-80 of them are living in the park this year.

The wildlife was of course the highlight for me, but the scenery wasn't too shabby either. It was too cloudy to see Mt. McKinley today, as it is two-thirds of the time, but the painted hills of the Alaska Range were a beautiful landscape to take in all the same. Here are a couple photos to give you the feel of it:

Into the Yukon

Location: Marsh Lake, Yukon
Population: 367

Yesterday, as we left Muncho Lake, were were still in the middle of what is considered by many to be the most beautiful part of the Alaska highway. We had several stops planned for early in the day, and one of our hopes was to see stone sheep - an animal I had never even heard of until this trip! It turns out they are a dark morph of the Dall's sheep that one of our field guides lists as living only in the most inaccessible regions of the northern mountains. It's hard to believe that's where we are!

We didn't have to wait long. We spotted a small band of sheep on a mineral lick where they are known to hang out, and also saw two close up alongside the highway, where they come to lick the salt off the rocks. The first picture shows an impressive adult male, and the second picture shows a female with a cockeyed horn licking the gravel:

Next up was Liard Hot Springs near the BC/Yukon border. The existence of these hot springs has made for an interesting ecosystem in the region as many plants and flowers that wouldn't normally grow here are found near this warmer region. It advertised itself as being the home for several boreal bird species as well, but in addition the ubiquitous Myrtle warbler and a few Canada geese, the only other species I saw was a rose-breasted grosbeak (178). We're a little bit early for the peak of the wildflowers, but there were several different species in bloom. I picked up a field guide for flowers of Alaska and northwestern Canada so after I've identified some of the species I'll share some photos here. In the meantime, I got to experience my first-ever dip in a hot spring! The water was much warmer than I expected - it felt like a hot tub! Very neat.

We had a lot of miles left to cover. Yesterday was actually one of our driving days where we had to cover the greatest distance. But there was too much to stop and see! We were lucky enough to see three different small groups of wood bison, a threatened subspecies of the American bison that originally lived all throughout the boreal forests. I was familiar with both the Dall's sheep and American bison before this trip, but I had no idea stone sheep and wood bison existed. I'm learning so much! The wood bison, like their plains counterparts, were heavily hunted, and at one point were thought to potentially be extinct. Currently, there are about 3000 of them living in northwestern Canada.

The picture below of a grazing wood bison shows another feature of the Alaska highway: the fact that it is mowed for 50+ feet on either side for most of its length. I'm not sure what the rationale is for this, but it does allow drivers to see animals before they might dart into the road. It also creates grazing habitats that several animals like to take advantage of, including the black bear. I know, I didn't think of the black bear as primarily a grazer either, but it turns out up to 95% of their diet is made up of vegetation. One of the managers at the inn we're staying at now explained that there are more black bears along the road now in the spring because they are eating all the dandelions. A traveler wouldn't see nearly as many bears during the summer months.

Many of the animals don't seem to have much of a fear of humans, either. (That doesn't mean this human doesn't have a healthy respect for these wild animals - I always remain in the car!) That allows for some pretty amazing photo opportunities with a zoom lens, like this close-up of a grazing bison:

The Yukon! Hard to imagine being in such an exotic, far-away sounding place. But yesterday we officially crossed into this northwestern Canadian province:

Soon after crossing the border you come to the town of Watson Lake, which is known for its sign post forest. It was started in 1942 by a homesick military worker helping to construct the Alaska highway who put up a sign with an arrow indicating the mileage to his hometown. It has now grown into a famous landmark with more than 65,000 signs of all types, such as city limit signs, license plates, and homemade signs including the dates and names of the visitors. It's pretty impressive.

The kilometers and hours continued to roll past until we neared our destination near Marsh Lake. A few miles before our turn off there was one more stop, for a porcupine! Every new species we see becomes my new favorite, so for now it's the porcupine. This guy had a very lumbering, comical walk and was very cooperative to sit up for this photo before waddling into the woods. I want to learn more about how a porcupine makes its living.

Today was a much needed day spent in the same place with no great traveling involved. That allowed for some catching up on sleep, some bird-watching, and a trip to Whitehorse. The highlight of visiting the province's capital city (which is home to two-thirds of the Yukon's residents at 21,000!) was a visit to the Yukon Brewing Company. I couldn't believe how busy it was there, with a steady stream of locals coming in to get their growlers filled up direct from the taps. The staff seemed to know almost every person by name, too. Funny!

The birds were surprisingly sparse, and I still haven't had any luck turning up a boreal chickadee, but I did add several species to the year list. The best find was our first arctic tern (179), a species I have only seen once before, back in 1996 on my first short trip to Alaska. I also saw a couple of shorebirds: the lesser yellowlegs (180) and a single least sandpiper (181). We also saw three gull species, the most of any day thus far: herring gull, Bonaparte's gull, and mew gull. Driving back from Whitehorse we got a quick glimpse of what was probably a gyrfalcon, which would be a life bird for me, but unfortunately the look was just too brief to be sure of the ID.

Tomorrow, we return to the US and reach Alaska as our destination is Skagway...

Gull Walking in the Sky and Other Photos

It was a nice, calm day today. With the sun out and no wind, the temperatures in the high forties actually felt warm. I decided to go out and shoot some photos this afternoon. My first stop was False Bay since the birding has been so great there. The tide was out, so the "bay" was really just a huge mudflat with some great feeding puddles for the gulls. The mew gulls were out en masse, and although I didn't see any foot-paddling, they were all marching about the puddles and seemingly finding a lot to eat.

I really like this first photo because it blurs the distinction between water and sky. Since the water was so calm it was reflecting the sky quite nicely, and to me it looks like the gull is walking in the sky. It's only the rocks in the top of the photo that bring your perception back to reality by reflecting in the water.

Since I was shooting into the sun, the lighting was harsh and the colors didn't really come out in many of my photos. Without vibrant colors and with almost a silhouette effect on the gulls, I thought a black and white photo might turn out cool. Here's one I thought worked well - notice why I used the word marching to describe what the gulls were doing.

I never have much success shooting landscape shots with a mountain in the background, because it's hard to get everything to expose properly. If any of you other photographers have any tips on getting the mountain exposure right, I'd love to hear them! Still, I thought this shot with grazing sheep in the foreground turned out kind of cool. It looks better in a larger version, and as always you can click on the photo to see it bigger.

Finally, before I was heading home, the late afternoon sun was looking beautiful through the clouds and back-lighting the trees. I wanted to add another element to the photo to make it more interesting, and the closest thing at hand were these cows. I had to jump across a ditch, crouch down, and shoot the photo through a fence, but I think it was worth the extra effort. There are actually three cows in the shot - notice the mom and calf nose-to-nose under the trees in the right side of the image.