Feel the wind blow

I took a break from the norm of banding songbirds to join a biologist from Alaska Fish and Game on her waterfowl project for the evening. She shared her knowledge and allowed me to practice some new techniques.

#Alaska #birds #research #banding #CreamersField

Who's so lovely and wild?

The weather was foreboding this morning and promised rain. Despite the threat of canceling banding for bird safety (and human comfort), we decided to open in hopes of getting a partial day in. Our luck held and a partial day turned into a full and busy day of banding. By the time we managed to close our 23 open nets we'd captured and banded 107 birds! Woohoo! One of the day's highlight's for me was a beautiful hatch year boreal chickadee. I've always been partial to birds with 'character' and these feisty little guys never fail to bring a giant smile to my face.

#CFMS #borealchickadee

NOME

It's been an exciting year of travel and birds, and with an Alaskan summer in full swing we decided it was time to hit the road again (or rather, the air). We kept it 'local' this time and chose to explore a new place for us in Alaska...Nome. Nome is a village on the coast of the Bering Sea and has three main roads to smaller neighboring villages. Most notably it's often the location of many alluring bird sightings. This trip had the potential for discovery of many life birds.

By the time we secured a rental car and picked up extra water it was almost 8pm. We quickly took a couple of photos at this famed gold pan and hit the road to council.

It didn't take log for us to come across our first amazing bird. On our way out of town we found this Short-tailed Shearwater. A rare bird indeed.

We had an amazing first day with many new sites, sounds, and birds were everywhere. On our second day we decided to drive out to Kougarok road and go for the prize of the Nome area - the Bristle-thighed Curlew. We ended up camping at Mile 72 and made our way onto the buggy tundra just as other birders were showing up the next morning. Sadly, no curlews but we had a great day regardless. Our last day in the Nome area we went out the Teller road looking for a spectacled eider. We were lucky enough to get great looks and make it back to town before running out of fuel. Just before we turned in the rental car we went to the Nome river mouth and saw Slaty-backed Gull...

and this Parasitic Jaeger.

Although only 3 days, this trip to Nome was a definite highlight of our birding big year. All three roads out of town take you to different habitats, birds, and landscapes. What a beautiful place. I hope we are able to venture back with more time.

#Nome #Alaska #birding #adventure