And the midnight sun sets for us.

We got up and out the door of the Holiday Inn, which I recommend, and left for our last day in Alaska. We had pretty much ignored the town, choosing to go to locations away from town. There are a number of birding and butterflying spots around Fairbanks, so we decided to hit those before we left.

Our first stop was Creamer's Field Migratory Bird Refuge. This is probably the best known birding spot in Fairbanks. Previously a dairy, this location of over 2,000 acres, inside the city limits, draws both birds and birders. The refuge has water, fields, and forest. During migration the number of birds passing through can be impressive. Even outside of migration it is a great spot. One of the open fields by the entrance had a large number of Sandhill Cranes, and our only Canada Geese of the trip. Tree and Cliff Swallows were zipping everywhere.

We walked back into a wooded area with a pond. This was a good decision as far as birds go, but we found quite a few of the famous Alaskan mosquitoes. We were very happy to find some Rusty Blackbirds, a bird whose numbers have dropped dramatically in recent years. A breeding-plumaged Horned Grebe was swimming in the pond, along with various ducks. Yellow Warblers were singing in trees all around us. Martin found four Hammond's Flycatchers. The mosquitoes finally won and pushed out to the fields, where we searched for butterflies, but did not see anything new.

Martin had a butterfly location on Ballaine Road, on the north side of town. We found a parking spot and started hunting for bugs. We saw some of the same things we had seen before. I was happy to find a Common Ringlet, a bug I had seen many times before, but I really like them. I also, !gasp!, photographed a Boreal Whiteface, a dragonfly. It was already starting to heat up. After working the area for about an hour we decided to give some other spots a try.

Our next stop was the Peat Ponds Wildlife Area. Martin was thinking it might produced some good dragonflies, and it is another site for breeding birds. We saw a few birds, but no new dragonflies. We then stopped at Smith Lake, part of the University of Alaska's grounds. It was quite a walk in, on a winding path through forest and fields. We got to the lake, but the nesting Mew Gulls weren't having it. One was diving at us over and over. We left them in peace.

The smoke from wildfires had cleared, so we decided to drive up to Murphy Dome again. I was very glad to be riding in an air-conditioned car. I was hot and feeling incredibly tired. The long days of the trip were taking their toll, and this was the warmest day of our trip, about 85, which is almost sweater weather in Texas, so I am not sure why it was bothering me. There was no sign of smoke as we drove up, so we thought maybe the fire was done. Boy, were we wrong! We couldn't even drive all the way up. The road was barricaded a mile or so down from the dome. A man stationed there told us it was off limits, the fire was worse, the wind was just blowing the smoke the other way. I couldn't believe it when Martin said "We only want to go up for a half hour or so." Even his magic English accent couldn't budge the guy.

We went back to town for lunch. We were both so beat we took a long time, not looking foward to going back out. This is not our usual method of operation.We finally felt a bit rested and went back out. I wanted to see a Musk Ox, even if it wasn't a wild one, so we drove by the Large Animal Research Station. We didn't want to do a tour, but we could see a couple of Musk Ox from the roadside. I wish I could have afforded to buy some of the yarn they sell there, but at $90 a skein, barely enough to knit a small hat, I passed. Musk Ox yarn, called qiviut, is considered one of the finest yarns in the world. If anybody has any laying around that they don't want, let me know.

We went back to Ballaine Road. Martin walked around for quite a while. I wimped out and went back to the car. He finally returned and asked me what I wanted to do. I had nothing. Neither did he. We decided to go have an early dinner and then maybe go back to the airport. We found a fast food place that was cool, had dinner and lingered for a lot longer than we normally would. I am not sure why we were so tired, but we both were done.

We weren't far from the airport and I knew there were some eBird hotspots nearby. We decided to go see what we could find. The first spot we tried was the seaplane float ponds. They are not visible from the road, so that was out. I remembered a pond by the car rental parking lot at the airport, so we headed over there. We found a place to pull over and scan the pond. There were the ever-present Mew Gulls, a few ducks, and a beautiful Red-necked Grebe. We called it a day, went and filled up the car and returned it. We were way early for our flight, but it was nice to sit, and to buy some over-priced trinkets from the gift shop.

I enjoyed this trip so much! Even with little glitches, it was an incredible experience. I don't know very many people, (maybe any?) who have been to Fairbanks for birding or butterflies. I would highly recommend it. You won't get a huge bird list, but we saw some great stuff. We ended up seeing 12 species of mammals and 74 species of birds. We are still working on butterfly IDs. The wildflowers were breathtaking. If you read my posts, thank you for taking the time!

All mammals, all the time!

We got up and had every intention of hanging around Fairbanks for the day. We had not hit any of the local birding or butterfly spots. We ate breakfast and started towards a road well known for butterflies. As we turned onto the road we had taken out of Fairbanks to Denali two days prior, I was thinking we really should have gone back and done the bus trip. When would we ever get the chance to see Grizzly Bears? Just then Martin said "What do you think about us going back to Denali instead and do the bus trip?" I almost shouted "YES!" He was a bit surprised at my enthusiasm and I told him I had just been thinking that. It was about 8AM, which gave us plenty of time to make the 11AM bus.

Most bus ticket sales are advanced purchase. There are a few available at the bus station, but it is a gamble. I went online to see what was available. I had trouble connecting to the web page, so I called. The 11AM bus was full, but there were two seats on the 12 PM bus. This would get us back to the but terminal at 8PM and we would still have over a two hour drive back to Fairbanks. We decided it was totally worth it. We hustled up, though we had plenty of time. We stopped and got way more food than we needed in Healy. (There is no food or drinks available in the park.) We arrived at the park and went in to check in. We were over an hour early.

They told us to start lining up outside for the bus about 15 minutes before departure. We got in line over a half hour before, to make sure we got first choice of seats. People started filtering in and we chatted a bit. Finally, the bus pulled up. We decided to sit one row back from the front, thinking it might be a better view. The bus loaded up and we were stunned that no one sat across the aisle from us. I figured if no one wanted the seat, I would move over there, as that would have us on both sides of the bus to spot stuff. I felt a little guilty, having a seat to myself, but not guilty enough to move.

Our driver Brian got on and we took off. He gave us the lowdown on how the transit buses operate and what he expected from us. The transit buses run on the hour. Some go to Toklat River, which is at mile 53; some go to Eieslen Visitor Center, at mile 66; two other buses go further into the park, the farthest to mile 92. We had chosen Eieslen, which would be four hours in and four hours back. You are free to get off the bus whenever you want, hike or whatever, and flag the next bus down and get on. Of course, if that bus is full, you have to wait for the next one. They make rest stops every hour or so for 10 or 15 minutes, and stop for any wildlife.

Brian told us to keep all body parts inside the bus, though it was ok to put camera lens out the windows. He also said IF we had any wildlife encounters to try and maintain silence. He stressed how we were visitors and the park was the animals' home. They don't want them to be accustomed to hearing a lot of voices. The bears and other mammals don't associate the buses with human beings. If they hear hikers talking they take off to avoid them. The park wants it to continue this way. We were also instructed to not eat food outside of the bus. I was a bit concerned about his use of the words "IF we have wildlife encounters."

We covered the first fifteen miles pretty quickly, aiming to get into the part of the park not open to the public. Brian shared a lot of good information with the bus. He had been working in the park in various capacities for the last 15 summers. We found out he was a birder! Even before we passed the gate at mile 15, we were looking for animals, with no luck. Shortly after passing it Brian called out to look ahead on the road, where a Willow Ptarmigan was sitting. He looked for chicks, but didn't see any. A few people asked questions about what to expect. He was noncommittal, saying there were no guarantees. He said because it was so warm the mammals were likely to not be active. This did not make me happy. Deep inside a voice was saying, "No bears for you!"

We had gone quite some ways, and had even had our first bathroom break, with no mammals. That voice was getting louder. Brian knew Martin and I were birders, so he let us know we were coming up to a Gyrfalcon aerie, though he said he hadn't seen one there in the last few days. We were still stoked. We came around a bend to it and there was no Gyrfalcon, but there was a Dall's Sheep, one of the "big five." We had seen Dall's Sheep outside of Anchorage on my first Alaska trip, but they were tiny white dots up high on a mountain sid. This one was on eye level!  We pulled in a bit farther up the road to maintain some distance and allow everyone on the bus to get a look. This sheep was very well photographed! Right above its head was a long streak of Gyrfalcon shit. I think, since the bird's DNA was present, I should be allowed to count it!

We finally saw a Caribou by the Toklat River. It was a bit manky looking, shedding its coat, but still impressive. We pushed on. We were getting near the end of the line, where we would turn around, and still had not see any bears. I had asked Brian if there were trips where they didn't see them. He answered they usually did, but he had had several this year without any. I was feeling more and more uncertain, but still happy we had come. The scenery was unbelievable, and Brian was a fountain of knowledge. (Boy, does that sound trite!) He explained why the rivers were so muddy. The water was from glacier melt, which happens every year. He did remark that with climate change the rivers were higher and the glaciers were shrinking. The water is muddy because glaciers pick up debris as they move. The melt is full of dirt and stones. So much for pure glacier bottled water! I had to laugh.

We passed many buses on the way. Martin and I both were surprised at how much traffic we saw. Besides the transit buses, there are actual tour buses, cruise ship operated buses, and camp buses, going to the various camp grounds. I wondered how they saw any animals at all. As we passed one of the buses, a passenger asked Brian a question. He said "I'm sorry. I was distracted. The driver of that bus signaled me on something." We came around the bend and I saw three pale brown shapes in the grassy field below us. BEARS! That was what the driver was telling Brian.

We reached a good vantage point. It was a sow with two half grown cubs. Brian said they were probably three years old or so, and would be leaving her in a year. We all behaved and didn't talk, other than quiet whispers. We watched them for quite a while, taking many photos. The bears shuffled around the meadow, constantly eating. I was so incredibly happy, I was very close to tears. I felt like it was one of my very top travel days ever. We finally tore ourselves away and moved on. I felt like if I never saw another thing on the trip, I would be happy.

We stopped at the Eieslen Visitor Center and walked around for about a half hour. We were delighted to get reasonable views of Denali itself, making us part of the 30% club. Only 30% of the people who visit Denali National Park actually get to see the mountain. We were pretty sure we had seen it the day we visited earlier, but this nailed it. I photographed some wildflowers. An Arctic Ground-squirrel looked at us with begging eyes, but we resisted giving him something to eat. Some of the passengers chose to stay and do some hiking. Some new passengers got on to return to the bus depot. The bus was still empty enough that we each had our own seat. Now I really felt guilty. :-D Martin and I had talked that maybe we would see more animals going back, as there was less traffic and it was later in the day.

We quickly got to the spot where the bears had been and they were still there! We took a lot more photographs. How can you not? Shortly after we saw another Caribou, this one as tattered looking as the first one, but, holy cats, did he have a nice set of antlers! As we came around a bend, a Red Fox was trotting along the side of the road. When I say Red Fox, I mean the species. He was far from red. There are many variations on the coat color. This one was browner, with black legs. He walked along side of the bus for a while, then crossed in front of us and disappeared.
'

One of the passengers sitting directly behind me called out "Moose!" There was a young bull, buried in the willows, with only part of his head and antlers visable. I commented, "Good spotting!" to her, and she said they were from Alaska and saw Moose all the time, so she was keyed in on them. We paused and took a number of photos. He seemed blissfully unaware of us. Then Brian called out, "LYNX!!! On the road!" I looked up and saw the cat running across. I gasped and then did what I sometimes do when extremely excited, I dropped the F bomb, rather loudly. Lynx was one of my most wanted mammals, only after Wolverine, which is almost impossible, and Wolf. I never expected to see one. I was a bit embarrassed by my outburst, and leaned up and apologized to the young couple in front of me. He turned and said "Are you kidding? That was hilarious!" At the end of the trip, I also apologized to Brian and he said "That is absolutely the proper response to seeing a lynx!' The very bad news was, Martin missed it. He thought it was right in front of the bus and didn't look up. I felt really badly for him, but he handled it really well.

Brian said we were running a bit behind, so we had to press on to try and get back by 8PM. We spotted six Dall's Sheep up very high on a mountain. We got to the Gyrfalcon aerie again. There was still no Gyrfalcon, but the cooperative Dall's Sheep was still there. We took a few more photos. As we drove on this stretch of the road, Brian pointed out areas where the ground was slipping down. He said that the permafrost was melting, so the ground was shifting. The area of the road we were driving on was losing the edge and would not be able to be driven in the not too distant future. A geologist was working on the problem, but there was still no solution. He said the permafrost would all be gone in the park by the year 2050. This was extremely sobering. I also wanted to say "Drive faster!" as we were on a very narrow stretch of road with a high drop off.


We picked up a few passengers, but none of them wanted my seat. I quit feeling guilty. We made our last rest stop and Brian suggested that if we wanted to, to walk ahead on the road and he would pick us up. I was debating whether to walk, or be lazy. I heard a high pitched wheezing sound, and thought "Waxwings!", though when I hear waxwings here the sound is more constant. Brian asked me if I knew what the call was. I said "Waxings?" rather tentatively and he said "Yes!" One flew onto the top of a spruce and I got a distant photo.

We got back to the bus depot near the park entrance at about 815PM, only a little late. I wish I could express just how amazing this bus trip was. We ended up with 9 species of mammals, Snow-shoe Hare, Arctic Ground-squirrel, Red Squirrel, Caribou, Moose, Dall's Sheep, Red Fox, Grizzly Bear, and Canadian Lynx. We didn't have a big number of birds or butterflies, but who cares? I would highly recommend doing this trip. I hope you are lucky enough to get a driver as good as Brian was. This will stay with me for the rest of my life!

I only have one album for the day, the mammals. I am sorry I don't have one of the lynx. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709494863127

Bird list for the day:
Willow Ptarmigan
Golden Eagle
Northern Shrike
Canada Shrike
Black-billed Magpie
Bohemian Waxwing
White-crowned Sparrow.

The farthest north I have ever been!

I checked the weather when we got up. It was perfect for butterflies, mostly sunny and low wind speeds. I looked outside and there was a pall of smoke over everything, due to the wildfire we had heard about near Murphy Dome, which was still burning, but where we were going was over a 100 miles northeast, up the Steese Highway, again. We stopped at a nearby grocery for lunch stuff and took off.

I had been wanting to do a bit more birding, and Martin still needed to see a Spruce Grouse, so we made a couple of stops. There was a promising looking road about twenty miles up the highway, with some woods, where we thought we might see the grouse. We had no luck with that, but did have several Varied Thrushes. Their song sends chills down my spine! There was a little boggy pond at the end of the road, where we heard a Boreal Owl calling. It was in an area where we couldn't see it, but we were still happy.

We drove a bit further on and noticed some birds at a puddle off the side of the road. We turned around and were delighted to find a male Pine Grosbeak and several White-winged Crossbills, neither of which we had seen on this trip. There were a few butterflies on the west mud, including a couple of Cranberry Blues, a species I thought was going to be hard to see before the trip, but had been almost common. We found another bog nearby, which Martin wanted to check for dragonflies. He didn't find the type he was looking for, but we found Dorcas Coppers, a new butterfly for both of us.

We saw a pond on the side of the road that looked promising for one of the dragonflies he hoped to find, Canadian Whiteface. There was a nice wooded area next to it with a little trail, so I could do some birding. I like dragonflies, but I always seem to be in the wrong place, and move too clumsily, and flush them, so I usually find something else to do while Martin looks. I was happy to see a few birds, nothing rare. Martin came back with a huge grin on his face, showing me his camera. He had found his target.

As we drove, we saw a shape on the side of the road. We slowed down, not wanting to flush what ever it was. As we crept closer we could see it was a Willow Ptarmigan, Alaska's state bird. I almost squealed when two little fuzz balls emerged from the roadside vegetation, very young chicks. We kept back to make sure we didn't upset them. They seemed completely comfortable with the distance. We watched as they poked around. Finally, they crossed the road, one at a time and disappeared.

We pressed on to the area we had been to two days prior. We had not worked the 12 mile Summit area much, so we decided to give it a go first. There was a "trail" that consisted of single boards laid end to end up the hill. I started up it and flushed an arctic, a type of butterfly. It finally landed again on the board and we got a few photos. Unfortunately, the exposure on my photos sucked. Then it took off and landed on Martin's jeans, where I got a great shot. We puzzled over the ID, but it turned out to be a Jutta Arctic, which we had seen earlier in the trip.

We proceeded farther up the road to the place where we had seen the Evermann's Parnassian. We hoped to see a female, or at least a less worn male. We were rewarded with a gorgeous male, almost glistening he was so fresh. He was very cooperative, even providing some under-wing shots. There were a good number of confusing fritillaries and sulphurs, which I am still trying to work out. The weather and the views were incredible. We were extremely happy with our decision to revisit the area.

We stopped at Eagle Summit briefly, but decided to go on, to see what habitat was down the road, and if it looked interesting, to drive on to Central, the next settlement on the highway. We went a couple of miles and saw that the road quickly dropped back into spruces and thought we would do better to turn around and look for some rocky habitat on the side of road, as there are a few butterflies that prefer that. As we turned around I realized this was the farthest north I had ever been, less than 100 miles from the arctic circle.

Not far back we found exactly the type of place Martin was looking for. On one side of the road was a rocky cut going up, on the other were rocks extending down the hill. Our hope was butterflies flying from one area of rocks to the other might stop and allow us to photograph them. We did see quite a few, but almost all kept sailing right on by. I heard an odd call, one that didn't sound quite bird like.It turned about to be a Collared Pika, a chunky little mammal that lives in rocks and loves to call. They look like big rodents, but are actually related to rabbits. I had seen American Pikas in Washington state and Colorado, but this was a different species.  Martin called out and pointed down the road where a Northern Wheatear was perched on a post. This bird is most commonly found in the "old world", but some do summer in Alaska and Canada. A second one was calling up the rock face. Martin was particularly happy, as this was his "spark" bird that got him started birding back in England.

We started back to Fairbanks, looking for more rocky spots to explore. We saw a bird sitting in the middle of the road. We expected another Willow Ptarmigan. Again, we slowed down to a crawl. The light was a little harsh, but we could finally make out details as we got closer. There was barring. It was not a ptarmigan at all, but a female Spruce Grouse, the bird Martin really wanted to see. I had seen a few in Washington state years before, but despite searching for them several times in the past, it had eluded Martin. This is a bird that we expected to get in the forest, which is where I had seen mine. This one was out in the open, in an area where there were only scattered spruce in the fields on either side. It capped off the day for both of us!

Bird photos for this day:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709477736506

Butterfly photos for this day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709477711366

Wildflower photos for this day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709477535127

Birds seen this day:
Northern Shoveler
Spruce Grouse
Willow Ptarmigan
Solitary Sandpiper
Red-tailed Hawk (Harlan's)
Boreal Owl
Alder Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Canada Jay
Common Raven
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Wheatear
Varied Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Pine Grosbeak
White-winged Crossbill
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Wilson Warbler

Is that it? I'm not sure, maybe. June 25, 2019.

We weren't quite sure where we wanted to go when we got up in this morning. I suggested driving down towards Denali National Park, not thinking we would actually go that far. I had seen a couple of eBird lists that looked interesting, and there was the possibility of some different butterflies. Not far outside of Fairbanks we passed Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn, and snorted like two 12 year olds. Thank goodness we still have our adolescent mindsets.

Alaska highway 3 runs along the top of a ridge south of Fairbanks, giving beautiful views on either side of the road. We pulled into a rest stop not far from Nenana and as soon as I got out of the car I heard a Boreal Chickadee calling. There was also an Alder Flycatcher and some Black-capped Chickadees. An Arctic White Butterfly skimmed by and then lit on some flowers. We also found a Western Tailed-Blue, a tiny bug, but still beautiful. There was a side road just past the rest area, so we decided to go down it and see what else we could find in the woods. The first bird I saw a Canada Jay, which had been called Gray Jay in the past. This was the first spot where the mosquitoes were a bit of a problem, but still not horrible. We drove a bit further down, but then spotted a guy on a bicycle laying a log across the road up ahead of us. He looked a little shady, like maybe he had a meth lab in his trailer, so we turned around.

We crossed a "braided" river by Nenana, which was flowing fast with muddy looking water. Braided rivers are fed by glaciers. I always thought of glacial water being clear and pure, but it's not. Glaciers pick up a lot of dirt and debris as they move, so that is mixed in with the melt. So, when you see bottled water claiming to be from glaciers, unless it's thick and brown, something has been done to it! We decided to press on to Healy, which is not far from the northern edge of Denali National Park. I found one of the roads where I had seen some birds reported.

We drove down the road and didn't see much for the first mile or so. Then we found a power-line cut, which can be great for butterflies. We pulled off and almost immediately a utility truck pulled in on the other side of the road. Martin talked to the two workers, who were really nice. They told us to go ahead and walk there, they wouldn't be doing anything on the side we were one for a couple of hours. One of the guys told us which gas station was best in Healy and where we might get a peak at Denali. We walked around for about an hour and did find quite a few bugs, but most of them were "patrolling" and not stopping to feed. We decided to head further south towards the national park.

We stopped and picked up some food at a grocery store and talked to the clerk. We asked her about a location on the map called McKinley Park, which we thought was a park. It is not, it is actually a small town right by the entrance to Denali. She went on and on about this great strip mall to do some shopping down there. We decided, what the hell, we would go into the park and maybe stop to buy some trinkets at the shopping center. On the drive down we passed a couple of pull outs, where we checked for butterflies and saw a few.

Denali National Park has limited access. You can drive in about 15 miles to one of the camp grounds; past that you either have to take a permitted bus. We stopped at the bus station right after we entered to see what was involved. We parked and several people were getting out of a car next to us. They explained the bus trips were at least eight hours, or longer, depending on which location you went to, four hours in and four hours out. The tickets were about $45 each, plus park admission,  Most people purchase them in advance, so there was no guarantee we could even get on a bus that day. It was about 1PM, so even if we got on the next bus we wouldn't get out of the park until 9PM. We decided to not do it, and just drive in as far as we could.

We drove down towards the camp ground, making some stops along the way. There was an overlook where you can sometimes see Denali. We were not sure which way to look, but asked a ranger, who gave us vague directions. The mountain is 72 miles away, so unless it is pretty clear, there isn't much chance of seeing it. We could see some mountains, but nothing looked like what we expected. To be honest the road was nothing like I expected. In my head, I had always thought it was straight and through a flat boggy area with some spruce. I have no idea why I though this. The road is actually a  bit twisty and there is some nice forest. We got to the camp ground, got out and looked for butterflies for a bit. We had hoped that we might see a bear or moose, but we didn't. The only mammal we found was a brazen Arctic Ground Squirrel, who looked fearless.

We turned around and headed slowly back to the entrance. We saw some more Canada Jays, and just enjoyed the park. We stopped at the overlook again and this time we were successful! At least we think we were. We could just make out a big mountain beak through the clouds. It came and went. I was really excited, even if it was not the best view. Only 31% of the people who visit the park actually see the mountain. Martin had seen it well on one of his work trips to Alaska, so it wasn't as big a deal to him, but he was still happy to get a glimpse.

It was going to be a long ride back to Fairbanks, so we left the park. At least with the very, very long days, we didn't have to worry about driving back in the dark. It is about a two hour drive, so it wasn't awful. I will be honest, I don't remember much about the drive back, except when we crossed the Alaska. I was a little bemused, as Denali seems well within the interior. By the way, if the picture I posted is not Denali, that is cool. There is more on this later.

Bird photos for the day- https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709433878322

Butterfly photos for the day-https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709434129541

Wildflower photos for the day-https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709433854872

Bird list for the day:
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mew Gull
Belted Kingfisher
Alder Flycatcher
Canada Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Boreal Chickadee
Gray-cheeked Thrush
American Robin
Chipping Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Queen of Poisons, Alaska, Jun.24, 2019.

I laughingly named my blog "I hate paramo," because when we first birded Ecuador that habitat was cold and wet, and it was quite a slog to walk around. I also had a bout of altitude sickness. Paramo is looks quite similar to tundra, above the tree line, with stunted shrubs and plants. There were a few of differences, though, in walking the tundra in Alaska. First, it wasn't cold and rainy, second the altitude was much lower, 3,000 ft. as compared to 13,000 ft. Lastly, it was a little difficult to walk in some places, but not nearly as soggy.

We came to Alaska to mainly look for butterflies. There are a number of species that have restricted ranges in the north and use the tundra. I was also intrigued by the wildflowers of the tundra. There are even a few good birds found in this habitat. Our main butterfly target was Eversmann's Parnassian. Parnassians are usually found in mountain habitat and are white with some black markings and red spots. Eversmann's is the only one that is yellow. It also is in an area not covered by most people. Martin had really wanted to see this species ever since he started butterflying. I really wanted, to, also.

We started the day going up to Murphy Dome, near Fairbanks, where another couple of species were supposed to be found. We were a bit surprised when we got to the top and there were dozens of people milling around. It turned out there was a wildfire nearby. We asked if we could look around for butterflies and they said sure, just stay out of the way. Martin was also surprised by the vegetation. In Google Maps photos it had appeared very low and more grassy. It was now waist to head high willow and not really walk-able. He asked one of the fire fighters about it and he told us that the photos had probably been taken a couple of years prior and that tundra can change very rapidly. We did poke around for a bit, but we were not seeing what we expected. We could see the smoke from the fire a couple of miles away and decided to go a different direction.

The Steese Highway runs northeast of Fairbanks. Highway really isn't the best description of this road, at least 80 miles or so along it. It turns to an unpaved road at this point, though it was not bad at all. We had a couple of spots marked for the parnassian, one called 12 Mile Summit, about 86 miles from where the highway starts, and Eagle Summit, about 106 miles in. The weather was a bit cloudy and became very windy, the farther we went, so it wasn't ideal for butterflies. We didn't dawdle much, heading up. The lower part of the highway passes through fairly open spruce forest. We did pause at a pond, where a beaver was swimming around, giving us good looks. We arrived at 12 Mile Summit and did a little walking, but not much was flying.  We decided to move up to Eagle Summit.

Martin had looked at Eagle Summit on Google Maps. He said there was a small building and a parking area. We drove up about as far as we thought it was and spotted a parking area. Who knows what had happened to the building? We  got out and walked up to the tundra from the parking area and got jaw-dropping looks at a Rock Ptarmigan, strolling by. I took a bunch of photos and little video. It finally scooted into the willows. I had seen the one in flight the day before, but this was much better! Martin went farther in, and I poked around the parking lot a little, since it was wet and I was hoping for "puddling" bugs. I found a hoof print of a caribou and a piece of fur in the willows. Unfortunately, I didn't see the actual caribou. I photographed a few flowers.

The sun was in and out and the wind was howling. It was far from ideal conditions. We saw a few frittilaries, which can be brutally difficult to identify, some sulphurs and alpines. Martin crossed the road to an area that was a bit more sheltered from the wind. I crossed over, too. He said, "If you see the parnassian, put your arms up like this!" I was picturing myself falling down the side of the hill with my arms up over my head, frantically waving as I tumbled down." I found my favorite flower of the trip, Monkshood, also known as Queen of Poisons, which is a way better name! I mean, seriously! If you eat this flower you can die within two to five hours. I love the drama, which is why I am calling this post Queen of Poisons. It sounds like we were in Game of Thrones!

I looked down the hill and saw a pale yellow butterfly flying low to ground, right past Martin. It landed briefly and he shouted "It's the parnassian!" He did not raise his arms over his head, but I forgave him, since he shouted. I got over as quickly as I could and got some photos. It was a male, slightly worn, but we were ecstatic. My experience with other species of parnassians is they rarely land. This one flew, and then landed, flew and landed, over and over again. I think the wind was actually working in our favor. We saw a few more butterflies and decided to drive up the highway a bit farther.

We got in the car, and started driving. We quickly realized we had not been at Eagle Summit at all. We saw a sign and the little building Martin had seen on Google Maps. We stopped and walked around a bit. We didn't see much as far as butterflies, but a Common Redpoll was sitting up singing. We decided to return to the place that wasn't Eagle Summit and quickly saw another parnassian. We got a few more bugs and started to head back, figuring we could see some other bugs and birds in different habitat.

We were about fifty miles out of Fairbanks when the low tire light came on. This is not what you want on a deserted highway with no gas stations for at least 45 miles. Martin got out and checked and thought the rear left tire looked a little squishy, but not bad. We drove on and he checked again in about another ten miles. He said it definitely looked a little low. Of course there was no cell service. We kept on, checking the tire from time to time. Of course the first gas station didn't have a tire gage or air. We called the car rental company and they said to bring it in. If the tire was not fixable, we would be responsible. We finally came to a station and Martin put air in the tire. It still wasn't flat. We got to the airport and Dollar car rental gave us a new car. We called them a couple of days later, and it looks like the tire was fixable, so we weren't stuck with it. A good ending to the day!
Links to photos:
Butterflies of the day (please feel free to comment on my IDs.)-https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709413140541

Birds of the day_https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709413087866

Wildflowers of the day (again, please feel free to comment.) -https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/48184432221/in/album-72157709413180321/

Bird species seen:
Ring-necked Duck
Sandhill Crane
Alder Flycatcher
Violet-green Swallow
American Robin
American Pipit
Common Redpoll
White-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow

Surprise! It's Alaska! June 23, 2019.

I work in corporate travel. I chose this line of work because I love to travel and there used to be a lot of benefits. Unfortunately, those have shrunk over the years, but I still get one pair of tickets each year to fly domestically. About a month ago we started talking about using them. Our first thought was Maine, as I have never seen Atlantic Puffin, but I couldn't find the right availability that I needed on any of the airlines that I could use. But, I could get flights to Alaska. Martin suggested Fairbanks, as there are a number of butterflies there with a limited range, and we each needed two species of birds there. The prime time for the butterflies was late June. I checked if I could get the time off, and I booked our flights!

We left on June 22, flying on United from Austin to San Francisco, and then on to Fairbanks. We arrived just before midnight, with the sun still shining. We had to wait on board the plane for an extra 20 minutes or so, as the first jet-way wouldn't work. This did not make us particularly happy. Finally, we disembarked. After collecting our baggage and the rental car, we checked into the Holiday Inn for six nights. (If you go, the hotel was great.) We fell into bed, exhausted, not sure of what we would do the following day. I thought we would sleep in, but no, we were up in less than five hours.

The weather did not look good for butterflying. There was some light rain and the area we had talked about going to, the Steese Highway, northeast of Fairbanks, looked like it would be having rain for some time, so we decided to head south. Arctic Warbler, a bird we both needed, breeds in this area, near Paxson. Martin had seen records of Long-tailed Jaegers and Smith's Longspurs nearby by Tangle Lakes. We had seen both species outside of breeding season, but one can never see enough of either. There were also some butterflies we wanted, so our decision was made.

We drove south past North Pole, which looked like one big tacky Christmas wonderland. We did not bother to visit any of the ornament stores. It was a rather lengthy drive to the area we wanted to start in, about three hours, but we still made a few stops. I spotted a flock of  nine White-winged Scoters at Birch Lake. A bit further on there was a pair of Trumpeter Swans, which I not regret not photographing. Our first mammal of the trip was a Snow-shoe Hare, on the shoulder. Shortly after that, a Mink ran across the road! Getting closer to Paxson, I spotted an Arctic Tern. Herring and Mew Gulls were common.

We finally reached our turn to Tangle Lakes on AK 2 W, and a good spot for Arctic Warbler. We pulled over and immediately heard them singing. One was sitting up on one of the small willows and I was able to get several photos, though none were fabulous. This was a new bird for both of us. We each had one more possible new bird, though these were different ones for each of us. White-crowned Sparrows and Yellow Warblers were singing. We had at least five Arctic Warblers.

We reached the Tangle Lakes area, but had not seen either long-spurs or jaegers. We stopped at a small lake, where a Common Loon was snoozing close to shore. He finally lifted his head and gave us a dirty look. There was a nice spot of tundra, so we walked in to see if we could find some butterflies. It was really wet and very squishy. Because of a stupid error, bringing a mismatched pair of sneakers, both for the right foot, I was wearing leather walking shoes, and did not really want to get them soaked. It was exhausting slogging around, but we did see a few butterflies and lots of wild flowers. As Martin wasn't hampered by his footwear, he was some distance from me. I heard him shout and point. A Rock Ptarmigan was flying across the tundra, diving into some willows along the road. This was the second life bird I needed! Needless to say, I was more than happy.

We had a late lunch overlooking the largest of the lakes. The food was OK, but the view was astonishing. We started back and saw two birders heading out over another portion of tundra. We stopped to chat and they told us they were looking for Smith's Longspurs, but it was at least a mile walk. We said, "Good luck!" and went on our way. Neither of us were up to a mile long hike. We also had no sightings of Long-tailed Jaegers.

The mountains were so gorgeous. We got great looks at Gulkana Glacier, with clouds rolling down it. I found a fabulous looking moth, that rivaled any of the butterflies we had. The wildflowers were mind-blowing. Unfortunately, most of the flower photos I took are on my phone, and I don't know how to transfer them to my Flickr page. We saw our first moose of the trip, not far from Paxson. We saw four more, and I finally got a decent photo of one by the side of the road. We arrived back in Fairbanks after 8PM, exhausted but happy.

Link to bird photos for the day- https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709345983102

Link to butterfly and moth pictures for the day- https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709346018762

Link to wildflower photos for the day- https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157709346054787

Bird species seen:
Trumpeter Swan
American Wigeon
 Mallard
Greater Scaup
White-winged Scoter
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Rock Ptarmigan
Wilson's Snipe
Red-necked Phalarope
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mew Gull
Herring Gull
Arctic Tern
Common Loon
Bald Eagle
Alder Flycatcher
Common Raven
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Arctic Warbler
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
American Robin
Common Redpoll
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow.
Yellow Warbler

That's Owl, Folks! Belarus, May 11, 2019.

This was a busy day, with some travel, some owls, and the most endangered bird of the trip. It was to be our last real birding day of the trip. Some of us got up early to bird around the hotel grounds and look for Martin's Eurasian Nutcracker. Unfortunately, we didn't find it. We met the rest of the group and had our last substantial breakfast in Belarus. (They served these pancakes that were more like fried American biscuits. OMG!)

We had to drive quite a ways. It was after lunch that we picked up Sasha, another forest ranger. He was going to take us into an area set aside for Great Gray Owl nesting. Martin and I had seen Great Gray Owl in Minnesota, so it wasn't the highest priority, but who doesn't love seeing owls? We had been warned that it would be the worst place for mosquitoes, which I wasn't enthusiastic about. We covered ourselves in DEET and I put on my rain jacket with the hood up for protection. We took off down a path and I kept waiting for the attack. Mosquitoes adore me, so I told everyone I would draw them off. Imagine my surprise when the swarms never materialized.

We didn't have to walk too far, when we stopped and Sasha pointed to a tree. There, perched in a wooden nesting box, sat a female Great Gray Owl. Even though it wasn't a new bird for me, my breath caught. We weren't too close, but she still kept an eye on us. It was a big target bird for the rest of the group. The feeling was electric! Then a downy owablbllet poked his head up, to our great delight. While everyone else was drinking in the owls, I spotted a Pied Flycatcher. Barrie said we were really lucky. Most of the nest boxes in this forest were old tires with drainage holes in the bottom. He had seen an owl in one the year before, but all they could see was the top half of the female's head. The mosquitoes were never a problem. As we returned to the mini-bus we spotted a fox on the road.

Sasha then took us to another spot, where there was another wooden nesting box. Four downy Long-eared Owls peered out. It was a wonderful surprise, the fifth species of owl for the trip. They had a very fierce expression for babies. We then dropped Sasha off at his house, where three of his seven children came out and shyly looked at us. He made a little speech about God and the Bible, which I found a little uncomfortable, but I was glad for the birds he showed us.

We then left for the last hotel of the trip. We had a few birds along the road, and I enjoyed the countryside and small towns. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. Barrie said we would be leaving shortly for the last bird of the trip, one of the rarest in Europe. We went up to the room which was really lovely. I looked out over the town square and saw a couple of Common Swifts shoot by, another new bird for me. Most of us got on to the van to go to our last real birding stop of the trip. One couple chose not to go. I'm not judging. (Who am I fooling? I am too!)

We drove out past the edge of town to a marshy grassy area. We were going to look for Aquatic Warbler, one of the most endangered birds in Europe. This species has lost much of its wintering habitat in west Africa. Belarus is the easiest place to see it. We met a warden of the preserve and walked down the hill to see if we could find one. I was really surprised at the habitat. For some reason I expected it to be in reeds, but it was short grass marsh. As in other places we visited, the water levels were very low. We walked out listening for the call. One was calling nearby and we all struggled to see it, as it popped up and down. I finally got a decent look in the scope, but photos were impossible.

We trudged back to the mini-van and returned to the hotel for our last dinner in Belarus.I am not going to write about our trip to the airport the next morning, as it was fairly uneventful. We flew back to London on a two hour flight, with more gray meatloaf! I want to say, the food in Belarus was much better than the food on Belavia Air. The flight was comfortable and I was sad to say goodbye to our birding comrades.

I would highly recommend birding Belarus. Personally, I would not do it on my own. The signs are all in Russian, in the Cyrillic alphabet. Very few people speak English. There are some local guides, but in May they are hard to come by, as they are employed by tour groups. I was very pleased with Naturetrek. The tour wasn't really aimed at hard-core birders, but we saw almost every expected bird. The guides were wonderful, enthusiastic and very helpful. I got 43 new birds! My total list was 135 species.  If you have any questions, let me know!

Photographs for the day:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157708746996103

Species list:
Mute Swan
Common Cuckoo
Common Snipe
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
Montagu's Harrier
Great Gray Owl
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Jay
Rook
Wood Lark
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-Martin
Aquatic Warbler
Savi's Warbler
European Pied Flycatcher

Belarus, Day 5, May 10, 2019. Into the Woods

I made a big mistake the morning of May 10th. We were on the third floor of the hotel and my knees were sore. Martin got up early to bird around the hotel. I said, "No thank you! I will stay up here until breakfast, as another trip up and down three flights of stairs does not appeal to me!" As I said, this was a big mistake. Martin came up very excited and asked me to play the tape I had of Eurasian Nutcracker, one of my most wanted birds. I played it and he said "That is it!" He had seen a bird perched on top of a pine tree. It was chased off by other birds, but he got a decent look. It was the right shape, streaked below. We later found out another member of our tour group was also up early and was on the other side of the tree and saw it, too. I told myself we would probably seen another one, as the tour group from the year before had one in a forest.

We went down for yet another substantial breakfast. They do like a big breakfast in Belarus! Afterwards we met at the bus to head into the woods. First we had to pick up a local forest ranger, Anton. He was going to guide us, hopefully showing us a few specialty birds. He was a really nice guy, very affable. We drove into the forest and parked the van. Barrie warned us again about not getting off of the trail and watching for ticks. He also asked everyone to be as quiet as possible and stay close together, as we would see a lot more that way. I won't comment on how the group did following these instructions.

There was an outhouse by the parking area, and we were advised that we would not be finding better facilities. I was fine, so I walked past it to look at flowers. I was surprised when a small rodent darted out of the foliage, running behind the outhouse. I got a good look at it, gray with a rusty colored back. It was a Water Vole. I was actually excited to see it. Mammals are harder to see than birds. As we started walking I saw another and actually got a photo of it!

This day in the forest is kind of a blur to me. It is hard to remember the order we saw things in. I do remember one of the first birds we saw was a Firecrest, a bird that is similar to our Golden-crowned Kinglet. They flit around and move so fast. I got a quick shot of it singing, but the crest isn't showing. We walked into a less traveled area and walked into a clearing. Anton pointed out a hole in one of the trees and there was a tiny owl peeking out! It was a Tengmalm's Owl, known as a Boreal Owl in the states. I was not really expecting to see this owl, so I was really happy.

Then we heard the flight call of a Black Woodpecker. One flew around the clearing, and finally came into another tree, sticking its head into a hole, feeding its young. I do want to mention, we were not close to these birds, but further back. My photos of the woodpecker are over-exposed, but it was still a thrill to see it. Black Woodpecker is a honking big bird. This was by far the best look I have ever had of it. We picked up yet another woodpecker, Gray-headed. We were kicking it on woodpeckers!

We added a few more new birds to our list. A beautiful Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker was a real prize. It is another bird that can be difficult to find. It also completed all of the possible woodpeckers for Belarus, nine species. Then we found the bird of the day for me, a Eurasian Pygmy-owl. We heard it tooting right off of the trail. It was soon spotted and we got great looks. It is very similar to our Northern Pygmy-owl. We finally went back to the hotel for dinner. (We ate lunch at some point, but I can't tell you when.

We had a big evening ahead. One of the big draws of the Bialowieza forest is the mammals. There are a good number of European Bison, one of the animals we all wanted to see. These animals became extinct in the wild in the 1920s, but have been successfully reintroduced. They are easiest to see at dusk in meadows next to the woods. Other mammals are also possible crossing the roads, including wolf and lynx. Both of these predators are very difficult to see, but we were hoping. We had not gone far from the hotel when I spotted a canine running on the road. I yelled "Wolf!" I was more than a bit embarrassed when it turned out to be a fox. I got a bit of teasing about this. We ended up seeing three more that evening.

We passed a small lake and somebody, maybe Martin, spotted a bird swimming. It turned out to be one of the least common birds of the trip, a Black-throated Diver, known as an Arctic Loon in the states. Martin, Barrie, and a few other members of the group, had seen five flying over at the fish ponds on the first day. I did not see them, so I didn't mention them. :-D

We stopped at place where Anton knew there was a special bird. Martin never had seen a Tawny Owl when he lived in England. This bird was his "tart's tick", an easy bird to see, but one that eluded the birder. I won't go into the reasons he hadn't seen one, but it was his own damn fault. Unfortunately, we weren't lucky. Barrie and Ishtvan said we would come back after dark, as they are really vocal.

We drove on and arrived at the best meadow for European Bison. It was getting close to sunset. We parked and started scanning and spotted some on the forest edge. We got a bit closer, but they were still distant. My photos don't begin to do them justice. I did get a little bit of digiscoped video on my phone. Martin helped other tour members get some digiscoped video, too. We were all excited. Then, on the other side of the meadow, a few Red Deer came out. We had seen Roe Deer, but not Red. Then the rarest mammal of the trip came out in the same area, several wild boars. They were far too distant and the light was too poor to even try for photos.

It was getting dark, so we started back to the hotel. Martin saw a badger run across the road. I did not. I am still bitter. We stopped again at the Tawny Owl spot, and sure enough, they were vocalizing. One flew across the road and Martin got his tart's tick. We heard an incredibly eerie call. Barrie and Ishtvan were mystified. Antone said it was a Common Crane. It was quite late, so we drove back to the hotel and I hobbled up the three flights of stairs.

Unfortunately, Flickr is down so I can't post a link to my photos.

Bird species seen:
Mallard
Common Goldeneye
Common Cuckoo
Eurasian Nightjar
Common Crane (heard)
Eurasian Woodcock
Green Sandpiper
Black Tern
White-winged Tern
Arctic Loon
Great Egret
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Pygmy-Owl
Tawny Owl
Tengmalm's (Boreal) Owl
Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker
Gray-headed Woodpecker
Black Woodpecker
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-Martin
Crested Tit
Willow Tit
Common Firecrest
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Great Reed Warbler
Collared Flycatcher
Whinchat
Eurasian Starling
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Goldfinsh
Yellowhammer

Belarus, Day 4, May 9, 2019. What a beautiful day!

We woke up to bright sunshine and blue skies. It was absolutely gorgeous, the best weather of the trip. Of course, it was going to be a travel day, with limited birding. There were a few stops planned, so it wasn't going to be a total wash. We had our last breakfast at the hotel, still very substantial. We got in the bus and drove to Alshaney, where we had another chance for Azure Tit. We had seen a pair well the first morning, but they were a bit distant, so we were hoping for closer looks and photo ops. A pair of Long-tailed Tits flew by right after we got off the bus. We walked up a berm along the river and almost immediately had a pair of Azure Tits, quite a bit closer, but very uncooperative as far as photos went.

The biggest surprise was a Eurasian Nightjar that flushed and landed on a branch. Unfortunately, a pair of nest Fieldfares took umbrage and chased it off. Barrie spotted a Green-veined White butterfly, the a swallowtail flew by. A Brimstone sulphur butterfly landed on a discarded red piece of clothing. We walked further down the berm, where a singing Garden Warbler played hard to get. We turned and walked the other way to a reed bed, where a Savi's Warbler was singing. We got good looks, and I got terrible photos. Martin had stayed at the spot where we had the Azure Tit, hoping to get something good. Unfortunately, the pictures he got were not fabulous.

We drove several hours, passing through the city of Pinsk. We made a few stops, seeing a Crested Lark, both Lesser and Greater Spotted Eagles, and several other birds. We visited a Belarussian grocery store, where we all purchased our favorite new snack, mega chips, a large rectangular potato chip, sort of like Pringles, but much better! We arrived at our new hotel in the Bialowieza National Park, on the Polish border. The setting was amazing. We checked in and got settled for two nights, and headed down for dinner. It was the best meal of our trip, mushroom soup and a braised pork. We had a big day ahead of us, so it was early to bed!

Photos from the day:
http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/2019/05/belarus-may-8-2019-so-many-woodpeckers.html

Species list:
Common Cuckoo
Eurasian Nightjar
Eurasian Moorhen
Northern Lapwing
Black-tailed Godwit
Common Redshank
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Eurasian Marsh-harrier
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Crested Lark
Barn Swallow
Azure Tit
Savi's Warbler
Garden Warbler
Spotted Flycatcher
Whinchat
Northern Wheatear
Fieldfare
Western Yellow Wagtail
White Wagtail
Yellowhammer

Belarus May 8, 2019. So Many Woodpeckers!

The weather promised to be better this morning. I looked out before breakfast and there was no rain! It was still a bit gray, but I was happy to take it. After breakfast we drove into the Azerani forest in the Pripyat National Park. We arrived and applied insect repellent, as Belarussian forests are full of bitey bugs. We we sternly warned to not wander off the trail and to avoid brushing up against vegetation, as ticks are a big problem.

We started down a trail, and I was immediately distracted by wild flowers. Lily-of-the-valley was thick on either side. I grabbed a few photos, and hustled to catch up with the group. We spotted an Eurasian Treecreeper working its way up a trunk. Then one of the guides found one of my favorite birds of the day, a Red-breasted Flycatcher. A bit later we saw a Collared Flycatcher, another great looking bird. The first woodpecker of the day was a Great Spotted, one I had already seen in England. We heard a Gray-headed Woodpecker, but it didn't show itself. We crossed an open wet bog, where Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers are often found, but only had a Lesser Spotted, another bird I had already seen. Then we heard a wonderful song, an Eurasian Golden Oriole. We had glimpses of the bird flying over, but I only saw the silhouette.  A young White-tailed Eagle flew overhead. When we arrived at the van I was shocked to see a Black Woodpecker fly up out of the grass by a water filled ditch. We had gotten brief looks at one in Spain, but this was much better!

We left the woods to bird a riparian area, looking for Barred and Icterine Warbler and raptors. We did a lot of driving, stopping, listening, getting out and walking, but had no luck. The guides said it may have been too early, and they had not arrived yet. We drove out to a meadow, where we had a beautiful Black Stork soaring overhead. A beautiful Greater Spotted Eagle also circled above us. A black mini-bus pulled up with another group of birders that we had seen several times. (I commented that they were the evil birding group, like the meteorologists in the black vehicles in the movie Twister.) They told us they had seen a Barred Warbler right where we had looked earlier. We got back in our white mini-bus and retraced our steps.

When we got to the spot we heard the Barred Warblers singing. Maybe they arrived five minutes after we left. They are a big honking warbler. It was difficult to photograph them, as they stayed deep in the brush, but I did get a few shots. A pair of Red-backed Shrikes jumped up, giving us even better looks than we had the day before. We worked the area a bit moer and were rewarded with fantastic looks at a Eurasian Golden Oriole at eye level! This oriole is nothing like our orioles in the states. They are much heavier, shaped more like a cotinga. I saw a bird back from the trail, deep in shrubs. It was a European Robin. I called it out, but no one seemed to hear me. I told our guide  Barrie later, and I don;t think he believed me. It was not where you would expect a robin, but I am certain.We got fabulous looks at a Wryneck, another species of woodpecker, though not a typical one.We did some more birding in the area and got one of our main targets, White-backed Woodpecker.. Then we got another target, a Middle spotted Woodpecker.

It was time to head back to the hotel, and we were going to take a shortcut. Rather than driving back the way we came, crossing the Pripyat by bridge, we were going to take the ferry. This proved to be a bit of an adventure. We pulled up to the river crossing and got off of the mini-bus. Istevan pointed out a posh hotel on the other bank and told us the ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, had a summer house a short way up the river. Our driver tried to get onto the ferry and bottomed out. He tried another angle and finally was able to get on. We all followed and boarded. White-winged, Whiskered, and Common Terns flew over the river. The crossing was short and we disembarked. The mini-bus had an even harder time getting off the fairy. Finally after several tries, he succeeded. We made the short drive back to the hotel where we had beer, wine, and dinner.

Photos from the day: http://sngcanary1.blogspot.com/2019/05/belarus-day-2-may-7-2019-well-that-was.html

Bird species seen:
Garganey
Mallard
Stock Dove
Common Wood Pigeon
European Turtle-dove (heard only)
Common Cuckoo
Common Redshank
White-winged Tern
Whiskered Tern
Common Tern
Black Stork
White Stork
Gray Heron
European Honey-buzzard
Lesser Spotted Eagle
Greater Spotted Eagle
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
 White-tailed Eagle
Common Buzzard
Eurasian Hoopoe
Eurasian Wryneck
Middle Spotted Woodpecker
White-backed Woodpecker
Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Gray-headed Woodpecker (heard only)
Black Woodpecker
Red-backed Shrike
Eurasian Golden Oriole
Eurasian Magpie
Hooded Crow
Common Raven
Barn Swallow
Marsh Tit
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Treecreeper
Eurasian Wren
Wood Warbler
Willow Warbler
Common Chiffchaff
Icterine Warbler
Eurasian Blackcap
Barred Warbler
Spotted Flycatcher
European Robin
Thrush Nightingale
Red-breasted Flycatcher
Collared Flycatcher
European Starling
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
Hawfinch
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Yellowhammer
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Belarus, Day 2, May 7, 2019. Well, that was Ruff!

I woke up well before the scheduled breakfast time. I was really nervous about the weather, as Istvan had said to expect heavy rain and winds. I peaked out the window and saw it was very gray, but not raining. I thought maybe the weather forecasters in Belarus were as inaccurate as the ones in the states. We got dressed and went down for breakfast. Belarussians like a big breakfast!  We finished, loaded the bus, and set out for our first destination, a small village nearby where Syrian Woodpeckers can be found.

It was spitting rain a bit and it was really cold and windy. We found the Syrian Woodpecker quickly. It was the first new woodpecker for me for the trip. Woodpeckers were high on our target list. We wandered around a bit more and had Black Redstart, sing Thrush Nightingales, Whinchats, and a few flashy European warblers. (Sarcasm alert!) It started to rain more heavily.

We went into town to do a little sightseeing to avoid the rain. We visited a lovely, tiny blue wooden church, packed with icons and perfumed with the scent of cut lilacs. May 7th is a holiday in Belarus, a day to honor the dead. The cemetery next to the church was full of people decorating graves, even in the rain. A much fancier church was across with the road, with gilded onion domes and shiny copper roofs. We visited a spot for shorebirds and saw a few, but the weather was still challenging, so we had an early lunch, including a shot of raspberry vodka.

The weather had eased a bit, so we headed to another shorebird spot, a set of sewage settling ponds. It was about a quarter mile walk on a high berm, with the wind howling. Another group of birders was already there. I picked my way along, thinking I was sure to be blown off. When we got to the area where the other birders were, I almost jumped off the berm for joy. There were over 200 Ruffs, including breeding plumaged males of every possible color. I remember when I had my first field guide and I saw the illustrations of breeding plumaged Ruffs, I was smitten. It is amazing to be me that there can be so many different color combinations in the same species. I have seen female Ruffs a few times in Texas, but they are a bit nondescript. These males, some of the squaring off with each other, competing for females, were stunning. I took hundreds of photos. Unfortunately, due to the wind, I was not as steady as I should have been, and my photos are not fabulous, but I still treasure them! We also had a White Wagtail, several Yellow Wagtails, and a Citrine Wagtail.

Then Istvan said we needed to go to the nearby banding station. They had a surprise for us. We pulled up to a little wooden house, and as many of us as could, crowded into the tiny room where they were ringing the birds. The rest of the group peered through the window. The main bander had two Terek Sandpipers they had caught and were getting ready to release. It was so cool to see these birds in the hand! They were much smaller than I expected, as birds in the hand always are. Sara, one of tour participants, has done banding in England, so they gave her on the of the birds to release. It flew off like a shot! One sobering thing was the water level by the station. Normally in spring the river floods and it comes right up to the house. This year it was a dry field. It was last year, also. It has been very dry. This has a negative impact on many of the breeding birds.

We walked down to the river and saw quite a few more shorebirds and I found a couple of Gargany. We had another couple of Terek Sandpipers. Martin found a Temminck's Stint and a Common Ringed Plover. White-winged and Whiskered Terns flew by. There was an Eurasian Oystercatcher on the river bank. In the states American Oystercatchers are only found right on the coast, usually on the beach. Belarus is far from any sea, being completely landlocked. Where was this bird catching oysters?

We returned to the hotel for dinner, but we weren't done for the day. We drove to an area near the river where Great Snipe breed. This was one of Martin's main target birds. He had seen one in the UK, years ago, but not well. I was really excited to see them, as well. They can be very tough to see displaying. You have to be there right at sunset. Sometimes the fields are flooded so much you have to take a boat. This time it was walkable, but it was a long slog, especially as we were trying a new kind of over-boot, which made it even harder. On the way out we heard a Corn Crake, which are very difficult to see. Martin and I were the only ones lucky enough to see it scurry across the road.

We finally got to the lekking area where the same birders we had seen earlier in the day at the Ruff spot,  were already set up. We had our scope, and the tour leaders had two more. The snipe run along little trails in the grass. Occasionally they will stick up their heads. If you are lucky you will see them jumping. Finally one was spotted. We all took turns looking in the scope, but it moved off. We kept looking. After a while, another popped up. After quite a long wait, everyone had seen one. The walk back seemed even longer and we were so spread out, we were not always sure we were going the right way. Simon, one of the tour participants, was kind enough to tote our scope back, as Martin's shoulder had given out and my knees were screaming. We were more than happy to get back to the hotel!

Link to photos from the day, including many, many lousy Ruff photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/albums/72157708664240004

Species seen this day:
Gargany
Mallard
Common Wood Pigeon
Common Cuckoo
Corn Crake
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Northern Lapwingras
Common Ringed Plover
Little Ringed Plover
Black-tailed Godwit
Ruff
Temminck's Stint
Common Sandpiper
Wood Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Black-headed Gull
Caspian Gull
Little Tern
Black Tern
White-winged Tern
Whiskered Tern
Common Tern
Gray Heron
Eurasian Marsh-Harrier
Eurasian Wryneck
Syrian Woodpecker
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Jackdaw
Rook
Hooded Crow
Common Raven
Eurasian Skylark
Barn Swallow
Common House-martin
Eurasian Blue Tit
Great Tit
Wood Warbler
Willow Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Lesser Whitethroat
Spotted Flycatcher
Thrush Nightingale
Black Redstart
Whinchat
Eurasian Blackbird
Fieldfare
European Starling
Western Yellow Wagtail (thunbergi)_
Western Yellow Wagtail (flava)
Citrine Wagtail
White Wagtail
Common Chaffinch
European Greenfinch
Eurasian Linnet
European Goldfinch
European Serin
Yellowhammer
Reed Bunting
House Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow