After checking in at the
festival headquarters at the high school, I checked into my room at Leonard's
Landing. The lodge, along with one other, offered a discount to festival
participants, which I appreciated. I also appreciated the lodge location at the
end of the road, right on Monti Bay.
I took a leisurely walk back
along the road, enjoying the beautiful day just birding and taking photos. I watched
a male ROBIN hop along the edge of road next to the melting snowberm, his beak
full of earthworms, yet able to nab one more. Because he was saving them, I
knew he was taking them back to his hungry babies. Quick start, those robins!
Two female RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS
buzzed in a clearing, then sought out the lovely pink salmonberry flowers and
searched for insects in the willow flowers. I sat down to watch two napping
female GOLDENEYES floating in a quiet pond that still had ice covering the back
third. A loud "seeppp" right behind me alerted me to a BROWN CREEPER,
too close to photograph. It busily worked its way up the lichen-dotted spruce
and spiraled around the back.
Bits of the tropics, bright
WILSON'S, YELLOW, YELLOW-RUMPED, and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS flitted in the willows and sang
their lovely territorial songs. FOX SPARROWS scratched noisily in the wet leaves then
paused to sing their version of their home song. The melodies of ROBINS, VARIED and HERMIT
THRUSHES floated through the dense hemlock and spruce woods. I heard a
woodpecker drumming briefly, but could not locate it.
A COMMON RAVEN croaked from
the top of a spruce, hunching a bit when BALD EAGLES soared overhead. MEW and
GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS cried and laughed overhead, a striking white mobile against the
pure blue sky.
A small dark bird flew out
from the willows, snatched an insect and looped back to the tree. Hmmm. Just
like a flycatcher. I watched and tried to get photos. After a while, it flew
across the road to a dead snag and posed. Click, click, click! It was mostly a
soft gray with a light grayish-white throat and belly, and a thin bill. I found
out later that it was a WESTERN WOOD-PEEWEE. Apparently there was a
mini-invasion of this migrant and many were seen during the festival.
At 3 pm it was time for the
afternoon field trip. I caught a ride to the high school and loaded into the
van for the Monti Bay/town tour. The first stop was Sandy Beach where we found
about 20 SANDERLINGS busily working the shoreline, several BONAPARTE'S GULLS
both juvenile and black hooded adults, MEW and GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULLS,
NORTHWESTERN CROWS, a single PELAGIC CORMORANT just offshore, BALD EAGLES and
RAVENS soaring overhead, and WARBLERS singing from the adjacent willows and
alders. Kids ran barefoot on the beach and splashed in the cold water,
celebrating the rare sunshine.
I decided to stay at this interesting spot, catching the tail-end of a photography workshop with Bob Johnson. After he left, I practiced taking photos of
all the birds, especially the sanderings and eagles, experimenting with manual
exposure and different settings. The bald eagles were very cooperative and
repeatedly flew right overhead. Click, click, click! Another flew over and as I
clicked away, I suddenly realized it was an OSPREY! I have been looking for the
osprey in Alaska for a long time, but never got a satisfactory look that
counted. This very cooperative bird looped over the beach once then sailed off
down the bay, quickly becoming a speck bird. Wow! I only hoped I had decent
camera settings! What a thrill!
That evening, festival
participants and locals enjoyed a delicious fund-raiser dinner of tender king
salmon. Afterwards, Yakutat's Mt. St. Elias Dancers performed. Both the junior
and senior groups delivered riveting, outstanding performances. The regalia
they wore were stunning; I understand many of the beaded designs were family
heirlooms. This cultural experience is first class and a special bonus of the
festival.
The evening was so lovely,
it was hard to go to bed. But the next day started with a songbird field trip
leaving at 7 am, so I forced myself to go to sleep, smiling about the osprey
and the vibrant dancers.
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