Bear Spray Birding

Last week, after my flight landed in Anchorage and groceries were loaded in the truck, I started the hundred-mile drive towards home.   A mile before I reached my driveway, I made a detour to the right along Tern Lake.

The resident swans and their cygnet were still there, but I could not find any of the three American dippers that populated Dave's Creek, the outfall of the lake.   The next day, I returned, and could find only salmon a partially-eaten silver salmon carcass along the creek bank.  Eagles have been fishing, I guessed.


Then, a storm brought an inch of snow, during which I stayed home, catching up on stuff after my three-week trip.  The day after, I once again went to Dave's Creek in search of dippers, thinking about what a long winter it would be if the dippers had left for other places.

So, that's what I was concentrating on as I walked down the few steps to creek level and searching the favorite perches of the little birds.  I noticed some fresh  footprints on the path and hoped the mergansers hadn't been scared away from the bend in the creek where they sometimes hang out.

These photos are intentionally blue for better contrast.

In some nook and cranny of my brain, I was wondering what kind of shoes or boots made those peculiar round tracks, but my  main concentration was on finding dippers.    They are gray and tend to blend in with their surroundings.  Unless one moves, I could easily overlook it.


Then I saw a savaged salmon carcass beside the path and a large pool of blood nearby that had soaked into the snow.   I couldn't see any eagle prints around the fish, just those odd round tracks.

 

I decided to take a closer look at those prints and suddenly realized I was looking at them upside down.

Just as I suspected.   This is the print left by the right hind foot of a good-sized brown bear.

This photo, blue to show contrast better, shows the claws, toes, and part of the pad of a front paw.

Claw marks.   Brown bears cannot retract their claws they way black bears do.

Although the leaves have fallen and I could see a long way into the surrounding forest, I decided this might be a good time to go home.   And I did.

Another snow storm brought a couple more inches of snow and I went back to Dave's Creek, this time armed with camera and bear spray.

A Steller's Jay, not at all amused by wet, sloppy snow.

Sun trying to burn through snow clouds at the lake.

Five mergansers were paddling around the headwaters of Dave's Creek where dozens of spawning coho salmon were milling.   These ultra-shy birds quickly fled the scene when they saw me.

Taking flight meant a lot of running on water, as you can see the bird at right is doing.

Three stages of gaining lift. left--still running, center-- in flight, and right--lifting its landing gear.

And we are airborne!

Only to veer to the right and land fifty feet away!

I don't know if this just-landed merganser is using its face as a speed brake, or if it's already looking for the little fish it eats.

I walked over to the steps that lead up to the road and then down the other side of Dave;'s Creek.

Aha!    That bear is getting braver and using the same steps that we do instead of avoiding the human-used viewing boardwalk.

Oh, lots of bear tracks.   Either one busy bear, or a whole herd of them.


And another carcass off the trail in the woods.

While I didn't see any bears, there were far too many prints around for my comfort, and I headed home.  I suspect the bear comes out to feed at night when there aren't any people around the area.

At home, I pulled the can of bear spray out of my pocket.  I was holding it upside down and noticed some small print on the bottom of the can: 

OOPS!

Guess I better open the two-pack I just bought at Costco.

Good to see you again

The Tern Lake swans left for a few days when the lake froze over.

Then, wind, warm temps and rain opened up a patch and the swans came back.

I was reminded of my late husband and the fact that he didn't like to eat in restaurants, much to my dismay.

"The food at home is always better than what I buy in restaurants," he said.

Guess the swans prefer the "cooking" in their home lake, too.


(Computer problems have abated for now.   I'll be back with stories....)

Into the Wild

Off on a lark.    Will be off the grid until mid-October.    See you then with new stories.

Birding on Sunday

Sunday dawned and brought sunshine, a very rare non-rainy day this summer.  And that presented a dilemma:    Seahawks game or birding???

Okay, birding it was.   While I was getting ready, and waiting for the sun to get in the right position according to where I was going, I did catch the first quarter of a boring game with lame announcers, so I was out the door with no regrets.

First up,  a kayak trip around what has become my favorite part of  Tern Lake.   Few people see the upper reaches of this lake, not unless they can walk on or otherwise voyage on water.   My bright blue kayak was just right for a glassy water paddle.

I visited the area where the kingfishers hang out.   These gorgeous blue and white birds were nowhere to be seen.   In fact, other than a few ducks and a bald eagle that didn't have the courtesy to wait while I fiddled with the settings on my camera, I didn't see anything.   The hawks wasn't around and neither were the magpies.

Common goldeneye

Same duck as above

Wait wait wait wait wait...

C'mon.   Just a few seconds more...  Nope, it flew away.

I'll say one good thing about all the overcast and rain:   our autumn colors usually peak mid-September but with the warmer weather, many of the trees haven't begun to turn color and we haven't had a frost yet either.

I gave up on birding by kayak and drove around the lake to Dave's creek where I'd seen two new (to me) birds.   Birders call them "lifers."   These are photos I took a few days ago when I first saw them:

Juvenile hermit thrush

Rusty blackbird transitioning to non-breeding colors.

Well, I saw the rusty blackbird on the other side of the creek but it wouldn't come into the open where I could get a shot at it.  The hermit thrush wasn't around, not until I turned on my fancy new iPhone,  opened the Sibley's e-Bird app, and played the hermit bird call.


It landed on the logs and brush in the creek opposite me, looked around, flew closer to me on my side of the creek, and approached.

You have to love juvenile birds.   They are so curious.

I wonder what I was "saying" when I played that bird call.   This little thrush seemed to enjoy it.

I waited for the blackbird, then decided that because the sky was clear, I should winterize my little travel trailer in case it froze that night.


About 7 o'clock, I went back to the lake.

One of my favorite sayings is "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take away our breath."   This was one of them for me.

On the side of Tern Lake that's bordered by the Sterling highway, the Tern Lake swans and their cygnet were quite close to the road.    About a dozen cars had pulled over and people were out watching and photographing the swans. 

It is very unusual for the swans to linger when people get out of their vehicles and I was amazed.    I also took full advantage of it.

This is the gray cygnet preening, carefully watched by its mother.   The cob was a short distance away, watching the spectators.

From many hours of watching bird behavior, I knew what happens after a long preening session:

 Now comes the tricky part.   The cygnet has shaken all those feathers into their proper position and has to fold its wings to tuck the feathers away.

The white things on the water are swan feathers.

By this time, there were only a few of us watching and the swans began to swim farther away from the road.

The cygnet, however, was enjoying the company and came closer.

With a quiet honk from a vigilant adult, the cygnet turned away and followed its parents.

I continued on the Dave's Creek where a little American dipper greeted me with a song.

The rusty blackbird emerged from the forest but this was the best look I could get.

That rust color with the blue-black wings and tail are striking!

I hung around the creek until after 8.   By then, I was having to set the ISO on the camera very high to get enough light, so I went back to my truck and started for home.  

The sunset was well under way and it was the perfect moment to leave.