Denali Highway Road Trip 2022, Day Four, David vs. Goliath, Part One

 Day Four

David vs. Goliath, Part 1

 

I crack one eye open only enough to see the time--just before 7 A.M.  I look at the window to see how bright the light is—dull, I sleep a bit more; bright, I get up.

 

It’s bright!   I get up, open the door to the deck and check.  Unlike yesterday’s overcast, the sky is a brilliant blue.  

 

And, there’s a trumpeter swan on the lake.   Maybe they’re finally moving in, I hope.   It doesn’t take long and I’m out of there, dropping off my cabin key at the lodge.

 

 

No swan in this photo.

 

Leilani  and Carrie are long gone.   They have a lot of miles ahead of them as they head to Valdez and a  day cruise.   Me, I’m heading toward home but staying at Leilani’s tonight in the Mat-Su valley, so I have time to do some birding first.

 

The first place I check is Warbler Alley, which is our name for a long stretch of willows that always yields a variety of warblers.   They’re there.  I can see them on the ground under the willows. I see them flitting from here to there.   They refuse to come out into the open.

 

All except for one Wilson’s Warbler.   It lands on a snag exactly where I’d seen Doug taking photos of it a few years ago.

 

I head east and pull into the campground.   There’s a spot that always yields Blackpoll warblers and today, it does.

 

 

The campground is beautiful in the sunlight, but there’s nothing happening.   Nothing at the boat launch, nothing on a trail that leads to a larger lake.  Instead, a snow bank blocks the trail.

 

Snow covers the trail at left.

Snow blocked the road in the campground  recently.

 

 

 

I check other places along the way, stop and take a few scenic photos.

 

 

 

Eventually, I  approach a particularly scenic lake with a small cabin on it.  I turn off the road onto an access to a gravel area with an overlook of the lake.  

 

 

Closer view showing the cabin on the lake.

I take my photos and consider how to exit the area.   I could back out on the narrow trail about a hundred feet or so to the highway, or turn down into the depression where there’s a large turn around area.    A nice U-turn sounds better so that’s what I do.

 

As I drive down the steep hill, intending to make a wide circle to the right, I notice a small bird coming at me on the ground.   It’s so small, I can’t tell what it is, but I stop.

 

 It's yelling at me!

 

Will it stay on the ground long enough for a photo op?    Or fly away and I'll never know what it is.

 

 

 ***

 Some other birds before I leave the Denali highway.

This little bird, colored like a Christmas ornament, is a male redpoll.

Even through binoculars, I couldn't ID these birds so I took a shot and cropped it.   The small white ones with black heads are Arctic terns, and the larger birds are Northern Shovelers.

A cute male yellow warbler.   Keep in mind that this bird is about the size of your thumb.