Denali Road Trip, 2022, Day Four, Part Two

 

 

Day Four, Part Two

David vs. Goliath

 

 

 

 

Recap:   I had pulled off the Denali highway into a  gravel pit to take a photo of a scenic lake and cabin.  Then, I drove drown into a  large dip and was charged by a little bird.

 

I slowly move a little closer and the bird races toward me.  Whoa!   I mean, it’s four or five inches high, for Pete’s sake.   It blends in with the stones on the ground so unless you keep your eye on it, or it moves, it's very hard to see.

 

 

 

Through binoculars I identify the bird as a semi-palmated plover.   The “semi-palmated” refers to its partially webbed feet.  They are handsome little shorebirds, usually seen around water.

 

 

I get down on the ground as gracefully as I can, which means I kneel, try to sit, and tip over backwards.   There is no grace involved in that, but I get back to a sitting position so I can brace my heavy camera on my legs.  

 

 

 

The plover doesn’t leave.  This is strange, I think.    I take a few photos, manage to stand upright, and go back to the truck.

The plover runs forward and crouches down.   Aha!   There’s a nest there and I would have run right over it if the bird hadn’t charged me to defend it.    At this point, my truck is ten feet from the nesting bird. 

 

 

  It seems content to be back on the nest.

 

I note a few landmarks around the bird so I can find the tiny nest again and take a few steps forward.   The bird runs to the right.

I walk forward slowly and find the nest in front of a large white stone that I'd noted.  I take a couple photos and put the camera back in the truck.

 

 

Four speckled eggs that seem too large to be laid by a small bird.

 

Then, I find the largest rocks I can carry and build a barricade in front of the nest so no one else can run over it.   Not even a big truck would want to drive over those rocks and there is still plenty of room to turn around elsewhere, which I do.   The plover is close but doesn’t charge me.  

 

I thank the plover profusely. When I leave, the plover is back on the four eggs and I am smiling.

 Plover challenged Dodge and the plover won.  Sounds almost like a country-western song.

 

It’s a good day.

 

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.