Sunday, June 8, 2008

NOME ALASKA DAY 13

Returned to Teller Road today and my group was excited to see Rusty Blackbird along the side of the road and a locally hard-to-find Ring-Necked Duck on a roadside pond. The Musk ox showed well on the hillsides and reindeer were abundant the length of the road.

At Penny River the American Dippers appeared to be defending a nest against the human intruders and the regular group of: Gray-Cheeked Thrush, Northern Waterthrush, Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers were singing nicely.

At the Wooley Lagoon turnoff we made a concerted effort to locate Red-Throated Pipits but none were to be ID’d among the numerous American Pipits on the rocky hillside where Northern Wheatears were also present in abundance. The Redpoll nest I had seen last week had a mother Common Redpoll on it and we watched as the mate came to the nest and fed her. The road to the Lagoon was closed just before reaching the village but the ride was punctuated by brightly plumaged Black-Bellied Plovers all along the way.

Just before the village of Teller on a small pond we noted two larger birds among a group of 20 or so Red-Necked Phalaropes which turned out to be very bright male and female Red Phalaropes. A hike for the White Wagtail was unfruitful with the exception of seeing perhaps a dozen Yellow Wagtails.

After dinner a brief foray to the Nome River bridge produced one of this trips top birds – a Red-Necked Stint glowing in the 11 p.m. sunshine!

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