Painted Geese over Breaking Surf Emperor Geese, Chignik Lagoon, March 9, 2019
With the bright white head and nape reminiscent of the ermine capes European Royals of yore garbed themselves in, Emperor Geese (Anser canagicus) present a striking visage. But to catch a glimpse of these smallish, colorful, somewhat rare birds you have to go to coastal Western Alaska or Eastern Russia. A few dozen sometimes stop over at the sand spit at the mouth of Chignik Lagoon on the Alaska Peninsula. That’s where we found this flock, a few Glaucous-winged Gulls mixed in.
Tundra Swan with American Wigeon at Broad Pool Broad Pool on Chignik River, Alaska Peninsula, May 4, 2019
The best place to look for returning Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbians) on the Chignik is at Broad Pool, about a mile downriver from the village. One evening the swans announce their arrival with far off, lonesome-sounding notes and by morning they’ve settled at the pool. There the slow-moving, weedy water provides food for the swans as well as for migrating dabbling ducks such as Mallards, Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintails and American Wigeons. Diving ducks, mostly Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Greater Scaup and both Common and Red-breasted Mergansers are also likely to be present. At this time, the banks are covered in scraggly, winter-brown grasses, sedges, willows and alders and there may still by ice along the river’s edge. By the end of the month the ice is gone and the swans and most of the ducks will have dispersed to nesting areas further up the drainage, but at least one pair of Mallards and another of wigeons usually stay to nest along along the margins of Broad Pool. They are often joined there by a brood or two of Black Scoters.
Elegant Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) Chignik Lake, Alaska Peninsula, April 25, 2019
Although peninsula checklists list redpolls as uncommon or rare, during our years at Chignik Lake they proved to be common, at times hanging around the village in flocks of dozens. The above bird is a male in brilliant breeding plumage. Although I photographed him in spruce trees and the original forest green background is pleasing, I like the way the black makes the red pop and brings out his eye.
Mated pairs of Sandhill Cranes begin appearing on the Alaska Peninsula in late April, their loud calls trumpeting the arrival of spring. They depart in late summer or early fall. If they’ve been successful, a nearly full-grown offspring accompanies them on their journey back south.Note the heart-shaped red crown – a distinction that along with the fidelity mated adults show each other makes cranes a symbol of love in many cultures. Chignik Lake, May 4, 2019
The Redpoll X Xanthochromic Redpoll, Chignik Lake on the Alaska Peninsula, April 25, 2019 Xanthochromism refers to yellowish pigmentation occuring where it is otherwise unexpected.
The bird in the above photo is a female Common Redpoll, Acanthis flammea. The eponymous poll – the colorful head cap – is typically bright red. Here the cap is yellow. This is a rare mutation which has been reported in other finches (Northern Cardinals, House Finches and others) as well as a variety of other animals. Whether the same individual or perhaps additional birds, we encountered xanthochromic redpolls in multiple years at The Lake.
Good Morning Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear, Ursus arctos gyas. Chignik Lake, October 3, 2018
Alaska Peninsula Brown Bears share the same genus and specific name as Grizzly Bears of interior Alaska, Canada and the Lower 48: Ursus arctos. They differ only in the subspecific name: gyas in the case of these Peninsula Brown Bears; horribilis for Grizzlies.
I present this image here at a 16:9 ratio because that works well on most screens. But when I print it to show, I will print it as a square and ask that it be hung at eye-level, as a kind of mirror. There is more going on behind those eyes than where the next meal is coming from.
And yes. My heart was pounding wildly to find myself suddenly this close…
Female Belted Kingfisher Chignik Lake, Alaska Peninsula, October 4, 2018
All Belted Kingfishers sport a broad band of stormy-sea blue across their upper chest. But females possess a second, rust-colored band further down. Both male and female immature specimens, such as the bird in the above photo, can be especially colorful, with rusty-orange mixed in with the upper blue belt and appearing more extensively across the belly and chest. They’re about the size of an American Robin, but bulkier. Their ratchety, rattling calls, which never fail to lift our hearts when we’re on the water, are often the first thing that gives away their presence.
Brown Bear in Sunshine Paradise Bend, Chignik River, September 24, 2018
We didn’t get a lot of days like the one depicted above out on the cloudy, windswept Alaska Peninsula. Blue skies reflected in the river, sunshine casting everything it touched in a patina of gold. I hurried through breakfast, donned waders and a camouflage jacked, packed my camera into its soft case and bungee-corded it to the front rack of my honda. Two-and-a-half miles down the Top Road I parked near the boat landing, slung 20 pounds of tripod, camera and long lens over my shoulder and followed a trail to the broad, seldom-visited collection of braided water and islands we called Paradise Bend – the best place on the Chignik to catch morning light. Along the trail there were bear and moose tracks in soft mud, the last Wild Geraniums and Yarrow barely holding onto their purple and white blooms respectively. A snipe exploded from a little swale – late in the year for that species to be hanging around. Curious Black-capped Chickadees called from alder thickets and approached on either side to examine the intruder striding through their world and from the river I could hear the ratchety cry of a kingfisher. Further out gulls squawked and chattered – Glaucous-winged and Short-bills -, and I could just barely hear the soft, murmuring quacks of Mallards and Green-winged Teal. A pair of eagles began piping.
As I reached the bend, the wary ducks rose and repositioned themselves further downriver. There were more bear tracks in the sand along with a set of wolf prints, fresh, probably from the previous night. I waded across a river braid out to an island covered in graywacke, set up in front of small wall of autumn-yellow willows and waited. The morning sun poured over my left shoulder, a light breeze touched my right cheek. Salmon splashed in the channel in front of me as well as in shallows two hundred yards downriver to my left. My eyes were drawn to the sky as I became aware of steady, high-pitched honking growing closer – a pair of Tundra Swans winging south.
What a day. All I needed now was for a bear to come by.
Greater Yellowlegs with a Nine-Spined Stickleback Chignik Lake, Alaska Peninsula, August 20, 2018
There are two species of yellowlegs – Greater, the larger of the two species and featuring a proportionately longer bill, and Lesser, the smaller of the two with a proportionately shorter bill. Until you’ve looked at quite a few of these birds, they are difficult to tell apart unless they’re near each other. We never encountered Lessers at The Lake, but from spring through early fall Greaters were common.
Yellowlegs stalk shoreside margins searching for any small fish. A quick stab is usually all it takes before they come up with a stickleback or salmon parr siscorred chopstick style between their bills. Close examination of photographs hints at small serrations in the roof of the upper bill, helpful in repositioning their catch for a head first swallow. Their piercing calls, delivered in sequences of three and four quick, sharp cries, can sound almost like a car alarm. Unlike most shorebirds, yellowlegs often perch at the very tops of trees, a behavior they share with Wandering Tattlers.
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