Tag Archives: Alaska Peninsula birds

Birds of Chignik Lake: Wandering Tattler – Sojourner from Far North Mountain Streams to Tropical Pacific Islands

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It seems fitting that my first known encounter with Tringa incana was on Tattler Creek in Denali National Park – the very mountain stream where the first Wandering Tattler was discovered. (July 15, 2017)

Wandering Tattlers aren’t mentioned in my 1917 copy of Birds of America. As best as I can determine, the species hadn’t yet been discovered. Denali National Park wasn’t created until 1917 – and was known back then as Mount McKinley National Park. The first Wandering Tattler nest wasn’t found until 1923 along another Denali creek. In any event, the omission is interesting – a reminder of how new the world still was just 100 years ago.

Like the Greater Yellowlegs of the previous article, tattlers are classified as shorebirds, and except for the nesting season rocky shorelines are generally the best places to find them. (Chignik River, August 29, 2016)

I stated above that my first known encounter with this species occurred in Denali National Park. It turns out, I had seen a pair a year earlier along the Chignik River. Inexperienced at bird identification at the time, I labeled the photos I took “Yellowlegs.” But a closer look at the above photo reveals a number of differences between these two species of the genus Tringa, both of which nest inland and often perch in trees.

With more experience, Greater Yellowlegs (above)  and Wandering Tattlers (previous photo) appear to be rather dissimilar. However, in 2016 I didn’t know that there was such a thing as the latter species. (Chignik River, August 20, 2018)

As I write this, I’m in Newhalen, Alaska – on hold as is the case with most of the rest of the country. I am eager for the Coronavirus-related travel ban to be lifted so that I can get back Chignik Lake. I have a couple of suspicions as to which creeks our tattlers nest along – stony, remote flows with steep gradients. There is still comparatively little documentation regarding this species – small wonder when one considers the isolated mountain streams in their far north breeding territory. And so there are contributions yet to be made.

Wandering Tattlers heading south along the Chignik. Eventually, their migration flight might take them to the west coast of the Lower 48, to the rocky coasts of Pacific Islands, or even as far as Australia. (Chignik River, August 29, 2016)

Range Map for Wandering Tattler

Wandering Tattler Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Wandering Tattler Tringa incana
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Tringa: New Latin, from Ancient Greek trungus = white-tailed, bobbing shorebird mentioned by Aristotle.
incana: Latin – hoary or grayish white

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Uncertain. Probably an uncommon but regular resident and breeder along certain rocky tributaries. As Narver observed, probably more likely to be seen in late summer along main river, after chicks have fledged.

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Common along Chignik River after about July 20

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Uncommon in Spring, Summer and Fall; Absent in Winter

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: Greater Yellowlegs – Shorebird of the Treetops

Next Article: Wilson’s Snipe – Ghostly Sound of Spring

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.

Birds of Chignik Lake: Rough-legged Hawk – Buteo of the Far North

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To the extent possible in this project, I’m using images captured in the study area around Chignik Lake. However, since luck conspired against me getting a usable photo of a Rough-legged Hawk in The Chigniks, I’m using photographs of Rough-leggeds I took in Mongolia. There is essentially no difference from continent to continent in the overall appearance of this circumpolar species. (Gobi Desert, Mongolia, October 2014)

This is the hawk of the north, the only species of Buteo to breed in Arctic regions. Around the village of Chignik Lake, we’ve seen both the typical light-colored form as well as an example of the dark morph – an almost uniformly chocolate brown bird when observed roosting, and in flight showing a much darker overall wing, belly and tail band. On lighter birds, when in flight look for almost light-colored wings accented with a dark fringe, dark wingtips and a distinctively dark patch at the carpal joint (wing wrist).

Although this cruising Rough-legged has a flock of Wheatears in a panic, this species has a decided preference for mice, voles and other small rodents. (Gobi Desert, Mongolia, October 2014)

A bulky shape, light, round head, heavily feathered legs and small talons are good field markers when identifying perched Rough-leggeds. In flight, look for a dark wrist patch on the underwing, dark flanks and belly, dark wingtips, and a dark tail band. These are reported to be the most nocturnal of hawk species, thus the crepuscular hours of morning and evening are a good time to watch for them. In flight, soft wing feathers make them nearly as silent as owls.

Stocky, broad wings, small talons, heavily feathered legs, dark patches at the wrist (wing bend)… Rough-legged! (Gobi Desert, Mongolia, October 2014)

It may not look like much more than a jumble of sticks, but for a number of years this nest on a bluff overlooking Chignik River was home to a pair of Rough-legged Hawks. Unfortunately, winter winds in the valley whose very name means “Big Winds” took the nest down. But in the spring of 2019 – our final spring in The Chigniks -, we saw a pair of Rough-leggeds near their old nesting site. Hopefully they’ll return. (Chignik River, August 29, 2016)

Ermine, lynx, foxes, owls, shrikes and hawks – predators move into an area for a time, do a number on whatever prey species brought them there in the first place, and then they move on. David Narver’s report of Rough-legged Hawks being “common” in the Chignik Valley likely coincided with an abundance of lemmings, voles or possibly ground squirrels and successive successful nesting seasons. We noted these prey species as relatively uncommon to rare during our three years at The Lake, as was the case with Rough-legged Hawks.

Rough-legged Hawk Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Buteo: from Latin for hawk (or in Europe, buzzard)
lagopus: from Ancient Greek lago = hare; and pous = foot, referent to the heavily feathered legs of this species. Note that Lagopus is the genus name for ptarmigan, which also have heavily feathered legs and feet.  

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Uncommon

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Common

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Uncommon in Spring, Summer & Fall; Absent in Winter

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: Sharp-shinned Hawk – Sharp Claws and a Tomial Tooth

Next Article: Bald Eagle

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.

Birds of Chignik Lake: Norther Harrier – Rare but There

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Len Blumin’s beautiful capture of a beautiful bird. Northern Harrier female, Las Gallinas Ponds, California. (Photo Credit: Len Blumin , Wikipedia)

Anytime a slim, long-tailed hawk is observed hugging the terrain as it glides over grasslands, marsh and field, I instinctively think “Marsh Hawk” and go from there. This is a slender, graceful predator with a very long tail, unique even in silhouette. But it is the Harrier’s distinctive white rump that often confirms its identity.

Not much of a photo, I’ll grant that. And yet with that very long tail and white rump patch, there is no doubt that this is a Northern Harrier gliding through the Chignik River valley. (August 29, 2016)

I’ve encountered Northern Harriers (formerly Marsh Hawk) in a number of states, from Florida to Oregon and north to Arctic Alaska. Although they are widespread and might be found anywhere their preferred habitat exists, they generally aren’t abundant anywhere. On the Alaska Peninsula, they’re rare, although they are known to breed out here.

That white rump is diagnostic. Note also the almost owl-like facial disk. Like owls, Harriers rely on a keen sense off hearing to detect the small mammals, occasional birds and other animals they prey upon. (Photo Credit, Dan Pancamo, Wikipedia)

This is exactly the kind of habitat Northern Harriers prefer. I encountered this specimen near Point Hope, Alaska, an Inupiat village located 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle. This kind of terrain is a good place to make a living on voles and lemmings. (September 3, 2011)

Northern Harrier Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Northern Harrier Circus hudsonius
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Circus: from Ancient Greek kirkos = circle (as soaring in circular patterns)
hudsonius: Latin for of the Hudson Bay

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Uncommon to rare

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Rare on Black River (listed as Marsh Hawk)

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Uncommon in Spring, Summer and Fall; Absent in Winter

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: Nature Walk & Nest Finding – an Exercise in Mindfulness

Next Article: Sharp-shinned Hawk – Sharp Talons and a Tomial Tooth

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.

Birds of Chignik Lake: Barrow’s Goldeneye – a Duck that will Nest in a Box

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This fortuitous capture illustrates three key diagnostic differences distinguishing Barrow’s Goldeneye (forward) from the Common Goldeneye (back). 1) The back of the Barrow’s is distinctively more black. 2) The Barrow’s white facial marking is crescent-shaped as opposed to the Common’s rounded patch. 3) The Barrow’s crown is more flattened; the Common’s has a rounded peak. Still, the two species are similar enough that it pays to glass flocks. Females are so similar as to be difficult to distinguish. (January 14, 2019)

Barrow’s Goldeneyes visit the lake and river just frequently enough to make it worthwhile to keep a look out for them. My records indicate that we encountered at least one specimen each of the three years of this study, always a distinctively marked drake. However, one of those sightings involved a bird mixed with a flock of mergansers and (probably) female and juvenile Common Goldeneyes that was so far off I didn’t pick it out till I put the photo I’d taken on my computer.

Depending on their position, it can require a sharp eye to spot a Barrow’s among a group of Commons. Got your pick? Keep reading to see if you nailed it. (Chignik Lake, January 14, 2019)

Near Lake Myvatn in Iceland, Europe’s only population of Barrow’s Goldeneyes nests in holes and crevices in lava fields. The population of about 200 birds is enhanced with nesting boxes locals have installed on the sides of barns and other structures, showing that in many cases a lack of nesting sites limits bird populations, while adding additional sites can help a population thrive.

Nesting boxes for ducks (and other birds) needn’t be complicated. These examples are supplied with nesting material to get things started. Note the mesh screening on the door below each hole – very important. It’s there so that the tiny ducklings can use their strong little legs and feet to climb out of the box on that magical day when mom calls them to enter the world. Photo By: Master Sgt. April WickesReleased

Want to help out ducks in your area? The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch website has loads of information on everything from building nesting boxes to sharing the information you collect with the Lab’s scientists. Check it out!

(In the photo of the group of Common and Barrow’s Goldeneye above, did you pick the third bird from the right?)

Barrow’s Goldeneye Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Barrow’s Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Bucephala:  Ancient Greek, boukephalos = bullheaded
islandica: Latinized, of Iceland

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Uncommon on Chignik Lake and Chignik River

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Only One Sighting Recorded – a Drake

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Rare in All Seasons

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: Common Goldeneye

Next Article: Bufflehead – Our Smallest Diving Duck

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.

Birds of Chignik Lake: Common Goldeneye

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Dapper drake and handsome hen, a pair of Common Goldeneyes hang out at The Lake on a calm, midwinter day. (Chignik Lake, January 2, 2017)

From fall through spring, Common Goldeneyes are indeed common throughout the Chignik River system. Although they seem to generally prefer the lake, they readily shift to the river if ice takes that option away. In either location they spend virtually all of their time on the water, loafing, sleeping or diving for small fish such as sticklebacks and sculpin.

The shimmering emerald green on the drake’s head doesn’t always show; it frequently appears black and in the right light can even look purple. But they’re called “goldeneye” for good reason. (Chignik Lake, January 2, 2017)

Hunted and cautious, these ducks cast a wary golden eye on any indication of human presence. Getting the right combination of somewhat approachable birds on a day calm enough and with enough light to photograph well at a distance is rare in the windblown Chignik drainage. Picking up the binoculars, glassing out the living room window and seeing these white-bodied ducks was a common occurrence. Being granted favorable shooting conditions was far less so.

Seen from straight on, the head shape of many diving ducks is reminiscent of an old-fashioned lightbulb held upside down. I suspect the pronounced jowls have something to do with the prodigious  jaw muscles required for pulling clams out of muck, clamping down on fish and crustaceans, and yanking up weeds. (Chignik Lake, January 2, 2017)

Those bright amber-yellow eyes aren’t the only unmistakable goldeneye characteristic. Many times, Barbra and I have been standing waist-deep in the river casting flies for salmon when our thoughts were interrupted by an approaching high-pitched whistling sound.

“Goldeneyes!”

We didn’t even have to look up, although of course we always did.

There are times when their numbers on the lake are in the dozens. Here four handsomely-marked drakes are followed by a more demurely-marked hen. Note the yellow at the tip of the hen’s bill. (December 31, 2016) 

The distinctive whistling sound goldeneyes in flight make has led to their nickname: Whistler. Clangula, their scientific specific name is misleading; they don’t seem to be nearly as vocal as other ducks. When feeding, they are quite active, paddling with purpose and diving in a sudden arch. They often join in with mergansers to cooperatively feed along a shoreline or underwater edge – birds of both species surfacing with wriggling fish.

Led by a mature female, this is very likely her brood winging and whistling down the Chignik River. (November 27, 2017)

Although goldeneyes visit The Chigniks, it is unlikely that they breed there. The reason: there aren’t any trees to speak of. Goldeneyes are among the several species of ducks that are cavity nesters, preferring holes in trees that have been hammered out by woodpeckers or that have occurred due to broken off limbs and so forth. The female chooses cavities only a few feet above the forest floor to several tens of feet high, leading to the drama of her brood being forced to literally leap into the world.

Except for a the few White Spruce trees people have planted in the Chignik villages, the area is devoid of large trees. No trees. No tree cavities. No cavity-nesting goldeneyes. With old-growth forests being relentlessly reduced to lumber throughout the boreal regions where goldeneyes breed, installing a nesting box or three (or more) would make an excellent citizen scientist project.

As is the case with other “green-head” drakes, Greater Scaup and Mallards, in certain light the head feathers of Common Goldeneyes can appear purple, as is the case with all seven birds in this photo. (Chignik River, March 12, 2017)

Drakes in Springtime. (Chignik River, May 14, 2017)

Common Goldeneye Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Bucephala:  Ancient Greek, boukephalos = bullheaded
clangula: Latin, to resound

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Common on Chignik Lake and Chignik River from late fall through Spring

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Common on both lakes in Spring and Fall; rare in midsummer

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Common in Spring and Winter; Rare in Summer; Uncommon in Fall

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: White-winged Scoter – A Lone, Rainy Day Visitor 

Next Article: Barrow’s Goldeneye – a Duck that will Nest in a Box

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.

Birds of Chignik Lake: Long-tailed Duck – Political Correctness or Respect… when is a Name Change Merited?

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No duck dives deeper (up to 200 feet) or more frequently than the Long-tailed. To catch The Chignik’s handsome, Neapolitan-ice-cream-colored drakes at their most colorful, you’ve got to get out on the lagoon in late winter when they are at their most abundant and resplendent. Later in spring and on through summer, they’ll disperse to tundra ponds where they molt into drabber plumage and lose their eponymous tails. (Chignik Lagoon, March 9, 2019)

You can find passages in older texts in which Long-tailed Ducks are identified by their former moniker, Old-squaws, an appellation assigned to these stunningly beautiful creatures for their habit of gathering in large groups where their somewhat gull-like calls and melodies fill the air almost without cessation. The name is a trifecta of insult – besmirching women, elders, and Native Americans in one fell-swoop. Come to think of it, it doesn’t do any honor to the ducks either. Several thoughts tempt my fingers to give them voice on this keyboard, but I refrain.

On patrol for mollusks and whatever else might be presented during a dive, a Long-tailed (left) ambles along with a female scaup on Chignik River. (December 30, 2016)

When, in the year 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Alaska petitioned the American Ornithologists’ Union Committee on Classification and Nomenclature to change C. hyemalis’s common name, the committee balked. Categorizing empathy for those who might be offended by the term Old-squaw as “political correctness,” members of the AOU took the position that such sensibilities alone did not justify new nomenclature.

One might reasonably counter, “For goodness sake, why not?” We’re talking about language here; shouldn’t the way we speak be permitted to evolve alongside insight, understanding, and other manifestations of enlightenment?

The above Long-tailed Ducks were part of a group of 13 we came across on an Arctic tundra pond near Point Hope, Alaska. (August 25, 2013)

The objections of some AOU members notwithstanding, the pressure was on. Refuge was found by couching the long overdue change as a matter of maintaining consistency with the rest of the English-speaking world where “Long-tailed Duck” had already long been designated.

The matter of naming birds (and other beings) is interesting. Wouldn’t we all be better served by appellatives that describe a characteristic of the animal in question rather than some anthropomorphized perception of their behavior, or more arbitrary still, the surname of whomever claims first to have “discovered” it?

In any event, in the matter of C. hyemalis, Long-tailed Duck it is. Though, I’ve got to say, I can’t look at a drake in late-winter plumage and not think of that tri-colored Neapolitan ice cream, the candy-red eye a cherry on the chocolate.

From Flattop Mountain, you can take in a view of the Chignik River flowing into Chignik Lagoon. The entire drainage is rich with aquatic vegetation, mollusks and other invertebrates, and small fish, all of which represent potential meals for the area’s waterfowl. (September 21, 2018)

Long-tailed Duck Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Long-tailed Duck: Clangula hyemalis
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Clangula: from the Latin clangare = to resound
hyemalis: Latin, of winter

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Common. At times abundant on Chignik Lagoon; Occasional on Chignik Lake; Summer ?

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Not Reported

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Common in Spring & Winter; Rare in Summer; Uncommon in Fall

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: Canvasback – The Duke of Ducks

Next Article: Steller’s Eider

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.

Birds of Chignik Lake: Harlequin Ducks – Lords and Ladies of the Aquatic Court

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A beautifully marked Harlequin Drake explodes from the waters of Chignik Lagoon. (March 8, 2019)

The nickname Rock Duck is apt for this species that favors swift-flowing, rocky rivers and ocean coasts with wave-lashed rocks. In search of insects, mollusks, crustaceans and small fish, Harlequins go where few other species will venture.  In fact, studies have shown that these birds’ roughhousing ways frequently result in broken bones.

Hen and Drake, Chignik River. (May 5, 2019)

At just 14 to 18 inches in length (34 – 46 cm), these daring ducks may be small, but they are eye-catching. And so another sobriquet, Painted Duck, suits well, particularly when considering the male’s impressively complex plumage featuring rusty red, navy blue, deep aqua and brilliant white. The female’s contrasting white face and cheek dot make her a standout even at surprising distances.

Hens are mousy gray-brown, but that dot near the back of her cheek stands out. Her white face readily distinguishes her from female Buffleheads, which also have the white cheek marking but lack the Harlequin’s white face. (Chignik Lagoon, May 5, 2019)

They’re even sometimes called the Sea Mouse for their rather unducklike high-pitched squeak – and perhaps as a nod to the hen’s mouse-brown plumage as well.

Springtime love – a pair of Harlequins cruises a secluded location on a far bank of the Chignik River. (May 5, 2019)

But it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate appellation for this colorful navigator of mad currents than Harlequin. The name comes from Arlecchino, a character introduced to a form of Italian theater, Commedia dell’arte, in the 16th century. Arlecchino became Harlequin when this type of theater appeared in England. Watching these elaborately-plumed ducks effortlessly bounce down the rock-strewn rapids of a mountain stream, no descriptor could be better than one evoking an actor clad in bright costume and described as “light-hearted, nimble and astute.”1

One Mr. Ellar in the role of Harlequin, 19th century:  Marks, J.L. Details of artist on Google Art Project 

1wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlequin

Harlequin Duck Range Map: with permission from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Birds of the World

Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Histrionicus: from the Latin histrio = actor
histrionicus: histrio = actor

Status at Chignik Lake, 2016-19: Common. Look for Harlequin in freshwater from spring through early fall; in the lagoon and nearby ocean throughout the year

David Narver, Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, summers 1960-63: Common on all rivers & streams

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List, 2010: Uncommon in all seasons

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve Bird List: Present

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Previous: Canvasback – The Duke of Ducks

Next Article: Long-tailed Duck

*For a clickable list of bird species and additional information about this project, click here: Birds of Chignik Lake

© Photographs, images and text by Jack Donachy unless otherwise noted.