PS not that it is relevant, I am white and a pretty standard British looking guy, so can't even imagine why he thought to ask the 'Are you a Muslim?' question.
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Road Trip USA. Part One, Salton Sea to Arctic Ocean. (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Jos Stratford
- Start date
Farnboro John
Well-known member
His surname wasn't Palin was it?
John
John
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
Scary thing is he probably owns a gun....in fact was probably wearing one for work!! What a fecking douche!
21-22 July. Kenai Peninsula.
Though my return from Deadhorse essentially marked the end of my trip, I still had a couple of things I wanted to do before I departed Alaska – firstly, to find a Varied Thrush (a supposedly common species that I had somehow failed to see) and secondly have a last look at a few seabirds.
21 July. Kenai River.
With this in mind, after a relatively lazy morning in Anchorage, I decided to hitch-hike down to the Homer region, a round trip of 440 miles. With the Red-eye Salmon run reaching a peak (an estimated quarter a million fish entering the Kenai River on each of the previous three days), hundreds of fishermen were also making the journey, so too quite a few Brown Bears! The presence of the fishermen made the hitch-hiking easier, the presence of the bears make for a rather alert state of affairs when I hopped out to begin looking for Varied Thrush! Walking a quiet trail aside the river, almost the first thing I noticed was the abundance of bear scats. Oo er, thought I. The next thing I noticed were two large chunky birds on the ground taking grit …two very nice Pine Grosbeaks. Also Black-capped Chickadees, three Barrow’s Goldeneyes on the river, a few Grey Jays and, on mountain slopes above, a loose gathering of 22 Dall’s Sheep. Seriously concerned by a bear encounter in the thick cover of the riverine woodland, I eventually decided to retrace my footsteps, still at that point my walk devoid of any Varied Thrushes. A Trumpeter Swan on one lake and then, almost as I reached the road, a clearly thrush-like call attracted my attention to a fairly dense patch of cover in a dark vegetated gully. Slowly edging in, up popped a bird onto a partly concealed branch ….flashes of orange and ginger, yo ho ho! The identity was clear and with a little maneuvering I had the bird in clear sight, one adult Varied Thrush, what a smart bird!
With that, I continued my hitch-hike, the traffic thinning out rapidly as evening approached and I travelled beyond Soldotna, the last town to attract the fishermen. I thought I was going to get stuck, but luckily some kind gent stopped just as I was contemplating giving up for the night and pitching my tent. All the way to Anchor Point he took me, I arrived at 11.00 p.m. and (now south of the Arctic Circle again), I settled to watch the sun set over the Cook Inlet. Shearwaters cruised against the dying sun, loons too, a Sea Otter floated lazily past on his back, legs flopping about in the air. I put up my tent, time for bed.
Though my return from Deadhorse essentially marked the end of my trip, I still had a couple of things I wanted to do before I departed Alaska – firstly, to find a Varied Thrush (a supposedly common species that I had somehow failed to see) and secondly have a last look at a few seabirds.
21 July. Kenai River.
With this in mind, after a relatively lazy morning in Anchorage, I decided to hitch-hike down to the Homer region, a round trip of 440 miles. With the Red-eye Salmon run reaching a peak (an estimated quarter a million fish entering the Kenai River on each of the previous three days), hundreds of fishermen were also making the journey, so too quite a few Brown Bears! The presence of the fishermen made the hitch-hiking easier, the presence of the bears make for a rather alert state of affairs when I hopped out to begin looking for Varied Thrush! Walking a quiet trail aside the river, almost the first thing I noticed was the abundance of bear scats. Oo er, thought I. The next thing I noticed were two large chunky birds on the ground taking grit …two very nice Pine Grosbeaks. Also Black-capped Chickadees, three Barrow’s Goldeneyes on the river, a few Grey Jays and, on mountain slopes above, a loose gathering of 22 Dall’s Sheep. Seriously concerned by a bear encounter in the thick cover of the riverine woodland, I eventually decided to retrace my footsteps, still at that point my walk devoid of any Varied Thrushes. A Trumpeter Swan on one lake and then, almost as I reached the road, a clearly thrush-like call attracted my attention to a fairly dense patch of cover in a dark vegetated gully. Slowly edging in, up popped a bird onto a partly concealed branch ….flashes of orange and ginger, yo ho ho! The identity was clear and with a little maneuvering I had the bird in clear sight, one adult Varied Thrush, what a smart bird!
With that, I continued my hitch-hike, the traffic thinning out rapidly as evening approached and I travelled beyond Soldotna, the last town to attract the fishermen. I thought I was going to get stuck, but luckily some kind gent stopped just as I was contemplating giving up for the night and pitching my tent. All the way to Anchor Point he took me, I arrived at 11.00 p.m. and (now south of the Arctic Circle again), I settled to watch the sun set over the Cook Inlet. Shearwaters cruised against the dying sun, loons too, a Sea Otter floated lazily past on his back, legs flopping about in the air. I put up my tent, time for bed.
Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
Probably not from Bob. TSA does that all the time. I have received many of them. And in a small airport like Deadhorse, they may have to hand search everything since they may not have the right scanners.
I often put one of those TSA notes in my own luggage just for kicks. I also like to put things that might earn a hand inspection when seen on x-ray (like a can of insect repellant or shaving cream) inside a pair of dirty underwear. Make the buggers earn their pay.
It probably has me on a list somewhere, but so be it.
StuartReeves
Local rarity
I'm not sure I've heard of a 'Red-eye' Salmon - maybe they had to get up early to catch a flight? I suspect most of those fish were probably Sockeye Salmon...
Chris D
Well-known member
Ahh...............the colonies. I'd say Bob was probably sentenced to Transportation - as opposed to receiving a land grant from the King. Sorry for that. We'll test the range of French artillery with him when the time is ripe. I don't suppose there was a great Mexican taco wagon parked out front either...........no, probably not.
Farnboro John
Well-known member
I don't suppose he's even a fan of the original colonists.... just my Inuition
John
John
Ei, that's the one - half Alaskans seem to call the species Red Salmon, the other half Sockeye Salmon ...I carefully amalgamated
22 July. Anchor Point & Homer.
Dawn, the sun rising behind me, the waters of the Cook Inlet lit a treat with the snow-capped mountains and glaciers sparkling beyond. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Mew Gulls lined the beaches, a steady procession of birds were skimming over the water just beyond. Horned Puffins zooming past at close quarters, a Kittlitz’s Murrelet too, plus a string of Surf Scoters followed shortly after by White-winged Scoters. As I made my morning coffee, with a Bald Eagle in a pine above, I added yet more birds to the tally – Common Loons on the water, a fly-by pair of Red-throated Loons and, seemingly attracted by a shoal of fish at the surface, a mass of Black-legged Kittiwakes packing into an area of minor turbulence long with a loose flock of shearwaters, perhaps 35, all appearing to be Short-tailed Shearwaters. Six Sea Otters and a Harbour Seal here too. After a while, I packed up my tent and walked back to the Homer road, a distance of about 2 miles, picking up on route three rather vivid Golden-crowned Sparrows.
Homer portrays itself as a laid back town centred on a sand spit pushing out into Kachemak Bay, home to artisans on the one hand and fishermen on the other. Halibut the size of cars seem to inhabit the waters off this region, so little surprise the density of fishing charter companies and boats squeezed onto the end of the two-mile spit. For the birder, Homer is also a hotspot, excellent inter-tidal mudflats particularly productive at migration times and a few seabird colonies just a stone’s throw away, most notably Gull Island, full of Common Murres and both Horned and Tufted Puffins. I was not visiting at a peak time for migration, but still most pleasant it was to walk the beaches – a family of Sandhill Cranes as company and a select bunch of waders also present including Surfbirds, Black Turnstones and Whimbrel. Far more numerous however were the gulls – oodles of Black-legged Kittiwakes mingling with Mew Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls, all mixed up with Northwestern Crows and the occasional Arctic Tern hawking through. Offshore, quite a number of Surf and White-winged Scoters, along with two Harlequin Ducks, three Long-tailed Ducks and quite a few rafts of Common Murres.
As the tide began to push in, I rounded off my trip with a walk along to the end of the spit itself – fish’n’chip shops, fish processing plants, tourist shops …and great gatherings of Glaucous-winged Gulls squabbling to get offcuts of fish as the fishermen processed their catches. A swoosh of wings and in dropped a Bald Eagle, snatching a fine slab of salmon. Up onto a telegraph pole he went, a tasty lunch much enjoyed.
Also added Lapland Longspur, a few more Golden-crowned Sparrows, then lazed a while in the stonking hot sun, the mercury hitting an impressive 26 C. On the spur of the moment, I then opted for return to Anchorage. Left late afternoon and didn’t really expect to be able to hitch back to Anchorage the same evening, but after a rather long wait, I hit it lucky again and got door to door service, being dropped off at my accommodation at 11.30 p.m.
Dawn, the sun rising behind me, the waters of the Cook Inlet lit a treat with the snow-capped mountains and glaciers sparkling beyond. Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes and Mew Gulls lined the beaches, a steady procession of birds were skimming over the water just beyond. Horned Puffins zooming past at close quarters, a Kittlitz’s Murrelet too, plus a string of Surf Scoters followed shortly after by White-winged Scoters. As I made my morning coffee, with a Bald Eagle in a pine above, I added yet more birds to the tally – Common Loons on the water, a fly-by pair of Red-throated Loons and, seemingly attracted by a shoal of fish at the surface, a mass of Black-legged Kittiwakes packing into an area of minor turbulence long with a loose flock of shearwaters, perhaps 35, all appearing to be Short-tailed Shearwaters. Six Sea Otters and a Harbour Seal here too. After a while, I packed up my tent and walked back to the Homer road, a distance of about 2 miles, picking up on route three rather vivid Golden-crowned Sparrows.
Homer portrays itself as a laid back town centred on a sand spit pushing out into Kachemak Bay, home to artisans on the one hand and fishermen on the other. Halibut the size of cars seem to inhabit the waters off this region, so little surprise the density of fishing charter companies and boats squeezed onto the end of the two-mile spit. For the birder, Homer is also a hotspot, excellent inter-tidal mudflats particularly productive at migration times and a few seabird colonies just a stone’s throw away, most notably Gull Island, full of Common Murres and both Horned and Tufted Puffins. I was not visiting at a peak time for migration, but still most pleasant it was to walk the beaches – a family of Sandhill Cranes as company and a select bunch of waders also present including Surfbirds, Black Turnstones and Whimbrel. Far more numerous however were the gulls – oodles of Black-legged Kittiwakes mingling with Mew Gulls and Glaucous-winged Gulls, all mixed up with Northwestern Crows and the occasional Arctic Tern hawking through. Offshore, quite a number of Surf and White-winged Scoters, along with two Harlequin Ducks, three Long-tailed Ducks and quite a few rafts of Common Murres.
As the tide began to push in, I rounded off my trip with a walk along to the end of the spit itself – fish’n’chip shops, fish processing plants, tourist shops …and great gatherings of Glaucous-winged Gulls squabbling to get offcuts of fish as the fishermen processed their catches. A swoosh of wings and in dropped a Bald Eagle, snatching a fine slab of salmon. Up onto a telegraph pole he went, a tasty lunch much enjoyed.
Also added Lapland Longspur, a few more Golden-crowned Sparrows, then lazed a while in the stonking hot sun, the mercury hitting an impressive 26 C. On the spur of the moment, I then opted for return to Anchorage. Left late afternoon and didn’t really expect to be able to hitch back to Anchorage the same evening, but after a rather long wait, I hit it lucky again and got door to door service, being dropped off at my accommodation at 11.30 p.m.
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23 July. Anchorage.
My last day in Alaska, boo hoo. Spent the morning downtown, shopping and the like, then took an amble along the coastal trail. As on every other day of my trip to Alaska, it was a fine warm sunny day to round things off. Didn’t see a whole lot of birds, largely due to the tide being out, but did manage another pair of Sandhill Cranes, as well as a flock of about 250 Bonaparte’s Gulls, a few Short-billed Dowitchers and, the only ones I recorded on the trip, both Canvasback and Hudsonian Godwit. Also ever-present Glaucous-winged Gulls, a dozen Red-necked Grebes and several Greater Scaup.
And with that, I packed my back for the last time and, as evening approached, headed for the airport.
24 July. Homeward Bound.
It is a long way from Alaska to Eastern Europe – eleven time zones, four planes and a total of 19 hours in the air, plus several more in airports in Seattle, New York and Helsinki. Add on the time differences, I left Anchorage at 00.30 on the 24th and arrived in Vilnius at 11.30 on the 25th, almost 24 hours to the dot.
Trip Over.
.
My last day in Alaska, boo hoo. Spent the morning downtown, shopping and the like, then took an amble along the coastal trail. As on every other day of my trip to Alaska, it was a fine warm sunny day to round things off. Didn’t see a whole lot of birds, largely due to the tide being out, but did manage another pair of Sandhill Cranes, as well as a flock of about 250 Bonaparte’s Gulls, a few Short-billed Dowitchers and, the only ones I recorded on the trip, both Canvasback and Hudsonian Godwit. Also ever-present Glaucous-winged Gulls, a dozen Red-necked Grebes and several Greater Scaup.
And with that, I packed my back for the last time and, as evening approached, headed for the airport.
24 July. Homeward Bound.
It is a long way from Alaska to Eastern Europe – eleven time zones, four planes and a total of 19 hours in the air, plus several more in airports in Seattle, New York and Helsinki. Add on the time differences, I left Anchorage at 00.30 on the 24th and arrived in Vilnius at 11.30 on the 25th, almost 24 hours to the dot.
Trip Over.
.
Full report with additional photographs also available on my website now - CLICK HERE. Even a photo of me in there somewhere :t:
Thanks, much appreciated.
As per the title, this was 'part one' of the trip :t: Not hundred percent sure 'part two' will follow, but the idea is to continue along the Aleutian chain, island hopping from Whittier to Kodiak and then onward to Dutch Harbour, and sorely tempted to add the Pribilof Islands, the mother of all seabird islands.
Next summer, anybody fancy a little cruise on a few ferry boats?
In the meantime, one day after returning home, I kinda got bored and clicked one button too many on my computer ...
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James Lowther
Well-known member
great report Jos, inspiring stuff as always. and terrific photos too!
cheers,
James
cheers,
James
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