Anarchy on the road!

Adak is an amazing place! The birds and scenery are tough to beat. The rules of the road do not apply! I think in times past they did, but now-a-days you don't have to stop at the stop signs, nobody cares if you don't wear your seat belt, you can drive the wrong way on a one way street and who needs to carry their drivers license around? Heck some cars don't even have license plates!

Our fellow bird watcher's vehicle...no license plate!

Buckle up for safety!

We have a very special vehicle. It is doing great getting us where we want to go, but nothing seems to work right on it. No where on the dash is anything to indicate what gear you are in, it only has one working headlight, the odometer seems to think we are going between 90-140 mph...even when sitting still! It has been an adventure! We have been having a blast! 

Going the wrong way...

We were flying down the road!!

We had a very windy day, only saw a few new birds, sandhill crane and ancient murrelet, but it was still so much fun driving around and exploring. We went on a great hike to a lake. It was a bit muddy and slippery, but we all make it just fine. The creek draining the lake was so beautiful and the light here is amazing! Victoria and I even went exploring in an old building that must have been used as some sort of rec center at one time. 

Abandoned building full of old army stretchers.

This place is surreal.

Victoria and Kitty heading up to the lake!

Kitty walking a trail near the White Alice site.

Another great day in Adak!

Adak this morning...so beautiful! 

We started off on our own this morning and quickly decided that we MAYBE needed some help from our new friends Frank and Barb. We ended up following them around again for most of the day. We did a loop around Clam Lagoon and found the usual suspects, green-winged teal, northern pintail, mallard, glaucous-winged gull...but Victoria also found a dunlin! We weren't very excited about it, but apparently dunlin are hard to come by around here! Frank and Barb were pretty happy about it!

I only got one new bird today at the Airport Ponds and that was the tufted duck! I got some very blurry photos of it through the scope, but you can tell that they are tufted ducks! We headed to Shotgun Pond and what was there waiting for us? A beautiful male smew and two of his lady friends! We were beside ourselves with happiness! 

Blurry photo of a tufted duck taken through the scope. See the tuft on his head?

Checked out the ocean and found some red-necked grebes. After a long day we headed back to the homestead. We needed to get gas before 5 since there is only one station and it is closed on the weekend. Gas was $6.81 a gallon! It was quite an adventure getting gas too! 

OMG! Prices are high in Adak!

We came home and had a dinner of salad and pizza. Kitty and Victoria went for a walk around the neighborhood and then we met up at the store which is open from 6-8 pm. The prices are crazy high and the selection is meager. Apparently they are getting ready to move to a smaller location, so maybe a lot of their stuff was already moved to the new space. 

Walking out a little spit on Clam Lagoon.

After the store, Victoria went to bed and Kitty and I decided to go for a bit of a drive and see if we could find any other birds. We actually did too! We saw many rock ptarmigan (that I am in love with, so you will see some more photos of them!) and we spooked up a rough-legged hawk from the side of the road! Major exciting. Not photo of the hawk, but it was sooo cool to see a raptor OTHER than a bald eagle!

Day 2 is gone! We have 7 amazing days here, and we have seen so many cool things! Oh, forgot about the mammals we have seen. At this point they are all marine mammals. Harbor seal, northern sea otter and Steller's sea lion. 

Adak continues to amaze!

Adak, Alaska...Middle of Nowhere

We made it to ADAK!!

I forgot a download cord, so I can't download the photos from my point and shoot camera, but this place is amazing! No trees, tons of birds! We have only been here for one afternoon and I already have 3.5 new species! Yes, I get a half a point for the common green-winged teal...

The other 3 new birds are rock ptarmigan, hawfinch (OMG!) and SMEW (OMFG!!)

There is one other couple here specifically to bird. They are from Pennsylvania and have been to Adak numerous times. They were very gracious to show us around some of the better birding spots and give us some pointers. Not to shabby for a first day of birding.

Here are some photos of the birds. More tomorrow when I catch up on my sleep!

Coolest bird so far! Hawfinch! Also, the first bird we saw and the photo does not even come close to capturing the beauty of this not so little bird!

Hawfinch

Hawfinch, rare visitor from Europe!

Best photo I have of a smew...so far!

Rock ptarmigan. They are everywhere, so I am sure that there will be more photos to come!

It's been awhile!

Gosh, I almost forgot that this blog existed! It has been quite awhile since I have posted on here. Many things have happened in life since my last post. I have lost my grandmother, grandfather and father in the last two years. It has been a roller coaster ride. This November will mark 10 years since I lost my older sister Ellen in a car accident and April will be six years since my mother passed away. Lots of sadness, but I have learned so much about myself and the things that I can survive! Death is part of life and while it is sad, life goes on for those of us left behind. Not a day goes by that I don't think of them.

My sister Ellen and my dad. This is one of my favorite photos of them.

My grandparents on their wedding day. 

My grandparents at the celebration of their 70th wedding anniversary. 

My mom in Alaska in the 60's. She loved Alaska, it was a part of her soul.

It has also been a year since I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. This is a disease that runs in my mother's family. I was not surprised that I acquired it, but I wasn't trilled about it either. I spent my life watching it take my mother's life from her and then spent about a week in bed dreading what the rest of my life was going to be like. Turns out that there have been many strides in the treatment of RA since my mother's diagnosis in the late 70's. I am on the same medication that she was taking. It makes a huge difference when you start taking it at the onset of disease rather than after it has already started destroying the joints. I am feeling good, going to spin classes and walking the dog 2-3 times a day! The more I move, the better I feel...so we just keep moving!

Dory is my inspiration...just keep swimming...

I have some travel planned for the up coming year. So far, just going to Seward, AK for a meeting in April. This is held at the Alaska SeaLife Center, one of my favorite places to visit. I get to see some very cool birds up close and personal and visit with one of the biggest Steller sea lions I have ever seen, Woody!  The other trip I have planned is one I have been wanting to take for many years. I am going to Adak, Alaska. Adak is an island in the Aleutian chain. Alaska Airlines flies there twice a week on Sunday and Thursday. I can't wait!! There will definitely be some posts about that experience!

The front half of Woody, checking out my friend Kaili!
Below: Woody waiting for a snack in his habitat.

It was hard to find a map that would show both Sitka and Adak! I will actually be further south when I arrive at Adak. It is a two hour flight from Sitka to Anchorage and then just a quick three hours to Adak! This is going to be interesting! For those of you who don't know Alaska...Sitka is on the lower right side of the map. Adak is on the lower left side of the map.

Mission accepted: Save the banana slug!

My friend Victoria and I are on a mission. Ridding the town of the invasive European black slug Arion ater. 

Like any invasive species, the black slug takes over the habitat of the native banana slug. We are both very much in favor of not having these slugs get any closer to town than they are already. Currently they reside only at the end of Halibut Point Road, seven miles away from town. They seem to be confined to the Starrigavin camping area and Mosquito Cove trail. 

Below are photos of the native banana slug and the invasive European black slug.

We have been picking up the slugs mainly at the walk in camp sites. It has been three weeks and we have killed about 550 slugs. We only go hunting on our Saturday morning walks. It drives the dogs crazy, but how can we just walk past these critters that don't belong here? Sure, it's not the slug's fault, but if you have ever seen what can happen to the native animals when invasive species take over you should visit or read about the native bird species in Hawaii. Besides all of the introduced bird species on the islands, the feral cats and the mongoose have pushed all of the native species close to extinction. We don't want that to happen to the banana slugs, so we must take action!

Each week we take a photo of our gathering and then dump the black slugs into the salty ocean! If only there were something in Sitka that would eat the slugs!

Week 1: About 130 black slugs




Week 2: About 235 black slugs




Week 3: 200 black slugs



We will keep on collecting, but if you happen to be out in the campgrounds and see some black slugs please squish them or collect them and dump them in the salt water! SAVE THOSE BANANA SLUGS!

Wishing for Spring...or something like it! 

There was snow in the mountains this past week. It's MAY for goodness sake!

My body is confused. I am supposed to have more energy. I am supposed to be enjoying the long hours of sunlight. All I want to do is sleep. It's terrible. This winter just doesn't want to let go and I am not liking it. We had a gorgeous month of April. I was really excited for summer. Now, I want to hibernate.

Oh dear Spring, get here soon. I might have to take a vacation to the warm sunshine of Arizona!

It's just for the birds...

I went to work this morning and then found out that there were shorebirds EVERYWHERE! After work at around 2:30 I decided to go look for the shorebirds. It had started raining by then, but it didn't matter to me!

I saw a lot at Halibut Point Rec, then went to the Turnaround and finally to the National Park. Here is a list of the birds that I saw and some photos. Enjoy!

Savannah Sparrow
Brown Creeper
Dunlin
Rock Sandpiper
Surfbird
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Bufflehead
Brant
Black Turnstone
Marbled Godwit
Dowitcher
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Black-bellied Plover