June 8 - first day of the birding tour - up the Tuk highway
For its first outing, the birding group headed a bit up the Tuk highway this morning. Our guides are Tom Hince and Bruce Dilabio. We know Bruce from birding in Ottawa. I took my first birding course taught by Bruce. More recently we were on a birding tour in Costa Rica together.
Our birding group travels in two caravans up the Tuk highway which is a dirt road. It is raised quite high with soft shoulders. I have read about this highway and it is an engineering feat as it is built over permafrost. At first there were lots of trees. We stopped at two ponds to view the birds on them. There were Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loon, Horned Grebe, Long tailed Duck, White winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, Tundra Swan and Greater Scaup found here. Plus we had the lovely Fox Sparrow show up and the American Tree Sparrow along with a rump-view of the Harris's Sparrow.
As one drives north on this dirt highway, gradually the small trees disappear and there is brush and grasses. One goes beyond the tree-line. There are trucks and cars, motorcycles, and bicycles that go by on the dirt road. When we stop, we pull over as far as we can to the side of the road. One can see the clouds of dust well before one can see a vehicle approach. Some people slow down, others wave and blast by. We learned very quickly to determine which side of the road we should be on (upwind) and sometimes head for the cover of the vehicle. There is a lot of dust. Clouds and clouds of dust. The highway was opened in November 2017. There are hardly any bugs. Maybe I have seen a dozen so far.
At the end of the morning and at our last stop Tom tried very hard for us to see the Harris' Sparrow. Some of us saw it but most did not. We all wanted a good look at the bird. We saw Yellow rumped Warblers and Common Redpolls. We could hear the Harris' Sparrow but just could not get a good look at the bird. We will try for it tomorrow again. We also tried for the Willow Ptarmigan but did not see one.
The vistas are astonishing and vast. One can see the MacKenzie River in the distance and the vast delta. We saw an adult Bald Eagle fly around.
Once we were back to Inuvik, we looked at lunch options. No one wanted a hearty filling lunch, just something on the lighter side. So we headed to Inuvik hospital to the cafeteria for lunch. I know it sounds funny but it is a place to dine and recommended by locals. Some of us had sandwiches while others like myself had a bowl of homemade cream of broccoli which was delicious. Then we headed to the Inuvik liquour store where some bottles of wine we bought for the evening get together most evenings.
Right now we have a break and I thought I would write up the morning outing. We head out to the Inuvik dump for some birding. No animals seen today.... yet.
On the way to the dump and past the golf course we viewed several groupings of gulls in the nearby pond. There were several Glaucous Gulls. These are big gulls, the only larger gull in North America is the Greater Black backed Gull. The all-white primaries are a diagnostic ID. There were also Herring Gulls which were slightly smaller than the Glaucous. There were also Herring/Glaucous hybrid gulls which have brownish tinge in the ends of the primaries. There were tons of gulls and Common Ravens fighting over turf and goodies at the dump. We then went to the boat launch but it was full of people and no birds. From there we traveled to the Inuvik Lagoons which we walked near yesterday. There were Canvasbacks here along with Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail and American Wigeon.
The last road we were on was the Dempster Highway heading south, near the local hunt camps. We saw the Grey cheeked Thrush singing and the Wilson's Warbler and the Lincoln's Sparrow (photo above). There was lots of bird song. Here we found the American Tree Sparrow on its breeding territory. We usually see this bird only in the winter in Ottawa.
By this time it was almost time for supper. We returned back to the hotel. There were fiddlers performing in the park across from the hotel. I went down to listen to them but the entertainment was ending. We had time for a wine meet up before supper and then we ate in the hotel bar. The food was excellent and Tom went through the bird list and the plan for tomorrow. It is a special day, we will visit and bird Tuktoyuktuk. We will be on the MacKenzie River delta and on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Beaufort Sea here.
It was a warm and sunny day today in Inuvik! Hard to believe we are here.
Our birding group travels in two caravans up the Tuk highway which is a dirt road. It is raised quite high with soft shoulders. I have read about this highway and it is an engineering feat as it is built over permafrost. At first there were lots of trees. We stopped at two ponds to view the birds on them. There were Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loon, Horned Grebe, Long tailed Duck, White winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, Tundra Swan and Greater Scaup found here. Plus we had the lovely Fox Sparrow show up and the American Tree Sparrow along with a rump-view of the Harris's Sparrow.
As one drives north on this dirt highway, gradually the small trees disappear and there is brush and grasses. One goes beyond the tree-line. There are trucks and cars, motorcycles, and bicycles that go by on the dirt road. When we stop, we pull over as far as we can to the side of the road. One can see the clouds of dust well before one can see a vehicle approach. Some people slow down, others wave and blast by. We learned very quickly to determine which side of the road we should be on (upwind) and sometimes head for the cover of the vehicle. There is a lot of dust. Clouds and clouds of dust. The highway was opened in November 2017. There are hardly any bugs. Maybe I have seen a dozen so far.
At the end of the morning and at our last stop Tom tried very hard for us to see the Harris' Sparrow. Some of us saw it but most did not. We all wanted a good look at the bird. We saw Yellow rumped Warblers and Common Redpolls. We could hear the Harris' Sparrow but just could not get a good look at the bird. We will try for it tomorrow again. We also tried for the Willow Ptarmigan but did not see one.
The vistas are astonishing and vast. One can see the MacKenzie River in the distance and the vast delta. We saw an adult Bald Eagle fly around.
Once we were back to Inuvik, we looked at lunch options. No one wanted a hearty filling lunch, just something on the lighter side. So we headed to Inuvik hospital to the cafeteria for lunch. I know it sounds funny but it is a place to dine and recommended by locals. Some of us had sandwiches while others like myself had a bowl of homemade cream of broccoli which was delicious. Then we headed to the Inuvik liquour store where some bottles of wine we bought for the evening get together most evenings.
Right now we have a break and I thought I would write up the morning outing. We head out to the Inuvik dump for some birding. No animals seen today.... yet.
On the way to the dump and past the golf course we viewed several groupings of gulls in the nearby pond. There were several Glaucous Gulls. These are big gulls, the only larger gull in North America is the Greater Black backed Gull. The all-white primaries are a diagnostic ID. There were also Herring Gulls which were slightly smaller than the Glaucous. There were also Herring/Glaucous hybrid gulls which have brownish tinge in the ends of the primaries. There were tons of gulls and Common Ravens fighting over turf and goodies at the dump. We then went to the boat launch but it was full of people and no birds. From there we traveled to the Inuvik Lagoons which we walked near yesterday. There were Canvasbacks here along with Lesser Scaup, Northern Pintail and American Wigeon.
The last road we were on was the Dempster Highway heading south, near the local hunt camps. We saw the Grey cheeked Thrush singing and the Wilson's Warbler and the Lincoln's Sparrow (photo above). There was lots of bird song. Here we found the American Tree Sparrow on its breeding territory. We usually see this bird only in the winter in Ottawa.
By this time it was almost time for supper. We returned back to the hotel. There were fiddlers performing in the park across from the hotel. I went down to listen to them but the entertainment was ending. We had time for a wine meet up before supper and then we ate in the hotel bar. The food was excellent and Tom went through the bird list and the plan for tomorrow. It is a special day, we will visit and bird Tuktoyuktuk. We will be on the MacKenzie River delta and on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Beaufort Sea here.
It was a warm and sunny day today in Inuvik! Hard to believe we are here.
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