Monday June 10, 2019 - goodbye to Inuvik and our adventure on the Dempster Highway to Eagle Plains

Monday June 10, 2019-06-10

It was an early wake-up time for the group today and the plan was to leave at 5:30 am.  For the first time in our stay here the sun was not shining this morning.  The sun seems to shine eternally all day and all night here!   It was overcast and cool.  

We packed up and left Inuvik.  We had about a 350 km drive today on a dirt road highway and in spots it was not that great so one had to go slow.  Tom’s packing up the vans plus our picnic lunch was amazing.  It all fit and there was room to spare.  Some people had smaller luggage while others had big pieces of luggage.   OK, my bag was one of the pretty heavy ones.  No body in it though.  

We started on the road and about 40 minutes into the drive, the lead car in a cloud of dust saw a lynx cross the highway.  We stopped and looked and got out and looked at birds and one of us looked down the road and there was the lynx crossing the road!   We all saw the mammal. A great start to the day of driving and birding. 

Before the first ferry we had to take, we stopped at a reliable spot for Rusty Blackbirds and one showed up and gave us a good look.  Then we had to take the first ferry and there was a bathroom on it so we took advantage of it.  The ferry ride is quick and one drives onto the ferry from the gravel road and on the other side one drives off onto a dirt road.  The Dempster Highway continues. 

Soon the habitat changed.  Spruce trees are not small and skinny here, but taller and fuller now.  We are heading south.  The scenery is similar to the forest and lakes in Ontario.  The next ferry also had a bathroom so we used the facilities again.   When there is not bathroom, everyone uses the Great Outdoors so we take advantage of real bathrooms when we find them.   From here it is spectacular mountain scenery, with the higher mountains topped with snow.  

It must be the time of year but the lower fields everywhere were filled with Cotton Grass.  It was like a sea of Cotton Grass at every turn.  Just beautiful!  We all took photos but truly the photos do not really show the fantastic picture of large meadows full of these flowers.  Cotton Grass grows everywhere including up in Tuk.

There is snow in the shady areas of the forest covered mountains.  We  started the drive going up in elevation and then descended into a pass.  Our target birds were Smith’s Longspur, Rock Ptarmigan and Northern Wheatear.  Each one is a spectacular bird and very difficult to see and we hoped that we would see at least one of these today.  

In the meadow high above on a foothill or alpine meadow someone spotted a grazing Grizzly Bear.  It was magnificent.  Lower and closer to us, a Red Fox (paler than our Ontario foxes due to the intensity of the sun), captivated us.  The fox came close to us and allowed Tom and Bruce to get extra close for photos.  The fox was calm and looked us straight in the eyes.  The idea was that the fox may have had young kits nearby and so did not immediately take off. 

At the border of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon we found a short road leading to a radio communications tower facility.  We our picnic lunch here and in the sunshine it was the perfect spot.  The day was cooling off and it was not a warm day.   But it was great to be outside to picnic.

Further up the road the birders in the other van saw two Long tailed Jaeger’s who were harassing a Golden Eagle.   Our van turned around to see if we could get a view of the Golden Eagle but we were not lucky. 

We took some photos at the border of the Northwest and Yukon Territories.

We continued to stop and try for the target birds.  Finally Bruce found one of the reliable spots for Smith’s Longspur and Tom went out to the field of Cotton Grass and the birds were there.  Some of us walked out on to the field also and the others viewed the spectacular bird from the scopes set up by the road. A stunning bird.  One can see the Cotton Grass in the photo.

We then continued on to the spot where one crosses the Arctic Circle.  We took a group photo and a passing motorcyclist was kind enough to take the photo.  We had some champagne to celebrate the important moment.  We left the Arctic Circle heading south. 

We continued on to Eagle Plains.  There were large hills to climb and go down on the drive.  We could see rain over the ridge we were heading to.  Before we knew it, we were at Eagle Plains Motel at 4:30 pm.  We checked in and there was time for some splash for a group of us and then supper.  The sun came out again and it was the warmest it was all day.  Most of us still had a vest and fleece on.  The Basketball Toronto Raptors were playing game four of the series final today and lost by one point!!!  Hopefully they will win next time. 

Louise, Sue, Emily and I went for an evening stroll in the sunshine around the property.  We saw one raptor and after some discussions that evening, I think it was determined to be Red tailed Hawk.  We met up with the hotel's puppy again and met the puppy's owner.  The puppy's name is River and she is already a trained dog.  She will sit by the door of the motel's restaurant and not go into the restaurant as she is not allowed.    Here is the Eagle Plaines Motel.

Not a lot of birds today but we had several special moments that we will remember for a long time!!