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The Kougarok Highway

 


On June 3, we headed up the Kougarok Highway to Coffee Dome, the classic site for breeding Bristle-thighed Curlew. Since the birds were more likely to display early in the morning, we made an early start just after 5.00 AM and arrived at the base of the dome by 7 AM, despite a few photo stops for Musk Ox.

The walk up the dome was uneventful but as we approached the top, we began to see Whimbrels. At the top, we noticed an American Golden-Plover and headed towards the area it was in as several of the recent ebird lists that had successfully recorded the curlew had also seen a pair of plovers. As we approached, we heard a displaying Bristle-thighed Curlew that then obligingly flew in and landed near to the plover. The curlew remained there and allowed a fairly close approach for great photographs. Given that this species can be tricky to see, we were delighted to see it so well with relatively little effort and descended back towards the car in good spirits, safe in the knowledge that we would not have to do the long drive again. As some ‘icing on the cake’, I spotted a mother Grizzly Bear with two cubs on the far side of the valley.

Bristle-thighed Curlew

We then started on the drive back towards Nome, making a few stops. At a river bridge, we had great looks at a Gray-cheeked Thrush, a species I have only ever seen in Alaska and ‘Red’ Fox Sparrow, a form I rarely see. Other nice birds for Paul and Andy were Say’s Phoebe and bright male Wilson’s and Yellow Warblers.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Eventually we reached Salmon Lake, where we had heard a pair of Yellow-billed Loons were present. The lake was mostly frozen and we weren’t sure where to look. After finding a spot that gave a decent overlook over the eastern part of the lake, I eventually spotted a couple of distant, large-looking loons. However, the haze made it impossible to determine what they were beyond loons. Back-tracking up the highway a short distance, we found a dirt road that appeared to lead towards the lake. Taking this, we eventually reached a small campground by the lake shore. Walking down to the shore, we quickly relocated the loons and immediately confirmed they were the pair of Yellow-billeds. We hung around for some time and pair eventually approached as close as 15 yards and gave a spectacular display of calling and yodeling that echoed around the valley. A magical birding experience that I rated as one of my top five ever. It’s actually quite difficult to see Yellow-billed Loons well in Alaska as they are usually flying past on migration or some distance offshore, so it was fantastic to see this arctic-breeding specialty so close.

Yellow-billed Loon

Further stops along the highway towards Nome revealed quite a number of Arctic Warblers, which have arrived in force early this year around Nome, despite the fact that Alaska is having a rather late spring. A search for Wandering Tattler in their nesting habitat along the gravel bars of the Nome River proved fruitless, although we did have great looks at pair of Harlequin Ducks, also in their nesting habitat. Later in the evening, we made a run out to Safety Sound but just saw similar species to the previous day with the exception of the first White-winged Scoter of the trip. Frustratingly, we decided not to drop by the Nome River mouth on the way back and missed out on a Great Knot - a very rare bird in Alaska and North America.

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