Female Merlin
The tour itinerary included another early departure and sea plane trip to Brooks Falls for the entire day, but as we would be going back to Brooks Fall the next morning as well, Alice and I, and another couple in the group, opted to sleep in a bit and relax at Gold Creek Lodge. Given that we had the entire day open, I had some time to do some birding on the lodge property. There was a female Merlin calling almost the entire day from atop a spruce tree near the lodge, and it sometimes flew at bit before returning to the same tree. During the midday, a male Merlin came to the same tree, and it appeared that the male brought a meal to the female.
Female Merlin
Female Merlin
Female Merlin
Female Merlin
Female Merlin
Male Merlin
Male and female Merlins
There was a "nutty" Greater Yellowlegs at this lodge. It perched most of the day atop a spruce tree about 100+ yards from a dirt road where I could hike. The bird was calling all day from the top of this tree, would sometimes fly around and return to the same spot, calling all the time. If I stopped to take its photo, it would fly right at me, and then return, and I wondered if it had a nest near the road.
Greater Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
There was a long floating dock that ended it a small boat dock on lodge property. In the afternoon when the tide was out, this Greater Yellowlegs would forage on one side of the floating dock. There were four smaller Yellowlegs that foraged on the other side of the dock. At first I thought that they were Lesser Yellowlegs, but now think that they were juvenile Greater Yellowlegs. Gold Creek Lodge is located at the western edge of the Katmai peninsula, and just out of normal range for Lesser Yellowlegs, and at the edge of the range for Greater Yellowlegs. If any of the smaller Yellowlegs would fly to the mud flat on the side of the dock where the larger bird was foraging, it would chase the smaller bird back to the other side. Talk about territorial rights!
Greater Yellowlegs
Juvenile(?) Greater Yellowlegs
Juvenile(?) Greater Yellowlegs
Juvenile(?) Greater Yellowlegs
And speaking of the dock, Alice and I walked down to the boat dock that morning. I could see two adult Arctic Terns perched there. As we approached the boat dock, one of the terns took flight and started dive bombing at my head. We soon realized why. There was a very young Arctic Tern on the boat dock that could not fly yet. I guessed that it might have hatched on the dock. When we did get onto the boat dock, the adult tern positioned itself in front of the juvenile.
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Arctic Tern
Juvenile Arctic Tern
Juvenile Arctic Tern
Adult and Juvenile Arctic Terns
I saw several other avian species this day.
Wilson's Warbler
Black-billed Magpie
Belted Kingfisher
White-crowned Sparrow
Green-winged Teal
There was a Common Redpoll perched atop a tree near to where the Merlins had been perching, but I only saw it one time.
Common Redpoll
I saw a few adult and juvenile Orange-crowned Warblers.
Orange-crowned Warbler
Juvenile Orange-crowned Warbler
Adult female Orange-crowned Warbler
One of my favorite photo sequences of this trip involved Orange-crowned Warblers, when I saw an adult feeding a juvenile.
Adult female Orange-crowned Warbler
Adult female Orange-crowned Warbler
Adult female Orange-crowned Warbler
Adult female Orange-crowned Warbler
Near the end of the day, I was able to capture another series of photos, that show the female Merlin flying in and taking a meal away from the male Merlin (I wonder if the meal was the Common Redpoll that I didn't see again?).
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
Male and female Merlins
As I ended my photography for the day, I saw the back end of a porcupine running up the road from the lodge, but the photos I took weren't interesting enough to post here.
Click here to continue to Brooks Falls on July 24