Talkeetna resident Robin Song tells the story of her participation
in this year’s Talkeetna-Trapper Creek Birdathon.
It’s a remarkable thing, to me, that every Birdathon is different. It’s held on the first Friday and Saturday of May each year, in the same fifteen-mile radius, and yet it is unpredictable. And that’s what makes it fun.
I had invited a newcomer to the group, Maureen, to join my long-time birding partner-Richie-and me, and I picked her up at her trail head at 5:30 Friday evening. We arrived at the pullout at the same time and noted a Grey Jay in a spruce, watching us and my dogs. We couldn’t put it on our species list yet, as Bird-A-Thon starts at 6 o’ clock. We felt sure we’d see another ‘Camp Robber’ during the 24-hour birdathon.
When we arrived at Richie’s trail head, we found him walking up the hill towards us. He told us there was a male Spruce Grouse alongside the trail, if we wanted to see it. It had been hanging around for a few days. I grabbed my camera and headed on down the hill. Richie found the bird, still standing just beside the trail. The co-operative bird let me take several photos, staying posed like a grouse statue. A good omen to the start of B.A.T., I thought.
We headed to the Crane Sanctuary in Trapper Creek first, stopping at Little Montana Lake to meet up with other birders watching a Common Loon, ducks, mergansers, and gulls out on the lake, which still had pans of thin ice covering large portions. All lakes and ponds were sporting ice, and though it was melting fast, it meant we probably wouldn’t be seeing a lot of water fowl, and-indeed, none of our trio saw any swans or grebes during the Count, which was a first, for me.
On the road to the Sanctuary we found a group of birders pulled over and standing along the road, glassing the trees. We joined them and found they were listening to a Fox Sparrow singing its lovely song and were looking for it so they could watch it sing.
I must admit that birders are amongst my favorite people. They are a generous lot, sharing binoculars, spotting scopes, bird books and endless stories. They are quiet, while bird-watching, and respect others, so that they may enjoy their birding experience undisturbed. They don’t litter, wanting to keep the environment clean for all wildlife, and they pick up litter left by thoughtless others. They get excited about seeing the same species year after year- it just never gets old, for them. They’re happy to bring new folks into the birding hobby- young, old- everyone is enthusiastically welcomed. Birders know that getting people interested in birding is a win-win for everyone; people, birds, and wildlife, for birders become sensitive to ecosystems and how birds fit into the big picture, and that it all needs to be protected.
This Bird-A-Thon was special, as I got to share favorite birding areas with Maureen, seeing them through her first-time eyes. We saw an eagle sitting on her huge old nest, and watched a Ruffed Grouse strut for us beside the road, his purple-black ruffs along his neck fluffed in full display. We observed a pair of Dippers standing on logs above a gurgling creek. That’s a rare sight, really, for usually Dippers are busy in the water, diving for food. This pair had been doing that just before we arrived and were taking a break, each standing on one foot, feathers fluffed comfortably, white eyelids blinking. It was the first time, in all my years watching Dippers, that I had observed a pair standing on logs out of the water at the same time, in no hurry to return to the frenetic activity in the water. It was a peaceful, special scene.
Though I didn’t add any new birds to my species list, Maureen got to add a few to hers. She works so hard in the summer that she doesn’t have time to go birding, so this was a special time, for her. And she gave me my best sighting for the ‘Thon; she spotted a small flock of birds flying from the forest to the ice along the northwest shore of Fish Lake just as we were getting ready to leave after going down to the outlet creek to watch Yellowlegs courting. She thought they might be robins, at first, but they weren’t acting like robins. We glassed them, and found out they were Rusty Blackbirds. I drove over to the parking area and we walked down to the south shore and glassed the birds. Sure enough, here they came out of the forest, flying out over the marsh grass, to land out on the lake ice, picking up tiny insects, before flying back to the forest. I was delighted to see them, for their species is in dire decline, and they migrate to Alaska to nest. Many Birding Groups are very interested in where these birds are nesting, so they can get a baseline count on how many birds are nesting in Alaska and Canada. The spotlight is on them now, and the call has gone out to keep an eye on them. I thanked Maureen for her sharp sighting, for I would have missed them completely, occupied with driving. They turned out to be the last species in our count. We never did see another Grey Jay.
At the bonfire that evening, Billy Fitzgerald started out by stating that our long-time B.A.T. member, Murray Nash, had been called away with health challenges Friday evening. He was hoping to attend the ‘Thon this year, as he has so many others. As Billy was watching his friend leaving, he glanced up in time to see a Merlin flying overhead. This falcon is Murray’s favorite bird, and Billy checked the time and was delighted to find that he could log it in as his first bird of the Count. We all took a moment to pay tribute to Murray and wish him a speedy recovery. Birds brought us together in more ways than one.
While our birding trio’s total Species Count of 33 was far from the Goup’s total of 62 (one species higher than last year, by the way), it was average, for me. I just don’t have the gift of finding birds, but that’s okay- I sure love getting out and searching, and that’s what it’s all about. And at the end of it all, listening to the stories and seeing birders I haven’t seen since last year (I don’t get out, much) makes it all worth it. Our summer’s fine feathered friends are here at last. Happy birding, everyone!
