canadian goose down parka Wandering Tattler

Wandering Tattler

View from Potter Marsh

Pine Grosbeak--photo by Peter Schoenberger

Prior to leaving for Alaska I set my sights on the few special birds: the Bristle-thighed Curlew and the Bluethroat in particular. However the bird I truly desired to see is known as Wandering Tattler. The Tattler isnt a particularly beautiful bird or special looking bird. It is gray overall, with short yellow legs. It falls into the sandpiper family, that cluster of birds that are often maddening to recognize. And it is not rare--certainly not as rare as the Curlew. But that bird took my imagination for one reason: its name. Wandering Tattler. Say it several times and canadian goose down parka will feel giddy.

Our second day in Alaska we woke in Hope, just south of Anchorage, to rain and gray skies. We piled on layers--long johns, pants, rain pants; sweaters, down jackets, hats, gloves, rain parkas--and headed south toward Seward. The roads at five in the morning were empty. Five because we were still on New england time. Both Peter and Mark had gotten up at 3:30 to wander the woods near our rented cabin to look for owls no luck. We stopped at Summit Lake there, squatting while it is raining, was a Wandering Tattler. Now after i imagined seeing this bird heaven was blue, the views good, the feelings of euphoria deep. What I felt standing there for the reason that take out, the slow rumble of an RV parked nearby, was cold. Cold along with a little tired.

Like many birding trips the best birds so far have been mammals: black bear, some with cubs, a moose at the conclusion of the field near Potter Marsh, a porcupine that climbed into a tree and peered at us, a complete bodied coyote that we for a moment thought a wolf, and a mountain goat. The goat is probably the most miraculous of our sightings. As we sped along in our van at 65 miles an hour Mark DeDea asked Kyla Haber if she would stop. He pointed to a white just right a steep hillside. Once hed a scope onto it I saw the shaggy legs and bulky body of the goat. But he could locate that goat would be a gift to us all.

OK, the birds too have been wonderful, in the Hudsonian Godwit observed in a pond in Anchorage towards the Pine Grosbeak we discovered by pulling over looking for another bird, towards the Golden Crowned Sparrow seen on Palmer Road above Hope. We walked that dirt road lined with birch and spruce for 4 hours yesterday hoping to arrive in Ptarmigan country no Ptarmigan, sadly, yet. En route Kyla found us a Spruce Grouse, a bird Peter has spent several hours trying to locate. There it sat in a tree, its dark red eyebrow visible because it remained motionless. The smell of the spruce forrest is always crisp, invigorating. We crossed snow, saw a bear galumphing about the hill above us far up, and also the sun beat down beautifully. On our return we saw a striking yellow bird I had never seen before: a Townsends Warbler. It flew from tree to tree in the end admired its black throat and mask from the brilliant yellow.

Once we walked an attractive, odd noise rose from the woods. It was an audio Id never heard before, which ive now arrived at keep company with the forrest of Alaska: the assorted Thrush.

Thrush, especially the Veery, Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush in my experience are the sounds of an Eastern woods. The sounds they make--flute-like along with a bit haunting--are beautiful, melancholic or romantic, based on canadian goose down parka mood. Here, the sound that this northern Thrush makes can also be haunting, but in a different way. It sings an email, then another; last night one seemed to be singing a scale. However the notes arent pure, or flute like. Its like amplifier feedback, Peter suggested. Its like a bug, Kyla said. Its like wind through metal, Mark offered. But the song is indifferent. That was the standard I had been trying to identify. Most birds sing to determine territory in order to look for a mate--theres boldness and sex lacing those calls. This bird seemed to be creating a sound for other, more mysterious, reasons.

The Varied Thrush is a beautiful bird, by having an orange throat and belly with a black bib. Imagine a finer American Robin with orange on the wings. This is exactly what I love about travel: I never might have left on this trip imagining I would love the sound of a Varied Thrush, the striking yellow of a Townsends Warbler, or the sight of a Mountain Goat high on a hillside. And that i will still always love saying Wandering Tattler.