Nome, Alaska and the end of the sparrow hunt.

On Thanksgiving Day I flew to Seattle, Anchorage, Kotsebue and then Nome. I left at 5:00 pm Thursday and got to Nome at 9:30 am the next morning. Since I was flying standby this was great. I did not get bumped. It had to be a very quick trip because I knew I could not fly on Sunday. I would have been bumped for sure. I carried all my camera equiptment on board which was a trick. Needless to say I did not take any extra clothes. I just took a coat and hat etc. Since I was not planning to get a hotel anywhere I did not take a change of clothes. I figured I could buy clothes if I got bumped and had to stay somewhere. I could not buy a camera or lense. I did not need to worry. I made all my flights and had a wonderful time. Kotsebue is above the Artic Circle. I was excited about being there and had a stewardess take my picture on the stairs of the airplane. I could not put one foot on the ground or I would have had to go through security again. Since I did not want to do that I stayed on the stairs. It was about 8:00 am and very dark. The pilot gave me a card that said he certified I crossed the Artic Circle on this date and then he signed it. It is a great memento. :)
Richard Beneville, my guide, met me at the airport and we were on the road. The first wildlife we saw out the Teller road was a herd of about 20 Musk Ox. I was so excited that I rushed to get my camera and tripod out of my carry on luggage and forgot to reset my camera. I now have many blury pictures of the Musk Ox crossing right in front of me. I can not believe it. It was a chance in a life time but it was all my fault. A few pictures did look ok.
Nome is a town of about 3,500 people on the edge of the Bering Straight. It is on the tundra. There are no trees just low willows and other low shrubs and grasses. There are NO roads to Nome from outside. To get there you have to fly or take a ship (in the summer). You could take a dog sled from Anchorage 1,000 miles away like the Idirod racers do (smile). Nome is where the race ends. Nome is about a 2 hour air flight from Anchorage. The ocean was not frozen over yet, however there were "rocks" on the beach made out of solid ice.
A man in town found a young, hurt reindeer a few years ago and took it home and adopted it. Velvet, the reindeer, is now an adult who has a very cozy pen however she gets very upset if she is left at home when the man goes to town. She jumps in the back of the pickup and rides along where ever he goes. She is wonderful. Her horns were just cut off but she usually has a full rack. What a kick!
The sun was up about 5 hours total. It comes up in the south and sets in the south. It was a bit disconcerting for someone who is very concious of directions at all times. :)
After many other side trips we finally headed out to Icy View, the housing track where the McKay's Buntings were reported to be. I was chomping at the bit by now worrying about light for pictures etc. I saw them on the phone lines right away and almost jumped out of the truck before it stopped. I saw a mixed flock of about 40 McKay's and Snow Buntings. There were just a few Snow Buntings and the rest were all ages of McKays. Wow!!!! I photographed them on the ground about 15 feet from me. They would swirl around me (about 6 feet above my head) making their churping sounds and then land again. They were very flighty and I thought that was just their nature. Then... I looked up and saw a Gyrfalcon fly by. Wow!! again. Peter Bente, the Fish and Game person whose house I was at, said the falcons come by often to check out the flock of buntings. What a treat. I got great pictures of the buntings and I am in love with McKay's Buntings. What a beautiful bird. I stood there about 45 minutes but finally got too cold to continue. I want to go back and really spend some time observing them. Mr. Bente says that by March there can be up to 150 birds in the flock before they head off to the St. Matthew and Hall Islands to breed. Something to look forward to.
A note about McKay's Buntings. There are estimated to be about 30,000 of the birds in the world. They breed on the two tundra covered islands in the Bering Sea and come to the west coast of Alaska in the winter. They stay in Nome all winter. Even when it is dark they are still there. They feed in the twilight that stands in for daylight in the north.
I also met a young 16 year old girl who races in the Jr. Iditarod. I went out to her dog lot and met her and her dogs. I wanted to get a sled ride however it has been too warm and there was not enough snow to run the sled. Global warming in action. I want to have my class sponser her this year. The race is in March. It will be fun to check out her progress.
I was awake about 50 hours total and very tired when I got back to Long Beach. (I just took cat naps where ever I could) I slept the rest of Saturday and was as good as new.
I am sad that the sparrow hunt is over. I will turn in my paperwork on Tuesday. It has been a fun year and I will never look at a little brown bird the same way again. I am looking forward to looking at other birds but sparrows will get my attention. They are still my favorite family of birds.

Take care. Happy birding!
Donelda