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| Wild Rose |
We've arrived in Alaska, first area is the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge that stretches from the Yukon border to the town of Tok. Vast areas of wetlands and lakes filled with waterfowl. Our first year bird were the Pacific Loons.
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| Pacific Loon and his buddies below |
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| Boreal Chickadee |
As we were driving toward Fairbanks, we saw a bird on the wire. As we got closer we were pleased to see a Northern Hawk Owl, one of our Alaskan target birds.
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| Ty pished, and the owl responded |
Following the Alaskan bird guide book, we turned on Saw Mill Creek Road just south of Delta Junction and to our surprise, we spotted a Great Gray Owl on the fence. It was concentrating on the ditch for a scurrying mouse. The bird let us get pretty close, what a treat on Father's Day!
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| "Who" you looking at? |
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| Canada Jays, formerly Gray Jays are everywhere |
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| Wild Iris |
We drove on to the town of North Pole, always decorated for Christmas including Santa's House and live Reindeer.
Spring wildflowers were abundant along the roads and wildlife provided great viewing and photo opportunities like this cow moose slurping up aquatic plants
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| Cotton Grass |
Near North Pole a visit to Chena Lake always produces nesting Mew Gulls intent on dive-bombing intruders like us.
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| Mew Gull nesting high in the Spruce Tree |
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| Mew Gull and newly hatched chicks |
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| Common Goldeneye hen wih her brood |
We drove to the alpine areas of Steese Highway, 105 miles northeast of Fairbanks. We saw Bohemian Waxwings on the way to the summit.
Near the top, Ty walked many miles looking for the Alpine birds. He was successful in finding the Rock Ptarmigan and quickly photographed the nest and left the hen to return to her seven eggs.
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| Rock Ptarmigan hen wearing radio transmitter - population study |
On our return trip, we encountered this very blonde porcupine munching on Fireweed flowers.
We stayed two nights at Denali RV Park in Healy, Ty took a long, steep hike up the trail behind the park. He was rewarded with a Spruce Grouse and one scurrying Chick.
We spent four nights at the inner campground (Teklanika) at Denali National Park with a special permit to drive in 30 miles. We then had to take the shuttle bus to mile 82 with many breath-taking vistas along the way.
We were blessed with clear skies for 3 days in a row, giving us this outstanding view of "The High One" - Mt. Denali. Seventy five percent of visitors never get to see the mountain due to cloud cover.
The 20,310 foot summit is the highest peak in North America and dominates this vast 6 million acre wilderness. We are always impressed with the immense scale of the landscape. The photo above was taken from 54 miles aways from this gorgeous mountain.
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| Snowshoe Hares were abundant along the park road |
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| Arctic Forget-me-nots |
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| Our first moose was near the entrance pruning trees |
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| Golden Eagles are prevelant |
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| This Black Fox is one of the Cross Red Foxes that inhabit the Park |
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| This Red Fox Vixen watches over her pups |
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| This fox pup is literaly flying airborne over the hill to tackle litter mate |
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| Greater White-fronted Geese with four goslings |
At mile 82 is Wonder Lake, a glacier created lake, 280 feet deep, 2 and a half miles long. Noted for it's reflections and horrendous mosquito population, a brief stop guarentees a large loss of blood.
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| Polychrome Mountains |
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| The bus driver made a special stop for Ty to photograph this Gyrfalcon |
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| Caribou still sporting winter coat |
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| Caribou - Buck in velvet |
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| Dall Sheep - Ram with full curl horns |
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| Hoary Marmot enjoys a sunny day |
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| Willow Ptarmigan - Alaska's State Bird |
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| Here's a huge Bull Moose in velvet |
Bears continue to be one of the main park attractions. Every trip in we saw many Toklat Brown Bears (the blonde interior Alaskan Grizzly Bears).
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Adult Grizzly eats forty pounds of vegetaion per day,
Only 20 percent of it's diet is meat. |
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| Sow with two year old Cub |
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| This large Boar could weigh over 800 pounds |
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| Baby finds a soft resting place on Mama Bear |
What a great way to end our memorable Denali experience celebrating our 49th wedding anniversary.
As we approach Independence Day, we have so much to be thankful for.
God Bless America!
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann
