Alaska 7/12-24/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

Kantishna Roadhouse in Denali National Park, July 15

Our early morning started with a nature hike near the lodge. Our local guide gave us a quick lesson on how to act if we encountered a brown bear or a moose: brown bear - don't run and act big; moose - run and hide! Not sure what to do if we saw both at the same time :-)

We made a short detour to see if the clouds had moved from Denali, and we got lucky.

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Denali from near Kantishna Roadhouse

While we were stopped to view Denali, I saw a male and a female Wilson's Warbler, a juvenile Savannah Sparrow, and a Snowshoe Hare. Western Wilson's Warblers are brighter yellow than those we see here in the eastern United States.

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Male Wilson's Warbler

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Female Wilson's Warbler

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Female Wilson's Warbler

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Juvenile American Tree Sparrow

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Snowshoe Hare

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Snowshoe Hare

We didn't see much wildlife on the hike, but it was interesting, and we were glad that they had provided knee high boots to navigate through some deep and muddy water on the trail. In the afternoon, some of our group panned for gold and attended a dog mushing lecture and demo. I opted to do some birding at the lodge and along the nearby road, deciding it prudent not to go far from the lodge on my own. At the lodge, I saw a juvenile Canada Jay (formerly named Gray Jay), a few juvenile Dark-eyed Juncos, and a Red Squirrel.

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Juvenile Canada Jay

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Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco

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Red Squirrel

Birding along the road near the lodge was really interesting, and I was tempted to hike farther, but remembered the warnings about brown bears and moose. There were several Wilson's and Orange-crowned Warblers, and I had never seen juveniles of these species before.

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Male Wilson's Warbler

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Male Wilson's Warbler

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Juvenile Wilson's Warbler

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Juvenile Wilson's Warbler

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Juvenile Wilson's Warbler

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Juvenile Wilson's Warbler

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Adult Orange-crowned Warbler

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Juvenile Orange-crowned Warbler

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Juvenile Orange-crowned Warbler

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Juvenile Orange-crowned Warbler

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Juvenile Orange-crowned Warbler

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Juvenile Orange-crowned Warbler

Click here to continue on the trip to Talkeetna

Jump to Fairbanks; July 13
Jump to Nenana and Denali National Park; July 14
Jump to Kantishna Roadhouse in Denali National Park, July 15
Jump to Talkeetna; July 16
Jump to Talkeetna and Alyeska; July 17
Jump to Alyeska and river rafting; July 18
Jump to Seward and Fox Island; July 19
Jump to boat trip from Fox Island; July 20
Jump to Fox Island; July 20
Jump to Fox Island and return to Seward; July 21
Jump to Brooks Falls; July 22
Jump to Gold Creek Lodge; July 23
Jump to Brooks Falls; July 24
Jump to species lists and additional photos

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