Weekend walking

We met up with the Juneau Audubon for one of the last spring migration walks they are sponsoring. This time the walk started along the Mendenhall River and make a loop to Moose Lake. There are several small lakes in this area with pathways running from one to the other offering multiple ways to get to them, around them and back from them. It'll be a great place to explore on bikes. On this occasion first time birds for us were the American Redstart which is distinguishable by being almost totally black with orange on its wings (M) and Western Wood Peewee which has the behavior of a typical flycatcher–when its feeding it flies up and around back to its perch.


It was a nice walk and really emphasized the importance of being able to bird by ear. We were just starting to identify birds by their call in Fairbanks and the "regular's are a bit different down here so it will take some work. For instance, right across the street we see and hear the beautiful call of this bird:



So we think its a sparrow but can't quite get a good idea on it. Luckily it seems to be nesting in the area because we've seen it many times. So hopefully one day it will sing its song in a tree that or pole that's a bit closer to us!