Highlights Map
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It is the last full day in Nome and the weather forecast is horible but we have no choice and prepare ourselves to explore Teller Road the last of the three roads starting in Nome. But first we have to strengthen ourselves with our usual (in Nome) diet of eggs and sausage as well as hot coffee for breakfast.
As we leave the hotel we explore our options of calling a taxi as our phones do not really work here and they are not good. There is no one ever at the reception and the phone that you are supposed to use to call the taxi does not really inspire confidence. Still we put our faith in it, that it will work, as we have no choice and decide to start our exploration of Teller road.
We start by first exploring the area where we walked the first day from the airport, it is still full of birds so we decide to stop a bit and see what we can find.
The major find here today for us is a female long-tailed duck, it is quite cute and we enjoy watching it as it explores the lakes.
We also explore a bit the area around the docks for any birds with no luck. However it is bitingly cold, close to freezing and the forecast seems correct as the clouds are everywhere around us and it is a dark, dreary day.
We continue towards Teller Road proper while watching every pond along the way and we find quite a few common birds here like long tailed ducks and red-throated loons which can be quite special in the lower states.
On dry land we find, besides the ubiquitous long-tailed jaegers staking claims to all small hills in the area, a crashed (or abandoned?) plane, which is quite interesting to look at even if from a distance.
On Teller Road proper we scan carefully for any birds with no luck in the beginning. We stop at every river crossing dutifully to scan for American Dippers and at the abandoned reindeer corral to take a few photos but the initial miles of road are mostly devoid of any special bird or wildlife.
That changes dramatically at Penny River Bridge where we stop for a pair of Tundra Swans and because of eBird reports of possible Dippers. We find a trail that goes down to the river and we follow it in the cold and just starting rain to investigate and…..
…..we find our first American Dipper! It is as closest to a nemesis bird (besides the Montezuma Quail – we will get you some time!!!) we had as we looked for it multiple times with no luck across multiple states. And here it just sits on the edge of the river doing it’s business of searching for food, always moving, always searching.
We stay for a while watching the Dippers (of course there are 2) doing their business and we even find their nest under the bridge and watch how they bring food in and leave without it, are there any chicks inside we wonder?
We also explore the river bank a bit more find signs of moose and a few gray-cheeked thrushes but we are always attracted back to the Dippers with their endless energy and ceaseless activity. We watch them until our hands are numb and the rain starts to pick up more seriously which is the moment when we decide to retreat to the car.
As we continue the rain is hounding us becoming stronger by the minute. Also the road starts to depreciate rapidly and with no one else around we start to feel apprehensive about continuing the tens of miles to the end of the road.
After our truck starts struggling and spinning wheels we have enough and at the next safe spot we decide to turn around. The spot also happens to be the Sinuk River Bridge, we feel safe to turn around here without getting stuck.
Of course with no one else around for miles we stop on the bridge for a while for a look at the water and wildlife. There are no bears but there are quite a few terns and gulls and as we watch them we notice why, they are looking for fish in the river. In fact we can see them jumping from time to time and with a bit (or a bit more) of luck and lots of photo tries we are even able to take a photo of one jumping out of the water after a missed try by a tern.
As we return the rain stops but it is still bitter cold so we try to avoid getting outside especially as everything is quite wet. At least the car doesn’t feel to actively try to drive into every ditch as the road gets better by the minute. We can see lots of wrecks on the side of the road and we are not sure if they broke down or people just had accidents so we drive extra carefully on this stretch.
And then as we pass over a ridge we see something like a mirage, another car stopped on the side of the road. And then our mind catches up, why are they stopped, is there something near the road? We slow down and notice something at the edge of the road – a willow ptarmigan! And then it is gone…no time to take any photos. We stop in desperation and look for it while the other car pulls up and we find out they were not even looking at the ptarmigan but were scanning the ridges for muskox.
As they pass we get out of the car, cold and wet grass be damned, and decide to go in the direction of where we last saw the ptarmigan. One of us ready with the camera and one of us flushing and lo and behold we did flush it and this time it did not escape our camera….another lifer that we already lost hope to see at this point.
As we approach the town we can’t stop talking about the excitement of seeing the ptarmigan and the dipper, the cold and the rain is forgotten, we barely notice the bridge that is tilted alarmingly and even the fact we can see the White Alice Towers can’t change the subject of the conversation.
We stop at a few more ponds on our return trip with some nice views of a Wilson’s Snipe sitting on the phone line being the highlight of this portion of our trip.
As we enter town we are barely looking outside anymore so we almost miss the muskox herd on the side of the road in what seems to be dumping area for the city?! They seem to enjoy it at least but it is not the most photogenic of locations. So we are happy to find another muskox a bit further up the road that sits in the grass and seems a lot more photogenic, at least as muskoxes go.
Now we are back in town way earlier than we planned so we decide to use the book we received from the visitor center to find a few more places to visit. And one of the recommended places for birding is near the Nome Cemetery which we know where it is so we start with it first. It is quite quiet, the rain has stopped and it is even getting warmer with some brief glances of the blue sky.
Unfortunately there aren’t many birds in the area but there are a few flowers and a weirdish tombstone for what we assume was a local personality.
Next is the port area and the West Beach next to it. We wanted to walk on the beach but it is really a weird beach, it seems more like gravel was poured here very recently to create the beach. It is not that fun to walk and there are no birds so we decide to move on relatively fast.
Next we stop in the harbor area for a quick scan on the water. There are a few gulls and a Long-tailed duck that is fun to watch but it is also an active port with some trucks passing by so we decide to move on.
We are quite hungry by this point so we return to the downtown area and find a different restaurant open that we decide to try. It has a mix of Western and Chinese food and we try both. Full we start packing and prepare ourselves as we have to relocate to Anchorage the next day, a part of our trip covered in this post, after which we go to sleep under the midnight sun.
