Our Alaska Trip, Part 8; Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, Not just bears. Puffins, etc.

[labmansid]

The main focus (no pun intended?) for photography at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge most certainly is the Grizzly bears, but there are other attractive subjects available as well. Besides the awesome scenery, there are the wildflowers.
Cow Parsnip is very common throughout Alaska, and there is no shortage of it at SSCL. It is a tall plant, often up to 5-6 feet, with large clusters of small white blooms that can be as big as a hand. My wife read somewhere that it can be rather nasty for us humans, however, and is better left alone. Lupines are quite common as well, and remind me of a larger (of course! ) version of our bluebonnets, since they are related. A large patch can be quite striking. Much less common is what is called the chocolate lily. It produces dark tubular blooms in a cluster of about 4-6 on a stalk 1-2 feet tall.

Apparently the bears have no problems with the parsnips. Here is one being trimmed by a Grizzly.



This is a grouping of the lupines. Bees and flies have a field day in Alaska during the summer.





The elusive but beautiful chocolate lily. No, I did not taste one!







There are birds to photograph as well. I did not see a ton of shore or wading birds around the lodge property, mostly seagulls and a few plovers and such.

There was a group of Ravens that frequented the area. The ravens are larger than our crows, possibly close to twice as big. They are also fairly tame, at least if you stay in your vehicle such as our ATV train. I shot this one gathering some moss, probably for a nest, using a 24-105 zoom at 105mm.





Of course, there seem to be Bald Eagles almost everywhere in Alaska. There was a pair we saw frequently at SSCL.
The classic pose from Alaska, from atop a conifer with a mountain in the background.






Looking for scraps on the beach.





Eagles are not universally liked by everyone, however. Many smaller birds will try to drive them away from their territory.





There is a side trip one can take from SSCL that I highly recommend. They have a boat trip that takes you to a small island just offshore a few miles north of the lodge. The rocky island serves as a rookery for Puffins and other sea birds, mostly kittiwakes. We circled around the island once to get an overview of it, then landed on a small beach to get closer to the puffins.

A few of the Kittiwakes on their nests.





Sea otters were very common along shorelines nearly everywhere we went. This one was no exception.






The puffins were very cool to watch. There are two varieties of puffins we saw. There's the less common tufted puffins, which we only saw briefly at this rookery. Then there is the much more common Horned Puffins. They are a big favorite of my wife's now. They build their nests in burrows that they dig into whatever soil they can find on the rocky cliffs, and so the actual nest is not visible. We had to be careful not to spook them once they began returning after our storming of the beach. We would take a few shots, then ease up a few more feet, take more shots, etc. You know, your basic stalking.


A group standing on the rocks.




Jockeying for position.




A puffin portrait.





Caught a Tufted Puffin coming in.





These Horned Puffins fly pretty fast!





OK, who ordered the fish!






Coming right up.






Anyway, the rookery island was a great distraction from the bears for a while. Lots of cool birds and an otter or two. That was the one day that it rained some on us while at the lodge, and even while on the boat, hence the bright background skies on the flight shots. Only the second day of clouds/rain out of about ten up to that point, so we couldn't complain.


As always, thanks for looking!

[lhdvies]

Nice work Sid!! Love the puffins!
Hey what is that big bird with the brown wings with the white head & tail? HEHEHE
Thks for another neat post (even though I'm sick with envy)!!

[DigitalScape]

Sweet series, Sid. You had an amazing trip.

[gll]

WOW! just ......WOW!

[Shadow]

Great story! My Puffin tour in Maine got rained out, I'm so jealous!

[kmeronek]

Thanks for the story and the excellent series of pictures. Now I'm really looking forward to an Alaskan trip.

[houtex01]

Another great episode Sid...#'s 6, 12, and 16 are my favs...

Ron

[ttusa]

You have sealed it Sid-I'm definitely going back this summer! Those Chocolate Lilies are so gorgeous along with those Coastal Brown Bears.

[Marhowie]

Top notch, wonderful series Sid!!

[auddii]

Those puffins are beautiful! You're making me super jealous!

[parrotmomma]

WOW! Great shots! What an awesome trip. I have a dream to see Alaska one day.

[Tim T]

Love the otter and puffins. Very well done Sid.

[labmansid]

Originally Posted by lhdvies

......
Hey what is that big bird with the brown wings with the white head & tail? HEHEHE

Leon, I didn't get a good look at it, I think it's an Osprey!! J/K

Originally Posted by Shadow

Great story! My Puffin tour in Maine got rained out, I'm so jealous!

I was a little worried about this trip, but the rain held off just long enough for us to make it. It was just kind of "spitting" on us during the trip. It started raining harder on us on the boat ride back.

Originally Posted by kmeronek

Thanks for the story and the excellent series of pictures. Now I'm really looking forward to an Alaskan trip.

I have to say, go for it if at all possible.

Therese, you know you gotta' go back! It's calling you.

Thanks everyone for the comments and letting me share. I sure hope I'm not overdoing it for you!

By the way, one perk of visiting SSCL is you get to wear these snazzy wader boots everywhere!!

[ttusa]

Yes Lake Clark is calling my name LOL! Ooooh weee look at those snazzy boots!