Eagle River—June 21

Well this will be the last night I am able to stay in this campground unless they give me an extension.  So today I headed back to Anchorage and Potters Marsh to do some birding.  As has been the case of late Potters Marsh, one of the old premier birding location in the Anchorage Area, was not very active.  Something has changed here in the last few years and the bird numbers are down drastically.  There were a few waterfowl—Gadwall, American Widgeon, Green-wing Teal, lots of Mew Gulls flying around and nesting, a few Arctic Terns likewise nesting, and not much else to look at.  I headed on over to the boardwalk where I hoped to see more activity.  I did observe a muskrat swimming in one of the ponds.  As far as birds they again were few.  I actually was very surprise to not find a single Violet-green Swallow which I usually find a number of here.  I have some very nice photos of them sitting on the railing.  There were the usual number of Tree Swallows nesting in the boxes provide on the boardwalk and at the end the Bald Eagles have once again nested here.  I was able to observe two hatchlings in the nest and watched as both parents returned with noting to feed their young.  They will have to make another sortie over the marsh in hopes of grabbing a young chick or some other animal to feed their babies.  I did have a singing Lincoln’s Sparrow and heard the song of a Common Yellowthroat which has been reported here.  The yellowthroat is very rare for this area and has received lots of attention.  Also present were significant numbers of Yellow-rump Warblers that one would expect here.  From here I headed to my favorite hamburger place—Weebe’s.  I inquired of Jim, the 93-year-old owner of this establishment, but did not get a good report.  I’m not sure of his current condition but one of the workers said in her two months there she had not seen him.  Each year for the last 10 years we have talked.  Sorry to hear this news.  This place makes homemade sourdough buns, grinds his own hamburger meat, uses real potatoes cut up for fries, and tops it off with homemade ice-cream.  I had my usual burger and fries and a root beer shake for lunch.  From here I headed back to camp to get ready to make my move in the morning from Eagle River campground.  Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention that last night I noticed a filling had fallen out of a tooth I thought.  So first thing this morning I contacted a dental office and was lucky to be give a nine o’clock appointment with Dr. Howard.  I am always leery of dentist as I am a complete chicken when it comes to sitting in a dental chair.  I must say I was pleasantly surprised.  Not only was Dr. Howard a good dentist, but he was gentile and all went off without any pain.  In an hour he had fixed my broken tooth (not a lost filling) and I was out the door.  I certainly would recommend him as a dentist in Anchorage and would go back if I ever needed a dentist.