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May 22, 2006 dawned clear, calm, and sunny. We spent all morning in the boat and found more Red Necked Grebes, Common Loons, and located a pair of Barrow’s Goldeneye ducks. I am quite sure that a pair of Mallard ducks have built a nest in the swampy woods next to our house, and to our surprise we found a Grebe’s nest right out in the open seemingly unprotected, with one egg! Although, as we approached the nest quietly by boat the Grebes were out to meet us. We kept a respectable distance. (more…)

We have been watching the swallow nesting box in the Birch tree, and occasionally a bird will arrive and climb inside, then it will poke its head out and after awhile fly away. This is the third day of this type activity. I have to assume that the nest box is being considered for occupancy, or maybe already chosen. This is new to us, so we can only watch and wait. (more…)

Friday morning, May 19, 2006, the sky was swarming with Tree Swallows and they found the nesting box we placed in the Birch tree near the house! At the same time I noticed a pair of Common Loons on the lake. (more…)

As a test we moved the owl decoy from the dock today, and will keep it off the dock for awhile. Hopefully the Mallards will not take up residence on the dock again. The Mallards have been floating right by the dock several times a day, but haven’t been up on the dock since the arrival of the owl decoy. (more…)

This morning I spotted a huge group of new ducks on the lake, possibly sixty or seventy, but they are too far away for positive identification. A group of eight landed in our cove and they are definitely Surf Scoters. I’m guessing some of the others are White Winged Scoters and a few look like Scaups. A fishing boat showed up and scared most of the ducks away. I hope they return and land in my cove so that I can identify all of the species. I enjoy watching the waterfowl migrate through this area.

Alaska Artist, Gail Niebrugge

To keep the Mallard ducks from sunning on the dock and fouling the dock with duck droppings, we purchased a fake owl and placed it at the end of the dock. For the last three days the Mallard’s haven’t been on the dock, so it looks like the owl decoy is working. I have one problem with this, will this owl decoy keep birds from building nests on the property? Does anyone know about this? Please comment. I want swallows to build nests, and other birds as well. So, maybe I’ll have to put up with duck dung on the dock.

Thanks, Alaska Artist Gail Niebrugge

The first waterfowl to return to our cove at Finger Lake were a pair of Mallard ducks, April 28, 2006. It has been a cold Spring this year in Alaska, and the break-up of ice on the lake is slow. April 29 yielded three pair of Barrows Golden Eye ducks, and by April 30, our little cove held the Mallards, the Barrows Golden Eyes, 4 Bonaparte Gulls and a Bald Eagle watching the scene from a perch on a dying Cottonwood tree. (more…)