StellerSeaEagle: August, 3. Around the Koni Peninsula, continued

August, 3. Around the Koni Peninsula, continued

While the fog was lifting up, we found ourselves at the Alevina Cape, the only inhabited place on this portion of the coast. The tip of the cape extends in to the sea for quite a distance, and at low tide these waters became rather treacherous because of the rocks near the water surface. So Sergey, our skipper and the ranger of this part of the reserve kept at a distance from the shore.

Having passed under a narrow curtain of fog we continued to traverse along the coast towards the Burgauly and Antara rivers. Now and then we did see food patches indicated by congregations of Tufted and Horned Puffins, and Slaty-Backed Gulls.

The eagle pair at the Burgauly River was present. The nest was on the tree, however we are not certain about the contents of the nest. One eagle was greeting us from the gravel beech, whereas another eagle remained on the tree near the nest. This is the only tree-nesting pair at this part of the Koni Peninsula.

There were some bears on the slopes feeding in rich grass. But our interest was concentrated on the eagle nests.

The Antara river hosted the south-eastern ranger's station. However it is not quite a ranger's station, as it has never been inhabited for a long time. This place is near and dear to Irina's hearth, as a place of a herioic survival episode when she with fellow nature reserve's researchers managed to loose their 7 m zodiac boat in a surge tide and storm. That happened at the end of 1990s, but the extremes of this episode are fresh as ever.

The Antara log cabin was set up in order to facilitate winter paroling of the area. The place is inhabited by a dense bear population. Interestingly enough, the area is, in fact, an old village of the coastal native people. It was mentioned by the the 1700s anthropologists Lindenau. The areal shot has the circles of the ancient homes of these people clearly visible.

Meanwhile we continued to check the coastal nests towards the Eastern corner of the protected territory: the Kleshnya Cape (Claw Cape). The last nest with two chicks was covered with curtains of fog, but still clearly visible.