Category Archives: Nature

Winter Visitors

My favorite avian winter visitors are making the rounds of mountain ash trees still bearing fruit and gorging themselves on the bright red berries.  Bohemian waxwings lend an element of cheer to the short, cold, and often gray days this … Continue reading

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Fruit of the Land

One of the pleasures of living in a part of the world where you’re never far from wild places is the opportunity to harvest some of nature’s abundance.  There are many varieties of berries in Alaska, but my favorite is … Continue reading

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Change of Seasons

Seasons in the far north are on a different schedule from the temperate parts of the globe.  Days are getting shorter at a rapid rate now and yellow leaves are already carpeting the ground.  Anchorage had its first snowfall a … Continue reading

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Food Gathering

Summer’s a busy time for collared pikas in Alaska as they gather a variety of vegetation and let it dry in the sun in protected piles and then put it away for a supply of food during the winter.  Their … Continue reading

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Unusual Style

There are lots of ways to catch fish, even for bears, but this grizzly at Funnel Creek in the Katmai National Preserve is using a style I hadn’t seen before.  Snorkeling isn’t that unusual, but to start from a near-90 … Continue reading

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Green Again!

It happens every year.  When winter finally decides to give up for a few months and the days actually get a bit warmer, you start to see leaf buds forming on the skeletal branches of birches and cottonwoods.  At first … Continue reading

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Snooze

After more snow earlier this month made this the longest winter on record, spring has finally arrived in Southcentral Alaska.  Temperatures are closer to “normal” now and birch and cottonwood leaves are beginning to unfold.  Most birds aren’t waiting and … Continue reading

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Hungry Traveler

They’re still here—in even larger flocks now—moving from food source to food source.  And there seem to be plenty of berries left around town so they’re not having to work too hard to find sustenance.

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Waxwings

The colorful and loquacious Bohemian waxwings are here as usual in the Anchorage area winging about in large flocks foraging for food.  If you happen to be close by as they descend on an opportune mountain ash tree with clusters … Continue reading

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October Moon

The full moon can be a magnetic subject, especially when combined with interesting foreground elements.  This one rising over a ridgeline of the Santa Lucia mountains of California near the end of October dramatically silhouetted the upper branches of a … Continue reading

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