In the middle of October, bird watchers estimated about 40 short-eared owls were seen hunting on the wetlands — probably a record number. What was… Continue reading
A meteorologist from the National Weather Service’s local office recently told a newspaper reporter that heavy, wet, snow would materialize in a few days. He… Continue reading
Someone once asked me “Is evolution still happening?” My brief answer was “Of course, it’s always happening.” I would have gone on to explain a… Continue reading
Weighing as much as a cup of walnuts and resembling a squeaky dog toy, the short-tailed weasel is easy to underestimate. The spunky little creature… Continue reading
Crows, jays, ravens, magpies and their various other relatives (nutcrackers, choughs, jackdaws, etc.) belong to the taxonomic family Corvidae. It’s a sizeable family of about… Continue reading
In our region there are a few fully parasitic plants, totally dependent on other plants for carbon, water, and nutrients. Some of them are not… Continue reading
It’s early fall and we sometimes enjoy seeing fuzzy orange and black caterpillars trekking over the trails on their way to better foraging or a… Continue reading
Weeklong competition in Katmai National Park culminates Tuesday after delayed start due to a death.
Skip Ambrose has floated the upper Yukon River almost every year since Richard Nixon was President. Back then, in 1973, only 12 pairs of peregrine… Continue reading
On a dark and dismal day in late September, I cheered myself up by remembering some pleasing observations in recent weeks: • On the dike… Continue reading
“I’m so tired.” I had no idea how to reply. As a basketball coach you tell players to push through. As a high school teacher… Continue reading
People often think of fungi as dietary items or as agents of rot and decay. Fair enough, but those are only two small windows into… Continue reading
Their staccato voices can make a muskeg bog as loud as a city street, though most are so small they could sit in a coffee… Continue reading
In late August I went on a day cruise to Tracy Arm. The weather was good for observing: gray, overcast skies to reduce the glare… Continue reading
On a gray morning in early September, with no cruise ships in town(!), I wandered up Basin Road and the first part of the Perseverance… Continue reading
On a recent river trip in northern Alaska, scientists from the University of Alaska Museum of the North found a lost world, a time of… Continue reading
I haven’t seen much bird activity along my mid-August trails recently, but here at home there is always something going on. The suet block, seed… Continue reading
This essay was launched by reading an almost unintelligible (to me) scientific paper about chiton eyes. Nevertheless, that paper led to others, and here I… Continue reading
LACK RAPIDS OF THE DELTA RIVER — If we climb high enough above this tumble of gray water, we can see a wedge of blue-white… Continue reading
Mid-August and the berry crops of wild currants are ripe. The stink currant (reportedly so-called for the smell of crushed leaves) sometimes bears large crops… Continue reading
