The Geese have landed

Look around today and you wouldn't know that the Canada Goose was once an uncommon bird. In particular, the subspecies known as the giant Canada Goose was considered extinct until a very few populations were discovered in the early 1960's. Over-hunting and destruction of wetlands had driven them to the brink of extinction. Improved game management practices and extensive re-introduction programs were begun to stabilize the subspecies and today it is doing fine. Originally a North American bird, the Canada Goose has also been transplanted successfully to Britain and Scandinavia.

On Ship Creek today they were getting a little sun and a little food. They did tend to get the gulls and magpies a little stirred up, but after a bit they gave up. With it being a beautiful sunny day and the temperature getting around 45°, the snow was melting fast and making instant ponds. It was just too pretty not take a few shots, with a camera of course.

AAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!

We have had 12" of snow since this morning and they are predicting another 3 - 6" by 8am tomorrow. We have set a record for snow fall in one day for April. The city and state had put all of their snow plows away for the season.

Who jinxed us?

The Moose and the Magpie

If you live in Alaska and you're having good weather, you have to enjoy it while you can. The last couple of days have been great. The temps are rising and the sun is out and were getting to enjoy it longer everyday.

Monday after dinner the sun was still shining bright. I had to get out, but didn't want to go too far. So I headed on over to West Chester Lagoon Nature Trail. Even if nothing is going on, the scenery is always great and the sunsets lately have been awesome.

Not much was happening so I decided to head back to my truck. That's when I noticed a young moose wading through the marsh. As I was taking pix's, I noticed a magpie that wouldn't cut it a break. It was squawking at every move it made. That young moose just mossied along hardly paying any attention to the magpie at all. That magpie just wouldn't give up.

After a bit I gave up and started to mossie towards the truck when I noticed the magpie hopping on the moose for a ride. it would peck at the moose and fly off. A few minutes later it would do it again and again, but the moose really didn't care. Once it turned around and looked at the magpie, then it went back to more munching.

After the moose mossied far enough away, the magpie gave up. I believe it's just a little too early for the magpie to be protecting a nest, but then maybe not. Check out more pix's with the link below.

2008-04-21

Spring, finally!

The weather has been awesome (fingers crossed so not to jinx things). The temps have been hitting almost 50° and the sun has been out everyday since Saturday. The snow is melting, the mud is drying up and hell, I wore shorts all day Sunday.

At home the yard has been raked, all the dog poop is gone, some grass is starting to turn green, it's gotta be the real spring. I still have to wait a little on the garden, but it's all ready for some plant life.

There's even more activity going on around town. I've seen neighbors that I know I haven't seen since last fall and the hot dog carts are out downtown.


I didn't make it to Hawk Watch this year, but from the reports I've heard it must have been something. I've heard of lots of Golden Eagles, Rough-legged Hawks, Northern Hawk Owls, you name it. I stayed close to home and got to see some Golden Eye's, American Dippers, Northern Pintail and of course tons of Canada Geese, Mallards, Gulls, etc.

....and the sunsets. We weren't the only ones watching them.

Does this look like spring to you???

Tuesday night I'm going out to Camp Carroll and this is what it looked like. Not spring! Ol' Man Winter is hanging on for sure. That's a nice slop puddle in the first pix. It freezes, it melts, it freezes.

How did those guys in WWII stand being in those tanks during the

winter? Bbrrr.





Mr young moose was enjoying the buds on the trees though.

A little help from Robin

From the comments by Robin from Dharma Bums on the last post "I photoshopped it, just to lighten it up a bit and you really captured a juvenile in transition. It's grand."

I got it Robin and it looks great. I went out there again today, but he wasn't there. It's snowing pretty hard and it's probably hiding in the trees.

Not much going on

There wasn't much going on today. We made a trip out to Ft. Richardson and decided to go on the backside of the base to take some pictures. The weather really wasn't the best for it. Cloudy, dusty and gray. It looked like it was going to rain any minute.

We did spot an immature Bald Eagle spotting us from the top of a pine tree. This was the best shot and it's not all that good. Later on we spotted an eagles nest that's been empty for the winter. We'll check it out later next month to see if it has any occupants.

Here's a sign that will work to keep trespassers off of your property.

I GOT THE SPRING FEVER!

I got home after a depressing afternoon at work and was sitting in the living room. The sun was blasting in the window and I thought "what a waste being inside". We couldn't go far, so we headed to the port and then to West Chester Lagoon Nature Trail.

The temperature is in the low 30's and there's a slight breeze so it's a little chilly. But I had to get out. The sun was so bright, the sky was mostly clear and the ducks and geese are back.

There's still plenty of snow and ice around, but it is making progress in melting off. Hopefully the snow we were having has ended for the season. According to last nights news, we've set a new record for snow in April and it's only the 11th.

So while we were out, we saw gulls, a bald eagle, Canada geese, mallards, a golden eye, magpies, and ravens. We were only out about 1 1/2 hour.

Come on SPRING!!!!

I was going nuts!

Between work, volunteer work and being sick, there was no play time. We got what is probably our last significant snow fall of the season. So there was more color in the world, at least around here. So it was time to go take some pictures.

I had no idea where we were going. We were just headed north and just far enough to where we could turn around in time to be home for dinner. There was some sunshine and still a little snow falling, but we were away from it all.

We stopped in Eagle River first. The state park was still closed for the season, but we got some good shots of the chalet from across the river. There were eagles around, but no good shots of them.

After getting a mocha, we headed towards Knick. Knick is named after a glacier, but we didn't go as far as the glacier. It's not accessible by car and we didn't have time to hike it. I hadn't been back this way in a few years. They actually paved the road and put in a park since I was back there last.

The weather was holding out. It was a little chilly, but other wise from that it was a nice day. We found an old junk yard that was also helping the banks of the river from eroding away.

It was finally time to head home. We still had things to do there, but at least we got to get away for a few hours.

Click on the album below to see more pix's. I hope you had a good weekend!

2008-04-06

More spring weather

Ol' Man Winter hasn't let go yet. We got a nice dusting of about 4 inches today. It's a real wet snow that probably freeze up tonight and make the roads nice and slick until about noon tomorrow.

Mr Raven wasn't to happy. I don't know if he was squawking at the snow or me working in the driveway. Anyways, he sat on the roof across the street from my house for a while just raising a ruckus.

I have a standing request in for some sunshine and blue skies please.