Summer is in full swing now. The leaves are growing unbelievably fast. The first flowers I saw this year? Some purple flowers by the side of the road in town. I don't know what they were, though. :P
However, yesterday, I spotted a violet (which I've learned is probably actually a viola, but I've always called them violets) outside our house yesterday. Also found that the bluebell buds are starting to open. I took pictures of the violet and will post one of them.
I've been focusing a lot on trying to capture birds. I finally have some pictures of yellow-rumped warblers. They're not very good, but they're a start. I will be posting those when I'm done with blog. Finally got a good picture of a robin, as well. Just in the last few days, I have photographed robins, woodpeckers, juncos, and warblers.
I've also gotten some really good sightings of hermit thrushes. Now, normally I wouldn't know for sure if it were a hermit thrush, a gray-cheeked thrush, or another similar looking bird, however, at least one of them had the courtesy to sing for me, making him unmistakable. In my opinion, the hermit thrush has the most beautiful song around. :)
I also have some drawings I will try to post. I hope you enjoy! :)
Oh, yes, and the weather has been gorgeous! Mostly in the 70s, some cooler, some warmer. We could use a little more rain, though. God bless! :)
Ahh! The joy of spring! Spring and summer kind of blend together around here. It seems that spring is a feeling in the air before the snow melts; something that says "Summer's coming." Then it becomes a muddy, muddy mess as the snow melts. Had to redig some trenches this year. Well, now the spring streams are dried up, and the sun is out and so warm.... The dogs are happily lounging around in the sun. Ahhh, beautiful! And then...today a song was added among the cheerful varied calls of the chickadees and "sweeeet" of the redpolls. I have yet to see one, but the robin's song rang out sweet and clear. There's something about the robin's song...it takes my breath away every time.
Welcome back, sweet singers! :)
Fairbanks has gotten a lot of snow the last two days. I would estimate at least a foot. Right now the sun is shining, but the wind is blowing and it's snowing. There is so much fresh snow that some of the pathways that were just shoveled out yesterday can barely be seen--they had been a few feet into the snow already.
Now the subject I have chosen to dedicate the title of this blog to--a raven. I climbed up to the tree loft today and cleared off most of the snow. There was at least a foot and a half of snow on it, and I was concerned it might not be able to handle it. There were some ravens flying around and landing in the trees, some talking. Then the wind started to pick up and I noticed one raven being blown around in the wind.
At first I wondered if the big bird was being blown off course by the strong wind. But then I realized the truth; the raven was purposely "catching waves" so to speak. I watched in amused amazement as he flew up high and caught a breeze over and over again. "Now that's a real wind-surfer!" I said to myself.
Some of the time, he made me a bit nervous--the wind was so strong and was blowing him around like a leaf. "I sure hope you know what you're doing and are being careful!" I told the raven.
Yet another reason why I love ravens. They will never cease to be a great form of entertainment. They are beautiful, graceful, magnificent, and intelligent creatures.
"Stop and consider God's wonders" (Job 37:14, NIV).
Howdy everybody! :) I apologize for my long absence from the site. Life has been full of many things.
I adopted a new kitty about a month ago. She is currently sleeping on my lap.
For so long I worried that if I fell in love with another cat, I would somehow start forgetting Jeneen or that she wouldn't seem as special anymore. But I was utterly wrong. Velvet is wonderful, but she is no Jeneen. In the same way, Jeneen was no Velvet. They are both equally wonderful.
I believe with my whole heart that I will see Jeneen again someday. And when I do, I can't wait to introduce her to her new little sister. I know she'll love her! Jeneen was always very nurturing with other cats. She loved to play with them, cuddle with them, lick them.... Jeneen will love having a little sister--especially knowing that she comforted me when Jeneen couldn't be here.
A moose cow and her baby have been hanging around our place lately. I have some good pictures of them that I will have to post. It was Velvet who alerted me to their presence, actually. She was sitting in the window, gazing out intently.
Their tracks are hard to make out in the deep, powdery snow. But I found one place where the tracks were clear--under the tree loft where Jeneen is buried. Apparently, it's just high enough that the baby was able to walk under it. There's snow there, but now more than a few inches, so the tracks are beautiful. I wish I could've taken a picture, but I didn't have my camera with me at the time and haven't gotten back out there.
I need to save all my pictures to disk so I can delete them from my camera and take more pictures, but I've been having some difficulty with some problematic software. Hopefully, I'll get it worked out soon. :)
God bless you all!
Nature around these parts of late:
Black-Billed Magpie
For several weeks, a black-billed magpie could be seen hanging around near our dogs' yard. He may still be around, I'm not sure. His presence is a bit of a surprise since magpies are not usually seen this far north. Look in any bird field guide, and it will not show magpies living as far north at any time of year.
However, in the past few years I have heard some reports of sitings from friends and acquaintences. This is the first I have seen of a magpie here in Fairbanks. (When I lived in Washington state, I saw them all the time.)
To see a picture of a black-billed magpie and hear its call, go to http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-billed_Magpie/id.
I observed this magpie flying around with a much larger raven. Not surprising on the raven's part; ravens are extremely playful.
Red Fox
A few days ago, I glanced out the window to see a small red creature trotting away down a path in the woods. My first thought was of a pomeranian. Of course, that seemed strange. A few moments later, I glimpsed his tail--big and fluffy with a white tip. It was definitely a red fox. About an hour later, I caught sight of him again for a few seconds. I waited a few minutes, then I went outside and cautiously made my way to where I had seen him. He was long gone, of course, but I did get some good shots of his tracks. Hopefully, I'll have those pictures up on the website soon. :)
Howdy, everybody. The last of the roses are gone. I miss their sweet smell.
But the yarrow, pink pussytoes, and bedstraw are all in full-bloom now. I also saw some side-bells pyrola yesterday. Also the first fireweed blossoms made their appearance in our woods yesterday. The berries are starting to come out, as well. I don't think any of them are ripe yet, though.
Meanwhile, I'm keeping busy helping with crafts at my church's Vacation Bible School. Tomorrow is the last day. I love spending the time with the kids--you never know what they'll do with their crafts! :)
God bless!
It's the longest day of the year. It's 12:15 AM, and the sun still hasn't set.
I haven't worked on the website in a few weeks due to the illness and death of one of my dogs. :( This last month has really taken a toll on me.
However, the summer is good medicine--Thank God for the sunshine! The raspberry blossoms, bedstraw, single delights, low-bush cranberry blossoms, pink pyrola, and Eskimo potato are all blooming now. I've also found the labrador tea to be blooming on my property for the first time. (I noticed the plant here a year or so ago, but hadn't seen it blossom.)
Spent the weekend at Harding Lake (a ways south of here, near Salcha) with friends for the interior Alaska Seventh-day Adventist Campmeeting. I didn't get much chance to look around at the wildlife and flowers due to a stomach ache on Sabbath (Saturday) and rain on Sunday. But I saw labrador tea and wild irises. While on the beach, a friend of mine discovered a wood frog (these are easy to identify since they are the only kind of frog in this part of the state). I think this is the third time I've seen one. (I don't live in a marshy area, so it's a mystery how I ever saw any near my house).
Also, some other friends reported that a young bear came into their campsite.
My sister and I took a drive up to the Arctic Circle--took about 12 hours to get there from Fairbanks and back. It was an amazing and relaxing drive. We were surprised by the good condition of the Dalton Highway. The paved sections were extremely smooth, and the dirt portions were clear, void of potholes, and wide. I wish the roads around home were so good!
The roadsides were graced with arctic lupine, bluebells, cinquefoil (I still need to identify the variety), a yellow daisy-like flower (possibly a variety of arnica), cotton grass, prickly roses, as well as other wild flowers. We took pictures of several of the flowers, and hopefully I can get them posted up here soon, and identify them, as well.
All along the way, we saw ravens and a few robins. It's funny to realize that birds that are so at home in the city can also be such a big part of the wilderness. The swallowtails were abundant, as well. (Fairbanks area residents have noted their abundance this year, as well.)
We must have seen at least ten or more snowshoe hares. They have mostly changed to their summer brown and gray colors, but their feet were still mostly white, making them look like they were wearing their big brother's running shoes. A comical and cute effect!
The most shocking sighting was actually within the first hour of our trip--before we even got to the Dalton Highway. A little brown creature--bigger than a cat, but smaller than border collie half ambling, half scurrying into the woods from the road. Unfortunately, we had just rounded a blind corner, and knew there was a car not far behind us, so we couldn't stop or slow down. There was nowhere to pull over, either. But the picture is forever etched in my memory. I've revisited it over and over again and the only thing it could have been is a wolverine!
It was a stocky light brown mustelid, and bigger than a marten (which is not stocky in the least--I know; we had one living in our roof for several months this last winter). Now wolverines (from the pictures I've seen) usually have very dark fur, especially on their muzzles. However, this one was probably shedding. As anyone who has a furry pet knows, the under coat is much lighter than the overcoat, so when an animal sheds, the fur that is seen is lighter. I have actually just found some pictures of wolverines who had lighter faces. I didn't realize before how much their color and patterns vary. Forgive me, I'm rambling.... :)
Seeing a marten and a wolverine in the same year--if someone else told me that, I'm not sure I'd believe him! These are two elusive animals.
At the Yukon River, I discovered how big the river is! I had no idea before how big it was. I didn't really think about it, because I just...hadn't seen it. It is far wider than the Chena River, and I am pretty confident that it is significantly wider than the Columbia River (in Washington and Oregon, near where I used to live). The Yukon River is HUGE!
It has a very interesting bridge going over the river. It has a northward downhill slant. I think it's because of this slant that when you're down by the river and a car goes over the bridge, it sounds like one of those toys--a wand that has a part inside of it that when you turn the wand upside down, the inside part slides down and makes a...kind of "Wwwat" sound. I'm not sure if I'm giving a very good description--I wish I knew what those were called.
While at the Yukon River Camp, we saw a lot of swallows, and discovered two swallow nests up on a building. I also enjoyed some of the best strawberry ice-cream I've ever had! :)
To keep from becoming to rambling and tedious in boring details, in short:
Birds seen: Canada Geese, American robins, Mallard duck, unidentified duck, cliff? swallows, common ravens., and white-crowned sparrows (we think--they were hiding in the shrubs and hard to see).
Mammals: Squirrel (red?), wolverine, red fox (which was black and grey in color), snowshoe hares, possibly a young (maybe yearling) caribou, and humans.
The wildflowers were numerous, and I haven't identified them all yet, so I'll try to fill them in later.
My favorite place on the trip was Finger Mountain. This is a hill with many large rocks on and around it. Close by is a huge rock that looks like a finger. Apparently, it points straight to Fairbanks and has been used to aid travelers in direction--particularly bush pilots for years. This holds special significance to me since Fairbanks is my home.
The hill/mountain was great fun to run around on, and jump from rock to rock. When I was a kid, I lived in a place where we had a big hill behind our house that was covered with rocks like this. It was fun to revisit my childhood and remember what it was like. Funny that I had to go north to find something so much like what I had far south of here in the lower 48.
A few hours ago I noticed the first green blossoms of the bunch berry (also known as dwarf cornel or ground dogwood). They will soon turn white. (For a picture of the white blossom, look under the "Flowers" page.)
It's 11:50 PM Alaska Daylight Saving Time, and yep, it's still light outside. It's turned out to be a beautiful night; the smoke has cleared out! :) (Note that, though, this is dated May 30th, it is actually still the 29th here in Alaska.)
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