Tag Archives: forest

NESTING FLICKERS

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A female northern flicker approaches the nesting cavity.

Life at the nest of northern flickers is at a frantic level.  Most of the long, Alaskan summer days keeps the adults working at a breathless pace.  The pair at this nest take turns guarding the nest from the resident red squirrel or trespassing northern flickers and taking forays out into the black spruce forest to hunt for their main food, wood ants and their larva.  When the female arrives back at the nest cavity with food for the young, the male departs.

To listen to the audio clip, click on left side of the bar. Volume at right.   Adult male northern flicker responds to his mate appearing near the nest.  Then listen as female enters nesting cavity to feed chicks. Continue reading →

RUFFED RHYTHM

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28A ruffed grouse male moves slowly through thick cover as it feeds on buds, last years berries and new leaves.

Interior Alaska is definitely spruce grouse country.  But along creeks and river bottoms, in old burns, in fact almost anywhere where several species of trees grow in thickets, narrow veins of ruffed grouse habitat can be found.  Along the Slana River not far from where it enters the still modest Copper River,  aspen, poplar, birch, white and black spruce, alder and a jumble of willow species form thickets where the cryptic ruffed grouse lives.  Rose and high bush cranberry in the understory provide year round food for the few grouse that survive there. Continue reading →

RUFUS CREEK IN WINTER

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aurora borealis-16-23Overflow ice floods Rufus Creek as Aurora Borealis dance.

Rufus Creek flows through our ten acres of black spruce forest on its way North to the Slana River.  The northern boreal forest is a patchwork of dynamic land forms and plant communities, niches that a  few hardy species of wildlife can exploit.  Diversity of life here is low but the species and settings are spectacular. Continue reading →

LAST HOMESTEAD

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aurora borealis-15-115Our home in the wilderness.

This post is in support of the recent story that appeared in the February 2016 issue of Country Magazine.  The story is about our families life in Alaska.  The following photographs are some that did not make the final layout in the magazine.  Several Country Magazine readers have requested to see more photos.  This is for you. Continue reading →

PHOTOGRAPHING AURORA BOREALIS

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aurora borealis-15-50Aurora borealis in my back yard.  Slana, Alaska

The aurora borealis displays are really picking up this year.  After a few years of slow aurora activity its an exciting change and a great excuse for stay up late and snapping a few photographs.  With todays wonderful digital cameras getting great aurora photos is easier than ever.  I remember the day when I had only Kodachrome film with an ASA speed of either 25 or 64.  Living in Alaska it could take more than two weeks just to get your processed film returned and check your results.  Today you can snap a shot or two check the exposure using  your histogram display, adjust your exposure if necessary and shoot away .  You can be confident of what you’re getting. Continue reading →

MUSHROOMS AND RED SQUIRRELS

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Red squirrels work overtime in late summer/early fall gathering mushrooms.  I spent several days this week photographing them.  Though red squirrels can be a nuisance around our wilderness home I try to tolerate them. Our current red squirrel seems to be satisfied living a life in the wild so as long as he minds his own business he is on the payroll.  I discourage bad squirrel behavior such as chewing on the house and if they persist, they get that one way ride up to my mean old neighbor ladies place.  And she handles red squirrels just like most of my neighbors do. Continue reading →

HUNTING LIKE A HAWK

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DSC_2027A northern hawk owl perched atop a dead, black spruce overlooking its preferred hunting grounds, an Alaskan muskeg wetland.

The northern hawk owl is named after its hawk-like hunting behavior.  Like hawks, the hawk owl hunts by day using its keen eyesight to spot small birds and mammals.  The red-backed vole is by far the most important prey species. But the hawk owl is an opportunist and other species of voles and several species of shrews are also caught. During those years when snowshoe hares are plentiful, hawk owls will add these much larger prey species to their list, as will many species of birds from the tiny, common red-poll to birds up to the size of ptarmigan. Continue reading →

OWLS BY DAY, OWLS BY NIGHT

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BY DAY

DSC_1262Adult male northern hawk owl is active during the day.

For a few weeks I have been photographing a pair of northern hawk owls that have nested in a stand of tall white spruce.  Hawk owl populations are cyclic and for the past three years they have been rare in my part Alaskan interior.  Over the past twenty years, I have been trying to capture their little known life history.  In those twenty years I have found only six or seven active nests.  Continue reading →

PHANTOM OF THE BLACK SPRUCE BOG

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55-15-17Alaskan lynx

Some authors claim the lynx is strictly a hunter-predator.   I have observed several lynx that do not fit perfectly into that mold.  I do think lynx prefer fresh game they have killed themselves, But what if game is scarce and lynx are very hungry?  This is the situation in much of interior Alaska this winter.  The snowshoe hare population is currently at the bottom of its ten-year cycle.  There are always a few snowshoe hares in prime habitat which is thick, white or black spruce mixed with a variety of other trees such as aspen, birch or poplar as well as willows and alder.  But in the stands of pure black spruce, which dominate much of the landscape near my home snowshoe hare tracks are nearly absent.  What remains for the lynx are primarily red squirrels, spruce grouse, willow ptarmigan, and voles.  Lynx have been known to kill and eat red fox but that is not common.  Same goes for mink, marten and the short-tailed weasel.  And I suppose the lucky lynx could catch a woodpecker or gray jay if they were distracted. Continue reading →