Male northern flicker on spruce snag.
By the end of May one pair of flickers I had under observation had settled into a routine. After their first egg was laid in the cavity the male no longer called from the nesting snag. Now the calling and most of the drumming was taking place at another dead snag about a hundred yards to the north. Continue reading
Boreal owl with red-backed vole.
I have been continuing to keep track of the little boreal owl in Slana. Its calling is falling off. I no longer hear it in the daylight hours though my friend still reports hearing it during trips to the outhouse late at night. Less calling means it is much harder to locate but I am still finding it in the thick dark woods by searching an area of about one hundred yards by two hundred yards. This small area seems to be its preferred daytime roosting area. Slowly walk back and forth through the spruce and poplar forest and scanning every tree I find it about 30 percent of the time. Once I was guided to its location by the calling of a couple upset boreal chickadees. It is never in the same perch. Continue reading
In my part of Alaska’s Interior we have two species of chickadees. These tiny and delightful birds cheer up the coldest day but are hard to photograph. The black-capped chickadee is often found in mixed habitats of spruce, willow, birch and aspen. The boreal chickadee is associated with the black spruce bog habitats. They are quick and refuse to stay put so you must be very quick yourself. One sure way just might be the oldest techique for bird photography out there. Simply pre-focus on a favorite perch and wait.
On my last post I laid out a way to get close-up photographs of the very small and beautiful common redpoll. By setting up a feeding station early in the season you can get redpolls to come to you.
Attention to a few photographic details can help you to get professional results. First, you’re choice of a location is very important. Some locations are more photogenic than others, obviously. Avoid situations that are complex. For example if your location is too thick with brush and vegetation then there will always be something in the way, branches, twigs, between you and your subject. Often, it is these kinds of distractions that can ruin an otherwise nice photo. Continue reading
What a joy it is to observe common redpolls every day all winter long. When the bottom drops out of the thermometer they go about their cheerful, lively routine seemingly without regard to Interior Alaska’s dangerous temperatures. Redpolls are active from first light until sunset. Even at fifty below you will find them busy, usually in small groups feeding among bushes. But where they spend the nights is a mystery to me. They have been reported to spend some nights in snow burrows, like ptarmigan. Continue reading
The arrival of March in Interior Alaska is a wonderful change. Temperatures generally don’t stray much below twenty below F and the light is increasing by about thirty five minutes a week. It’s a great time to be out. Moose don’t really mind the cold in fact they might seek the shade even at fifty below zero because their huge bodies produce so much heat. Continue reading
The red fox, Vulpes vulpes is one of nature’s most successful predators, thriving in a variety of habitats from tundra to desert, forest to mountains. Though common throughout their vast range, the red fox makes a tough photo subject. Continue reading
Keeping tabs on your local wildlife is an important task for the naturalist. Take note of the locations of nests of all kinds. Continue reading
Numerous springs keep miles of the North Fork of the Snake River ice free all winter.
Elk and mule deer have deserted the high country. To be sure a very few have either tried to winter here or perhaps did not migrate soon enough and were stranded by heavy snow. But their odds for survival are poor for they are not adapted to this heavy snow country like moose. Continue reading
ON THE TRACK OF THE SNOWSHOE HARE
A snowshoe hare watches his backtrail.
In the far north snowshoe hares are trapped in an eternal cycle. A ten year cycle of life and death, of peak and crash, of predator and prey. Currently snowshoes are at the bottom of their population cycle. Predator species like the northern goshawk, northern hawk owl, and lynx crash a year or two after the hares. When the hare population is low they can still be found in bunny patches, small pockets of prime habitat. Thickets of mixed forests, spruce, poplar and willow are sanctuaries where a few hares somehow manage to survive extremely heavy pressure from predators. In lodgepole forests of eastern Idaho, my old stompin grounds, the snowshoe hares did not seem to go through the extreme population peak and crash. Continue reading