A Wildlife Kind of Day

A week ago I went south to Portage to the Alaska Wildlife Preserve with Bart and Sandy. All of these photos were taken by Bart. I took my own photos but I like Bart's photos better. He has a better lens.

As they say, Good fences make good neighbors.

I have passed by this place numerous times but have never stopped. It lies at the end of Turnagain Arm.

Anchorage lies about 50 miles to the north.

A bull Moose just sprouting its antlers.

While I fumbled to set up my tripod to photograph this Hairy Woodpecker, Bart managed this hand held photo with his new Canon 100-400mm lens. It is a great lens.

The Gulls have only been back in town for a few weeks. These are Mew gulls.

Meanwhile Bart went up to Powerline Pass above Anchorage.It is still  winter up there.

The Willow Ptarmigan have really started to attain their breeding plumage.

Peek-a-boo.

A New Post

Considering that this is my first post since January, you may have thought that I had died. I may be mostly dead but there are many reasons that I have not posted. Everything from health issues, a job loss due to those health issues, computer problems,(it died), and a new move to a better place.

I also have not lifted a paint brush yet this year nor pulled my camera out of the closet until last Monday. These photos were all taken by Bart Quimby. The photo above is Bart's wife Sandy in Archangel Valley above Palmer. Yes, it's still Winter up in the mountains.

Do you see what Sandy is looking at?

These are Willow Ptarmigans.

If they don't move you are likely to pass them by without ever noticing them.

They are delightful birds and often very tame around humans.

They can produce very pleasant soft clucking noises and also a demented cackle that sounds to me like they are saying, "go away".

They are good eating although I have never eaten one.

Sometimes they burrow deep into the snow to keep warmer.

This male is showing the first hint of the changeover to breeding plumage. They retain a lot of white all year.

They have black tails although they are often covered by white feathers.

Bart also got some nice shots of Mt. Denali, (formerly McKinley).

The mountain is seldom visible because of the unstable weather that the mountain creates..