Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

The weather has been gorgeous lately! Sunshine and warm temps (70s!) has brought everyone outdoors to soak up the sun.  Even though there are a bunch of things I need to get done indoors, I’m not wasting a sunny day to do it.

A few days ago, I was washing up a few dishes and saw a bird fly down to the ground in my yard. I walked out on the deck to get a better view, camera in hand. The bird - a solitary sandpiper - stood up and let out a series of high pitched whistled “weet, weet” sounds. (You can hear the sandpiper’s call here)

She ran in a circle around one particular area, distracting me it seemed. And then I saw the tiny ball of brown striped fluff partially hidden in the grass. A chick. She moved in an ungainly matter, her legs seemingly useless as she rolled onto her back and then righted herself. She must have fallen from the nest.  I learned, in doing a little bit of research, that the solitary sandpiper lays its eggs in the nests of song birds - particularly those of the American Robin (which we have an abundance of in our yard this year).

As I approached the fluffy chick with my camera, I heard the sound of ravens above. Looking up, I saw two perched in the tree branches. Do ravens eat chicks?  I don’t know the answer to that question, but I didn’t want to take any chances with baby sandpiper becoming lunch. I ran inside and grabbed a dish towel so I could move the chick out of the middle of my yard, where there was no protection, and into the treed area.  While I know it is a myth that a mother bird will abandon its young if touched by human hands, I wanted to minimize any trauma to the chick by covering it up before moving it.

I carried the peeping chick to the treed area, while mama bird hopped around me; also following me. I released the chick into the protection of some low bushes and grass, and walked away. The mother bird quickly joined the baby, and the chick climbed under mama’s plump body where she would be safe.

Before I went to bed, I checked on them. They weren’t in the same spot where I left them, so I walked through the yard, listening for her chirp.  When I reached the rear of my yard, she came hopping towards me, whistling loudly again. I scanned the ground looking for the baby, and found her beneath a bluebell plant. She was doing much better with her walking, and I couldn’t help but grin when I saw how long her legs, and how big her feet, were! She was still quite ungainly on her legs, but able to follow mama as she made her way into another wooded area.

Look at this cute baby:

Protective Solitary Sandpiper:

Look at the legs on this chick!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yesterday, I was startled when Sedona ran to the front door growling, and I heard the neighbor’s dog barking his head off.  When I looked out the front door, I saw a young bull moose standing next to my driveway, enjoying the birch saplings growing there.

He’s been hanging around this area for some time now. About a week ago, he ran down my driveway, from the road, and into the woods. He appears to be a yearling, possibly one of the calves who used to frequent my yard last year with his sibling and mother.

I stood outside the house, with the front door in close proximity, in the event he wasn’t happy to have his photo taken. He took notice of me, but went about his business - chomping at the saplings. He hung around for a good 15 minutes, and then turned toward me. I had a split second of worry that he’d find the flowers in my hanging baskets much more tempting, and I thought about how I could shoo him off.

A few years ago, while driving through Anchorage, Steve and I watched a huge bull moose make his way down a residential street, eating the flowers out of the flower boxes mounted on windows and porch railings.  As we were watching, an elderly lady came out her front door with a broom in hand - only a few feet from the moose’s head where he demolished her baskets. Yelling at him, and swinging that broom, she admonished him for eating her flowers. He ran to the next house, but kept an eye on her. We laughed a lot as that scene played out. (Don’t try this at home, kiddies! *grin*)

My yard visitor moved from the saplings, across the driveway and into the front wooded area.  And then he meandered across the street, into the big woods. I hope he’ll be back.

Here’s the moose checking out the foliage next to our driveway  (Extra topsoil is under the tarps):

He knows I’m watching him:

Look at his antler nubs:

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yesterday, Steve and I met up with Linda Kauffman and her husband, Rich. Linda has been reading my journal for quite some time now, and has stopped in Fairbanks for a visit, as they travel throughout Alaska (and western Canada) with their camper in tow. We had lunch at the Pagoda, and enjoyed good food and great conversation.

I’m hoping that we can meet up again later in the month, when our travels take us down to the Kenai Peninsula - where they’ll also be camping for a short while. She’s keeping a travel log, if you want to read about her adventures.

I hope you enjoy Fairbanks, Linda and Rich!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Steve is off for a few days, and he wants to do some fly-fishing in some of the ponds along Chena Hot Springs Road.  We were going to go earlier this morning, but he slept in. It’s a bit too warm out there now, so he’s going to go while I’m at belly dance class tonight instead. Besides, I need his help out in the camper, cutting tile. I haven’t done anymore work out there since causing a flare up with my carpal tunnel syndrome.  I’d like to get it done today as we’ll be taking out the camper in a few weeks.

I’m suffering from a flare-up of shingles on my eye. It started two days ago with the tell-tale ache and redness, and the blisters appeared yesterday. I’ve been using drops from my last bout and it’s helping (thank goodness).  Steve’s been calling me “Popeye” and making pirate sounds at me, since my eye is in a perpetual squint. It’s all in fun.  I’m just glad the worst part is over, even though it still looks pretty bad. No beauty pageants for me this week!

Hard to believe it’s already July. The summer goes by so quickly; I wish things would slow down some. We’re already on the downslide to winter solstice - losing several minutes of daylight each day. It’s not noticeable yet, as dawn and dusk still ensure 24 hours of brightness. We won’t see a real evening - stars and all - until August.

Steve and I have two trips planned this summer. On our first trip, we’ll be heading down to the Kenai Peninsual for some fishing and *hopefully* a bear trip to Katmai. We’re booked to go, but it’s always weather permitting. We’ve been weathered out the past three times. I hope this is our lucky year.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

We’ll be heading down to Haines and Skagway in August. With the new changes in regulations for travel into and through Canada, we’ve had to renew our passports. It wasn’t as painful a process as it was when the changes first went into affect and only took us about 4 weeks to get them. The only thing we have to worry about now is getting a well animal certificate for Sedona so she can travel with us. We could kennel her, but that’s just extra $$, and we like having her along.

Yesterday was the last day to apply for Denali Road Lottery passes. The winners should be notified in a few weeks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Steve or I won. Good luck to those of you who also applied.

Happy July!

“Live in each season as it passes: breathe the air,
drink the drink, taste the fruit.”
–   Henry David Thoreau -