Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Willow Ptarmigan

The willow ptarmigan is an arctic grouse and shaped similar to a chicken. It was designated as the Alaska state bird in 1955. A cool thing about these birds is that they change colors, from brown in summer to white in winter, for camouflage from their predators. They also have feathers on their legs and feet for protection from cold and to help them move across snow. These birds spend most of their time on the ground, but will explode into rapid flight if startled. Also, a ptarmigan will fly directly into a snow bank to sleep under the snow. They fly into their beds because walking in would leave tracks for predators to follow.

The willow ptarmigan is the only grouse in the world where the males are regularly involved in parental care. The parents remain together from the beginning of the breeding season until their chicks are independent. The males help protect the families against predators and even raise the young if the female dies.

The male birds in these photos successfully diverted our attention so that the females and chicks could escape in the tall tundra grass and willow thicket!

Time to Deck the Halls!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner celebration with dear friends of ours. We hope all of you had a great day of reflection and gratitude as well.

Now that this holiday milestone has past, there is no denying that Christmas is right around the corner. It’s time to deck the halls! With the help of digital scrapbooking software, I created a new header and background yesterday to dress up my little blog. Today, we are going to start toting boxes down from the attic storage room and decorating Grey Havens. We have decided to only put up the little trees this year and not wrestle with carrying the large trees up and down the stairway. I haven’t put out my Santa collection for a couple of years now, but it may see the light of day this year if I feel ambitious enough.

rosemary window decoration at Colonial Williamsburg

I fondly remember our trip to Colonial Williamsburg last year and witnessing all of their inspirational wreaths and decorations. We can’t make the trip this year, but we would dearly love to go again. Natural adornments, such as the one shown above, help remind us that Christmas decorating doesn’t need to be cluttered, gaudy, inflatable, or expensive.

Happy Thanksgiving!

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not,

But rejoices for those which he has.

~ Epictetus ~

Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Mallard Duck

During our Alaska travels in July, we even found the common mallard duck. We saw this drake and his partner at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks, minding a nest near the edge of a pond. His colorful plumage had started to molt, which is typical after the mating season has ended.

I can’t help but think of the Peabody Hotel whenever I see a mallard duck. The Peabody is famous for its daily duck marches to and from the beautiful fountain in the hotel’s lobby. The ducks have a cozy home on the top of the building and arrive in the lobby via the elevator. I have seen the sight, and it was fun to witness the quacky procession along a red carpet! The origin of the Peabody ducks is quite a classic, involving some men who returned from a hunting trip and copious amounts of Tennessee’s Jack Daniels whiskey. See, it makes sense now, doesn’t it?

A New Basket

When we went to the annual fall show of the Foothills Crafts Guild this past Friday, I promised myself that I wouldn’t buy another basket. Yes, folk art baskets are a weakness of mine. (Pottery too.) But promises are made to be broken and I purchased a beautiful Nantucket style basket made by an acquaintance from my former workplace.

The fellow has gotten on in years and will soon quit his crafting pastime. His primary hobby was woodworking, and he specialized in creating Shaker boxes. (We have a big set of Shaker boxes stacked up in our master bedroom, but another artisan made them.) Eventually, he branched out into making the most exquisite Nantucket baskets. 

Though I had admired his work over the years, I had never made a purchase. The dark and light interplay of the weaving cane of this basket caught my eye, along with the cherry handle and base. It was time. So I brought this little treasure home and it now resides in my home office, tucked in on a cabinet shelf along with other cherished folk art pieces and small antiques.

And to do a little creating of my own, I couldn’t resist transforming one of my photos into an oil painting rendition.

Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Red Squirrel

Ah, it was nice to take a little break from blogging. I’ve been occupied with everyday living tasks, and I finally have a free moment to load up another Alaska photo post! 

While we stayed at the Kantishna Roadhouse in Denali National Park, we spotted this red squirrel zipping through the property. When he wasn’t chowing down wild blueberries, he was devouring tender spruce needles. And luckily, he stayed still long enough for me to capture his impish good looks. 

The red squirrel has an extensive range throughout most of North American. But don’t let the cute bushy tail and pointed ears of these rodents fool you! Like all squirrels, they can cause considerable damage if they ever find a way into your house. A voracious appetite supports their super-charged energy levels. 

Here is an interesting tidbit about them. The red squirrel drinks tree sap from maple trees! It bites into a tree until the sap flows out, leaves temporarily, and then returns to drink the sap after the water has evaporated.

Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Arctic Ground Squirrels

Arctic ground squirrels are the largest and most northern of the North American ground squirrels. They are established residents of Denali National Park, and this particular fellow entertained us when we traveled along the park road.

These squirrels burrow and establish colonies in areas with well-drained soils, creating a maze of tunnels beneath the surface. They are one of the most important summer food sources for golden eagles, gyrfalcons, foxes, and grizzly bears. Remember the photo I showed last month of the large area that was dug up by a grizzly bear? The bear was undoubtedly in search of a ground squirrel snack! 

Arctic ground squirrels certainly enjoy their summer hiatus after a long winter hibernation of 7 to 8 months. During hibernation, their body temperature drops below freezing, a condition referred to as supercooling. Every two to three weeks, while still sleeping, the squirrels shiver and shake for 12 to 15 hours to create enough heat to warm them back to a normal body temperature of about 98 degrees Fahrenheit. When the shivering and shaking stops, their body temperature drops back to the minimal temperature. Weird, huh?

During the summer, they eat many types of vegetation including the leaves, seeds, fruits, stems, mushrooms, flowers, and roots of many species of grasses, forbs, and woody plants. The squirrels also eat meat from freshly killed animals. As foragers, their goal is to build up fat stores and almost double their body weight by the time they enter hibernation again in fall. Wouldn’t it be great if we could just use winter hibernation as our excuse for consuming a second piece of pie after our Thanksgiving feast?!

Tennessee's Heavenly Ham

Question: What’s shiny, blue, and smells like smoked pork? Answer: Hubby’s car after we stopped yesterday in Madisonville, Tennessee, to buy a half of a smoked country ham! 

If you want the real deal, it can be found at Benton's Smoky Mountain Country Hams. This small business started in 1947 and is currently owned by Allan Benton. Benton’s doesn’t advertise. They’ve never gotten around to issuing a catalog either. You see, they don’t have to! When your business has been featured in the New York Times and magazines such as Southern Living and Gourmet magazine, you know you’ve hit the big time. 

Discerning, gourmet restaurants from the big cities are Benton’s regular customers. But average day folks like us swear by Benton’s country pork products too. The magic all happens in this humble, concrete block building. The meat is dry-cured the old-fashioned way and hung on wooden racks for months at a time. 

They sliced it up for us, no extra charge. Hubby unwrapped it from the butcher paper earlier this afternoon and had a vacuum sealing party in the kitchen. We now have 14 beautiful center-cut slices tucked away for future fried ham dinners. We also got a few end pieces that will be put to good use for seasoning large pots of pinto beans during the winter months ahead. Of course, we couldn’t resist having some fried up for lunch today and slapped between some biscuits. (I drizzle yellow mustard on mine.) Oh my, it is smoked pork heaven! 

Perhaps you can order one of Benton's hams as a holiday present for a serious chef or foodie friend on your gift list. While you’re at it, go on and get one for yourself too!

A Time-Lapse Journey of D.C.

Are you ready to hit the "pause" button in your noggin for a little bit and take a short armchair journey?  What comes out of D.C. is not a thing of beauty. But the street scenes and the hustle/bustle can be mesmerizing. Enjoy...

District 1.5 : HDR Time-lapse from Drew Geraci on Vimeo

Veterans Day - 11.11.11

Please honor our veterans today,

and thank them for the sacrifices they have made for us!

Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Sea Otter

We were absolutely delighted to spot a sea otter when we traveled by boat on Resurrection Bay from Seward to Fox Island. Our guide told us to start looking for these comical creatures as soon as we left the dock. Sure enough, we quickly found one to make us giggle. Sea otters can look small in the water, but they measure between four and five feet in length, not including their 10-inch tail. Because of their cute faces, they have been nicknamed, “old man of the sea”. 

Sea otters habitually float on their backs to rest and feed. At times, they can be seen bending slightly backwards, shading their eyes with a paw, and scanning the water surface for a killer whale, the only sea mammal that preys on them. If an otter sees a whale fin, it flops down on its belly and start swimming to the nearest kelp bed. It uses its powerful, flipper-like hind feet to move through the water at a speed of about 10 miles per hour. Kelp beds are not only used for sanctuary, but also for resting, sleeping, and whelping quarters. 

A sea otter primarily dines on sea urchins and mussels. It will eat several times a day, diving down for its food in shallow waters. It is quite entertaining to watch an otter devour a meal while floating on its back, using its chest as a table. To eat mussels, it uses a rock to crack them open. After finishing its meal, an otter evens lick its paws! 

The males take no responsibility for raising their young, but the mothers more than make up for it. A mother otter not only protects her pup from danger, but she also shows affection by fondling and kissing. She measures out discipline too, spanking a pup during diving lessons until the pup has mastered the technique.

Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Groundhog

You probably would have never guessed that I photographed a groundhog in Alaska! It was sheer happenstance. This particular fellow isn’t the famous Punxsutawney Phil, but he apparently is a resident pest at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks. We went to the refuge to photograph birds. But we ended up being entertained for quite a while by the antics of this groundhog, skillfully hiding, scampering, and devouring the crops in the garden planted by local rangers. I was able to capture this up-close mug shot while he was playing hide and seek under a concrete ramp to the refuge’s farmhouse visitor center. 

These animals thrive in an extensive geographic range from Alaska to Alabama. Also known as woodchucks, the groundhog is a member of the rodent family and belongs to the group of large ground squirrels called marmots. They have been referred to as “whistle pigs” because they will use a high-pitch whistle to warn the groundhog colony of danger. 

Gardeners universally hate these animals that notoriously raid vegetable gardens. Groundhogs gorge themselves in the summer to build up reserves for winter hibernation. They also love to create deep burrows for sleeping, rearing young, and hibernating. As you can expect, they are not popular creatures with horse owners either. We have personally had several tussles with them over the years! 

Here’s an interesting fact: they can climb trees! You wouldn’t guess they would have that skill with those pudgy bodies.

Wildlife Wonders of Alaska - Seabirds

I have already introduced you with the tufted puffin, which so politely posed for me during a memorable photo shoot. The tufted variety has strands of “hair” billowing off on the sides of its head. They are not as well known as the horned puffin, which gets most of the publicity. We got to see the horned puffin at the Alaska SeaLife Center and also when we had our boat tour around the Kenai Fjords National Park. 

The horned puffin has quite a fan base, and sailors have dubbed them as the “sea parrot” because of their distinctive looks and colorful beak. It is interesting to note that a puffin sheds the colorful outer part of its bill after the breeding season, leaving a smaller and duller beak. Standing at 15 inches tall, their wingspan is 23 inches. These short wings are adapted for both swimming and flying. In the water, the wings propel them and the large webbed feet are used for maneuvering. 

Like many seabirds, puffins nest underground. They use clawed toes to scratch out nest burrows, digging down 3 to 4 feet. Where soil is scarce, they will nest in rocky slopes on cliff faces. 

The common murre looks a bit like a penguin, but it is actually in the same Alcidae family as puffins. We saw several of these fascinating birds out at sea, but we weren’t close enough for me to get clear pictures of them. The one shown below resides at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. The common murre is almost always seen in the water, except during the breed season. They are not agile in the air. But they make up for it in water, excelling in swimming and diving. Incredibly, the common murre can dive more than 100 meters down in search of fish. 

Adults are 17 inches tall and have a wingspan of 28 inches. Considering their size, they have the most densely packed nesting colonies of any bird. The common murre must get along with their neighbors because the nests are so close that the incubating adults touch on either side. Another interesting fact is that a “nest” is located on a steep cliff but not constructed. It merely consists on one egg on bare rock. One little bobble, and the egg can easily drop off!

November - A Look Ahead

Wow. Only two months left in the year. When did that happen? I swear, it is like I am caught in a time warp. I come up for a swallow of air on weekends and during vacations, and then I dive back down in the abyss of time that stands still. I have no idea where all the minutes and hours flee to! 

I would dearly love to get some Photoshop work done this month. How many photos from our Canadian Maritimes trip do you think I have completed processing? Try two. Yes, you heard right. Two out of over 1500. Silly me, I’m still working on some of the Alaska images! Oh well, I will have plenty to keep me occupied when I eventually resume retirement status next spring. The Wildlife Wonders of Alaska series of posts will continue this month. Eventually, you’ll get to see the Katmai bears too! I’m really smitten with several of them. Yep, there are some hum-dingers yet for you to see.

It should be a rather quiet month. We don’t have any work projects scheduled around the cottage. Hubby and I have a few medical/dental appointments. My right thumb is still stiff and sore, but it’s rapidly getting back to normal. I was so relieved to get the stitches taken out this past Tuesday. Other than celebrating Thanksgiving and starting the very beginning of Christmas festivities, it should be a rather sedate, boring month. Three cheers for boring! Mr. Jim and I could use some rest. 

Ah, now I am off to see about borrowing some of the energizing batteries that Marty uses...

And the winner is...

It’s been a wild workweek for me, and I’ve had no spare time to prepare any blog posts. So this is going to be short and sweet.

Thank you so much for all the good wishes on my 600th post celebration. I have gotten heapings of encouragement from many of you over the past (almost) four years, and it touches my heart. I’m going to keep plugging along on this labor of love for many more years to come! 

Marty spun the digital wheel this morning with a random number generator to determine the winner. And who is going to receive the 600th post giveaway goodies? 

Jann of A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson!

Congratulations, Jann! Oh, aren't you going to have some crafting fun with that glitter?!  I hope that you will like the other prizes too.  I will be contacting you and sending your package right out to you this weekend!