Category: Birds

A morning with a bald eagle family

It’s tough to beat spending time with a family of 4 bald eagles to start the day off right, and yesterday, that’s what Monty and I did. The trail is high and there’s some exposure that certainly makes having a full pot of coffee in your belly seem like...
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A day of Spring, a day of Winter

This can be a frustrating time of year for anyone who enjoys being outside. The sun is doing a good job of warming the earth up to welcome life back in a grand way, but Father Winter still pops back for a visit. On Wednesday, I took Monty for...
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Boat tour into Kenai Fjords National Park

I’m now 2 days behind on my posts, so I’m going to post these photos with little commentary. On Tuesday we took a 6-hour boat tour into Kenai Fjords National Park, and these photos, posted in the order they were shot, show some of the highlights of the day....
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The Spruce Grouse think that it’s Spring

We had some interesting visitors on Saturday – a pair of spruce grouse (Falcipennis canadensis) who were certain that Spring has arrived. The male put on quite a performance over a period of about half an hour. He certainly had the eye of the female. Nice work, and good...
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A Yukon natural history day

I spent Friday at a Natural History and Nature Interpretation workshop. Offered to Yukon guides by the Wilderness Tourism Association of the Yukon, its purpose was to increase the level of knowledge of people who already have a solid base and to help them interpret the Yukon’s wildlife and...
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Early-season swan hunting in the Yukon

We’ve been having above-average warm weather for weeks now, and I estimate that Spring is about 3 weeks ahead of schedule. Reports that some swans even spent the winter in the Whitehorse area prompted us to go on a tour of the main swan viewing spots yesterday. The return...
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Natural wonders in our back yard – oolichan

When you’re surrounded by wilderness, every day can be a surprise. Yesterday we had planned a day of spectacular scenery, but in addition to that we got a look at just how incredibly rich the natural world around us is. The weather forecast has been changing often lately, but...
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A visit to Sitka, with a great marine wildlife tour

Yesterday was our ship’s day in Sitka, our favourite port. It was unfortunately a very short visit, from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm – we’d love to spend 12 hours there (or a week!). I awoke to fog and a light rain, with the Zaandam off to starboard. This...
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Watching the world come alive

What a glorious time of year this is. Despite the cool temps and the wet, it’s wonderful to watch the world sprouting in various ways. Sometimes it’s a nuisance – with the lodgepole pines letting loose clouds of pollen the past few days, everything from cars to patio furniture...
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Bargain bald eagles next week!!

Eagles dive-bombing each other along the Chilkat Rver at at Haines, Alaska No, you can’t buy bald eagles cheaply next week, but with the US dollar going for 97.3 Canadian cents at banks today, getting to Haines, Alaska, to see the incredible Alaska Bald Eagle Festival is a bargain....
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