Last year I saw ladybugs on occasion but did not pay attention to them very much. This spring I noticed that they were one of the first insects to appear, crawling up and down the birch tree trunks, some while there was still snow on the ground below. Knowing they could not have hatched and…
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Castner Glacier & the road there and back
Last year a friend of mine posted some amazing pictures from a day trip she had made to Castner glacier. She shared photos of exploring an under-glacier ice crystal coated cave/tunnel that was simply amazing. I’ve lived in Alaska since 1993 and was not even aware this glacier exists. The crazy part is that it…
Raven Collages
Last winter I was lucky enough to watch the ravens frolic in the wind as it swirled around one of our large local buildings on several occasions. There were updrafts coming off the front of the building that were strong enough they could hover without having to work and you could tell they were enjoying it. Besides taking…
Ravens, A woodpecker, Chickadees, and the Fox that got away
I went on a short walk today. I headed over to the area by the community gardens with the express purpose of photographing the ravens that hang out there. The sun was up, the skies were blue, and other than the temperature sitting at around -20 F, it was a great day to be outside….
Ice crystals & blue skis at -35 F
It was a cold day, but after a morning sitting in my office for the first time in several weeks I needed to get out. I bundled up and after letting the truck warm up for a few minutes drove the half mile over to the community gardens, parked close to the snow dump entrance…
Post-Apocalyptic Ice formations
A little over a week ago I was walking on the frozen river when I felt my feet crunching through a thin layer of ice down to the solid ice below. The distance between the layers was only an inch or two. I’d walked on it before but on this day I decided to take…
The Four Crystal Types
The weather the past week has been more typical of this time of year with temperatures hovering between +10 and -10 F. These are very good temperatures for crystal growth. The air at these temperatures is often very still and allows some intricate and delicate crystals to grow. Often these crystals are feathery in consistency…
Sun, Birds, & Ice
Today was the first sunny day we’ve had in a while. The sun did not rise till close to 11 am and set again at just before 3 pm so although the sun came up, it never rose far above the horizon. The skies were blue, clear, and the temperature was sitting at around 10…
-20 F Lunchtime walk
The skies started clearing yesterday and the temperature plummeted. I’d been thinking earlier this week how much I’d been missing the sun. We had an exceptionally warm and snowy November with temperatures ten degrees above normal and over ten inches more snow than normal. Our normal winter weather consists of clear skies which is great…