Two college students will soon be stuffing snow from the slopes of Alaska’s highest mountain into Nalgene bottles. Their goal is to see if that… Continue reading
A walk at Fish Creek was productive, as it usually is. The marine side of the point was full of ducks: widgeon, green-wing teal, mallards,… Continue reading
A spate of fine, sunny weather in mid-April was most welcome. Those clear skies, however, meant that the nights were still about crispy, and at… Continue reading
A bit of exploration of the rocky intertidal zone near Shaman Island yielded lots of big sea stars (mostly five-armed), little green sea urchins, and… Continue reading
POKER FLAT RESEARCH RANGE — Under a bluebird sky and perched above a resilient winter snowpack, two sounding rockets point upward, ready to blast through… Continue reading
Flowers influence their visitors in several ways. Visitors may be attracted by floral color, shape, or scents. Flowers offer rewards — nectar and pollen. But… Continue reading
Every late afternoon, a bunch of mallards is in the habit of coming to snack on fallen birdseed that accumulates on my ice-covered pond. And… Continue reading
To showcase our readers’ work to the widest possible audience, Wild Shots have been moved in front of the Juneau Empire’s paywall. Don’t have a… Continue reading
Spring comes, quite reliably, but sometimes reluctantly, by fits and starts. Every year we go through a process of counting the increasing hours of daylight,… Continue reading
In an orchestra, drums are a central feature of the percussion section, in which sounds are made by an object striking another one, creating aerial… Continue reading
February had an extra day this year, a cold and gusty one. Those gusts were enough to knock me off balance and make it temporarily… Continue reading
Local creatures have often been given the names of early explorers and naturalists that visited our northern shores and forests. So (until the names are… Continue reading
The ground is heavily blanketed with snow. The snow berms in my driveway (and, dangerously, at some street intersections too) are still over six feet… Continue reading
Most birds have bills with tips that come together when the jaws close. But not crossbills — hence their common name. The crossed bill tips… Continue reading
To showcase our readers’ work to the widest possible audience, Wild Shots have been moved in front of the Juneau Empire’s paywall. Don’t have a… Continue reading
January brought us two massive snowfalls, piling up about six feet deep, and pretty much shutting down the whole city for a couple of days.… Continue reading
Mallards are omnivores, eating seeds, little invertebrates, an occasional tiny fish, and whatnot. Recent midwinter observations at North Tee Harbor documented them grazing on rockweed,… Continue reading
