Nature

(Illustration by Stephanie Harold)

Woven Peoples and Place: Seals, science and sustenance

Xunaa (Hoonah) necropsy involves hunters and students

 

A red-winged blackbird male shows off his colorful “epaulets.” (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Spring comes slowly

February ground to a halt and March slowly geared up. Days were getting longer, but the tedious pseudo-spring weather prevailed — no longer really winter… Continue reading

 

A male peacock showing off its colors. (Jatin Sindhu / CC BY-SA 4.0)

On the Trails: Three observations to ponder

While we are waiting (?patiently?) for spring to really get rolling, here are a few things to think about. • Sexual dimorphism in bird plumage:… Continue reading

 

A museum visitor mimics pterosaurs flight in the age of the dinosaurs. (Tim Evanson / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)

On the Trails: Wings aloft!

When vertebrates moved onto land, long ago, some of them eventually became airborne, way after the insects did. There are three groups of vertebrates that… Continue reading

A museum visitor mimics pterosaurs flight in the age of the dinosaurs. (Tim Evanson / Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license)
At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China, a giant panda held a bamboo snack with the help of a thumblike digit. (Sharon Fisher / The New York Times)

On the Trails: Little bones

We’re all familiar with the major bones of a human body, although many folks don’t know their official names. Far less well-known are some small… Continue reading

At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China, a giant panda held a bamboo snack with the help of a thumblike digit. (Sharon Fisher / The New York Times)
Aerial photo of the Juneau airport and newly formed dike around the perimeter in about 1956. Note the absence of any trees and the fully inundated area. (Courtesy Juneau International Airport, photographer unknown).

The path to Juneau’s heart: The Airport Dike Trail

Created as emergency access road for airport, it’s now a popular area for dog walking and birdwatching.

Aerial photo of the Juneau airport and newly formed dike around the perimeter in about 1956. Note the absence of any trees and the fully inundated area. (Courtesy Juneau International Airport, photographer unknown).
This boreal owl has captured a vole. (Photo by Linda Shaw)

On the Trails: Three small owls

We have three small owls that share a lot of characteristics. They are the boreal owl (Aegolius funereus) of North America and Eurasia, known as… Continue reading

This boreal owl has captured a vole. (Photo by Linda Shaw)
Little beetles crawl over a skunk cabbage inflorescence. (Photo by Mary F. Willson)

On The Trails: Beetle-mania

By Mary F. Willson

Little beetles crawl over a skunk cabbage inflorescence. (Photo by Mary F. Willson)
Twigs of red huckleberry are green all year, but brighter in summer than winter. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Tree bark

The center of a tree or shrub stem (from roots to trunk, branches, and twigs) is woody, composed of xylem cells that conduct water from… Continue reading

Twigs of red huckleberry are green all year, but brighter in summer than winter. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Jessica Larsen of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute describes her research on Alaska’s Mount Churchill at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Dec. 9, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: The threat within an Alaska mountain

Mount Churchill stands in a white corner of the Alaska map, deceptive in its cold, windblown silence. At least twice in the last few thousand… Continue reading

Jessica Larsen of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute describes her research on Alaska’s Mount Churchill at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Dec. 9, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
An adult double-crested cormorant flies low. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Some January observations

One day, late in January, a friend and I watched two Steller sea lions swimming near Pt. Louisa. One of them held a front flipper… Continue reading

An adult double-crested cormorant flies low. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
The author’s hopper and stonefly tying days are behind him. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Tie one on

As a kid I threw spinners and spoons, and didn’t bother to learn the impact of bugs in a salmon or trout’s life. No. 5… Continue reading

The author’s hopper and stonefly tying days are behind him. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
A male northern flicker shows his red mustache mark, identifying him as the red-shafted type. (Photo by Detlef Buettner)

On the Trails: Northern flickers visit Juneau

There are over a dozen species of flicker, living in various parts of the Americas. The species we see here is call the northern flicker.… Continue reading

A male northern flicker shows his red mustache mark, identifying him as the red-shafted type. (Photo by Detlef Buettner)
The Dalton Highway winds through the Jim River and Prospect Creek valleys in northern Alaska, where an official thermometer registered Alaska’s all-time low of minus 80 degrees F on Jan. 23, 1971. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Dangerous cold across the land

In late January 2025, meteorologists from the National Weather Service Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland, are predicting “dangerously cold temperatures and wind chill values… Continue reading

The Dalton Highway winds through the Jim River and Prospect Creek valleys in northern Alaska, where an official thermometer registered Alaska’s all-time low of minus 80 degrees F on Jan. 23, 1971. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Naturalists try to identify a small plant — answering the “Who” question, with others to follow. (Photo by Mary Anne Slemmons)

On the Trails: Naturalists ask many questions

Curious naturalists can ask different kinds of questions about what we see. The most basic kinds consist of the usual, descriptive Who/What/When/Where/How? For instance, some… Continue reading

Naturalists try to identify a small plant — answering the “Who” question, with others to follow. (Photo by Mary Anne Slemmons)
Sputnik 1 orbits Earth in this artist’s rendition by Gregory Todd. (Creative Commons)

Alaska Science Forum: The first satellite’s Alaska connection

The first satellite’s Alaska connection On any clear, dark night you can see them, gliding through the sky and reflecting sunlight from the other side… Continue reading

Sputnik 1 orbits Earth in this artist’s rendition by Gregory Todd. (Creative Commons)
A female acorn woodpecker. (Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 4.0)

On the Trails: Making hay and storing food

Many animals store food in preparation for winter or just to be eaten later. Bears and wolves are among those that stash prey remains, with… Continue reading

A female acorn woodpecker. (Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 4.0)
Boaters paddle Kenai Fjords National Park in summer 2024. The park was created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Jimmy Carter, the man who preserved Alaska

Right about now, within a shrub in southern Texas, a ruby-crowned kinglet twitches to face northward. In a few months, guided by forces neither the… Continue reading

Boaters paddle Kenai Fjords National Park in summer 2024. The park was created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Licorice ferns often grow on tree trunks and branches. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Licorice ferns

The understory of our forests is graced with lots of ferns in a variety of shapes and sizes. Ferns (along with trees and wildflowers) are… Continue reading

Licorice ferns often grow on tree trunks and branches. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
The author’s wife grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts where she had more classmates go to Harvard than the author had classmates total. But that doesn’t mean her upbringing was better. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Different, not better or worse

A seven-foot minuteman stands on a rock base where Massachusetts Avenue splits at the end of Lexington’s main drag. He was unveiled in 1900 to… Continue reading

The author’s wife grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts where she had more classmates go to Harvard than the author had classmates total. But that doesn’t mean her upbringing was better. (Photo by Jeff Lund)