Tag: Alaska Wildlife

• Puffins, Otters and Volcanoes

  

  Our third day of the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival we took one of the festival boat trips.  The boat enabled us to cover more of the bay than our kayak trip the previous day. We saw so many birds and otters!  Plus, my arms were able to recover from kayaking.  I’m glad we did both…

  Melissa Rudacille

  May 14, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Camping in Alaska, travel

  Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, Homer Spit, Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, Migration, Sea Otters

• Whales, Otters, and Birds

  

  May 5 we headed south to Turnagain Arm, hoping to see whales chasing hooligan (small fish that spawn in May).  That night, as well as May 6, we saw lots of people, gulls, and bald eagles catching hooligan, but no luck with the whales. May 7 we got up early and headed to Seward to …

  Melissa Rudacille

  May 9, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, travel

  Alaska Sealife Center, Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, fishing, Homer Spit, Kachemak Bay Adventures, Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival, Sea Otters

• Grizzly,  Porcupine,  Ice Jam, and more

  

  Today, we got a relatively early start to check out a Nenana River Ice Jam, then drive to Teklanika in Denali National Park. We have spent at least 4 hours at a Nenana River ice jam in the past 2 days.  We are fascinated watching the dynamic process, with newly arrived ice crashing into the…

  Melissa Rudacille

  May 2, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, break-up, Caribou, Denali National Park, Grizzly Bear, Harlequin ducks on Savage River, moose photos, Teklanika River

• 27 Moose and Denali Alpenglow

  

  We had a record moose day yesterday!  We have never seen so many in one day.   Our first moose was on Stampede Road just 15 minutes after leaving the house, and the last was on our road, 5 minutes from home. The other 25 moose were all in Denali National Park.  Eleven were in sight…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 22, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Wildlife

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Denali, Denali National Park, moose photos, Moose with white hind legs

• Tracks in the Snow

  

  We have a new friend this year.  It’s nice to watch a snowshoe hare hop about first thing in the morning while one relieves oneself in the privy. This morning it was snowing when I got up and the dusting of fresh snow added interest to the tracks on my walk. Notice the fresh snow…

  Melissa Rudacille

  April 18, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, dry cabin, Life in Alaska, Wildlife

  Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, Denali National Park, Ptarmigan, raised footprints in snow

• Alaska Travel

  

  As we are packing to return to Alaska, I am also planning our 2025 budget.  It is much easier to anticipate what we might spend now that we are on our fourth season!  Last year, I tracked the cost of all our mini-vacations, from 3 to 10 days. It cost us $2630 to drive our…

  Melissa Rudacille

  March 29, 2025

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, travel, Travel to and from Alaska

  alaska, Alaska Wildlife, Arctic, aurora borealis, Copper River Highway, Cordova, cost per day, Dalton Highway, Denali Highway, Denali National Park, fishing, Grizzly Bear, Hatcher Pass, Russian River, Tangle Lakes, travel

• Whittier and Cordova, a few highlights

  

  This ten day trip deserves several posts.  We loved both Alaskan towns and definitely want to go back.  However,  packing isn’t leaving me much time to write. With snow arriving in Healy, we want to head south soon!  On day three, we left Whittier on the M/V Aurora (Alaska Ferry), for a 12 hour boat…

  Melissa Rudacille

  September 20, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, Garden/Plants

  Alaska Ferry, Alaska Marine Highway, Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, aurora borealis, coho salmon, Copper River Highway, Cordova, fishing, foraging, Northern lights, Whittier

• Labor Day Weekend, Coho IV, 2024

  

  Fall is here with fresh snow on the mountains and fall color everywhere.   We spent 4 nights fishing for chum and camping at Sheep Creek Slough.  Four co-workers joined us, and all caught at least one fish. We got on the road early on Saturday to pick up a friend at the airport.   Thanks to…

  Melissa Rudacille

  September 6, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska

  Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, coho salmon, Denali National Park, fishing, Grizzly Bear, Sandhill Cranes

• Bore Tide, Puffins, and Coho III

  

  Seven nights:  Seward,  Swanson River,  and Sheep Creek Slough Our second attempt to see the Turnagain Arm bore tide was spectacularly successful.   The August 21 wave was much bigger than July 25 (https://roaming-nature.com/2024/07/27/bore-tide-and-bears-sockeye-ii-2024/) This time we could see the wave even before Beluga Point!  As we were pulling the trailer we didn’t have the flexibility…

  Melissa Rudacille

  August 30, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska, Wildlife

  Alaska Sealife Center, Alaska Wildlife, bore tide, fishing, running water, Trumpeter Swans

• 8 Days Coho Count and Talkeetna

  

  We spent 6 days camping, canoeing, and fishing in the rain. We saw 6 moose, a river otter, a beaver, and 3 Sandhill Cranes.  We watched a Merganser mother with her 11 (!) ducklings scavenging and fishing around us.  We also watched the Olympics on C’s phone during a break in the rain. On our last…

  Melissa Rudacille

  August 15, 2024

  Alaska Activities, Alaska Wildlife, Birds, Camping in Alaska, Fishing in Alaska

  Alaska weather, Alaska Wildlife, Bird Watching, coho salmon, Denali National Park, fishing, Sandhill Cranes