Tag: Bird Watching
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Denali, Susitna River, and Fairbanks

While it is warming up fast, much of interior Alaska’s infrastructure is closed for another month or more. The George Parks Highway is open pavement, but most rest areas and overlooks to the side of the road haven’t been cleared. Many people before us had trudged thru the snow to this viewpoint of the Alaska…
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Two Days in Palmer

While C was in training, I explored the Palmer area. He joined me on a trip to Reflections Lake after work today. Altogether, I saw 9 Moose, 4 Sandhill Cranes, 3 Bald Eagles, 2 Northern Harriers, 2 Merganser couples, 2 Trumpeter Swan couples, and a Ruffed Grouse. Palmer has an excellent visitor center/museum, though it…
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Denali and Wildlife, Healy Week One 2024

We have been back in Healy one week and have gone into Denali as far as Mountain Vista 3 times. We saw The Mountain (and lots of beautiful lesser mountains). Yesterday we watched a mostly white Ptarmagin walk along a gravel bar, and saw a moose grazing then lie down. Today we saw fresh tracks…
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Day 10, Arrived in Healy April 13

The forecast and rumors led us to believe we would have bad weather and sketchy roads today, but once again our luck held. While we woke to a dusting of new snow and had a few flurries on the drive, the roads were great until the last 2 miles and passable right to our door.…
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Day 9, Delta Junction, Alaska

We have arrived in Alaska and only have 205 miles left to finish the drive to Healy. We saw 24 Dall Sheep in their usual spot near Destruction Bay. Once (2022?) we saw them near the highway, but today they were dots unless we zoomed in with binoculars or camera. We saw a Northern Harrier…
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Day 8, Lynx and Liard Hot Springs
Today we drove from Toad River in the Canadian Rockies to Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory. It was a long day, leaving at 7:45 am and arriving at 8:50 pm. We had such great weather that we pushed on significantly further than our original plan. Just a little over 600 miles left to Healy!…
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Day 7, Wildlife and Mountains

Today we drove from Fort St John to Toad River Lodge. All of our miles were within British Columbia, which is 1.5 times the size of Texas. We crossed the highest point on the Alcan (in the Canadian Rockies). In order today, we saw 4 mule deer, 1 marmot or groundhog (their ranges overlap here),…
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Day Four, 2 States and 6 Pronghorn
Today we left North Dakota and spent most of the day driving north in Saskatchewan (one state and one province). We saw hundreds of ducks and geese, especially in the Des Lacs NWR. We also saw 6 pronghorn antelope before entering Canada. The dots below are ducks and geese. The lakes were mostly frozen with…
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Day Three, 3 States and Many Snow Geese
Yesterday we finished Wisconsin, drove across Minnesota, and ended our day in Minot, North Dakota. I hoped we would encounter Spring Migration, and we were thrilled to see a flock of about 80 Snow Geese. In the foreground of the photo, there is a pair of Canada Geese. We have been seeing couples in many…
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Retirement
Plans for most days in the next month: Garden/Forage Bird Watching Exercise Prep and eat healthy food Read Other plans, not necessarily every day: Travel planning and prep Family, friends, church Various computer chores, about 2 hours per day so it doesn’t build up. No more than 4 hours in a day!!! Games on my…
