Bird of the Week – Rough-legged Hawk
Rough-legged Hawks are rare in most of Alaska; they breed on the North Slope along the bluffs along the north-flowing rivers. But they move through eastern Alaska in the spring to get there. The big agricultural fields have a lot of small rodents, which gives the hawks a chance to fuel up before heading further north. This bird is snacking on a Red Squirrel. The hawk takes its name from its heavily feathered legs; most hawks have bare, unfeathered legs. Presumably, it’s an adaptation to the bird’s seasonal arctic habitat. The Rough-legged Hawk is polymorphic, meaning it comes in a…
More Guns, Less Budget in Juneau
Last month a woman took her own life on the steps of the Courthouse in Juneau. The Legislature went on lockdown — after ushering aides and press out of the room. As a result, the Legislature is considering new protocols to keep their own precious souls safe from any gun violence that might befall them while at work. I get it. The Capitol building is a no-gun zone. But what I find truly remarkable is that Sen. Pete Kelly will even go to work in a “gun-free zone.” According to the “logic” in his op-ed on SB 174, the Legislature…
Bird of the Week – Sharp-shinned Hawk
Alaska has two Accipters, the genus of smaller hawks with rounded wings and long tails. This is the smaller of the two, the Sharp-shinned Hawk. This is a juvenile, still counting on mom and dad for meals. In fact, he caught WC’s attention by his incessant squawking, begging for food. WC would guess that he’s pretty near his last delivered meal, that his parents were gong to leave him on his own pretty soon. If he kept that noise going all night he would have wound up a snack for a Great-horned Owl. The Sharp-shined Hawk feeds almost exclusively on smaller…
“Apparently All Y’all Are White”
Last week Rosario Dawson gave, what is so far my favorite speech of the election. She’s one of the founders of Voto Latino and one of my favorite actors working today. So when she took the stage I knew it was going to be interesting. In front of a crowd so yuge that it would make Donald Trump blush, she declared the running meme of the election – that Bernie can’t win states that aren’t ‘white and rural’ complete garbage. After correcting the facts on Bernie’s pro-choice record, Dawson continued with the line “…apparently all y’all are white— that’s crazy….
Trump/Republicans Not Any Different on Abortion
Donald Trump has finally said something I believe. He’s since walked it back, but this week he said he believed women should be punished for abortions. He also said he didn’t think anything should happen to the man who impregnated the woman. That seems fair. Holy hell has torn loose. The anti-abortion and pro-abortion rights people came together in shock that the GOP presidential front runner would say such a thing. The anti-abortion surrogates hit the television circuit to say how much they loved women who consider abortion and would like to “take care of them” not punish them. Sen…
Bird of the Week – Golden Eagle
Raptors get all the publicity. Let’s look at some raptors, then. The Golden Eagle, much less common than the Bald Eagle, is one of North America’s largest raptors. At least in Alaska, Golden Eagles tend to return to the same nest year after year, nesting there from about age 4 to age 20 or older. Each year the breeding pair adds more sticks to the nest, and the cumulative effect can be very impressive, as you can see here. Alaska’s Golden Eagles migrate to South America for the winter. One of the world’s experts on Golden Eagles lives in Fairbanks….
The Bible, False Prophets and Pete Kelly
Happy Easter to all those who celebrate this day. Polls show Alaska is one of the least religious states in the nation. That’s probably true for organized religion but I suspect most Alaskans are pretty spiritual people. It’s hard not to stand at the top of a mountain, in the middle of the wilderness or at the base of a glacier in Alaska and not believe in some higher force. When Sunday morning rolls around and my partner says, “You wanna go to church?” I will be on the boat halibut fishing pretty soon. If I were to generalize, I’d…
Caucus Chaos in Anchorage
Even though it was eight years ago, the chaos of the 2008 Alaska Democratic Caucus was still fresh in my mind as I approached West High School this morning to attend the caucus that would take part in delivering Bernie Sanders a dominating victory in Alaska over Hillary Clinton. Early signs of trouble arose as I drove north past Romig Middle School, with lines of cars pouring in there to park as I headed naively north in the hopes of finding parking closer to the caucus site. We ended up parking about five blocks away from the school, arriving at…
Bird of the Week – Barn Swallow
Barn Swallows are uncommon in Interior and Southcentral Alaska, but pretty easy to find in Southeastern. WC got this photo near the Yakutat Airport. For many years, WC chased steelhead trout along the Situk River, outside of Yakutat. For obvious reasons, WC carried only a pocket camera while fishing, so image quality isn’t great here. The Barn Swallow is the most widely distributed and abundant swallow in the world. It breeds throughout most of North America, Europe, and Asia and winters in Central and South America, southern Spain, Morocco, Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, India, Indochina, Malaysia, and Australia….
Bird of the Week – Bank Swallow
Yep, another swallow. This one more correctly named, because uniquely among Alaska swallows, it excavates a nesting cavity in a dirt bank. The Bank Swallow’s scientific name – Riparia riparia – neatly describes its preference for nesting in the lakeside and streamside (riparian) banks and bluffs of lakes, rivers and streams. This is a highly social land-bird with a Holarctic (Eastern and Western Hemispheres) breeding distribution. It nests in colonies ranging from 10 to almost 2,000 active nests. One of only a few passerines with an almost cosmopolitan distribution, it is one of the most widely distributed swallows in the world. In the Old World,…