Capitol Couches Could Be Killing You
I rarely like to print press releases but the title of this one was too good. Sent by Senator Wielechowski’s office through the Senate Democrats e-mail list the press release below discusses the pervasiveness of a certain hazardous chemical that might be in children’s foam products and Juneau’s Capitol buildings couches. – Zach Capitol Couches Could Be Killing You Sen. Wielechowski Announces Results of Testing of Couches in the Capitol Building for Toxic Chemicals Senate Bill 111, legislation proposed by Senator Bill Wielechowski (D-Anchorage) and recently moved to the Senate Judiciary Committee, would limit the amount of a certain category of harmful…
Bird of the Week – Tree Swallow
Another seriously mis-named species, WC regrets to report. Despite the name, the Tree Swallow has little to do with trees and everything to do with open fields, meadows and swamps. Like its fellow Swallows, it’s an insectivore, a bug eater. Specifically flying bugs. And in Alaska, that means gnats and mosquitoes. Like Cliff Swallows, these birds are living mosquito magnets. A long term Tree Swallow study is underway at Creamer’s Refuge in Fairbanks. Conducted by school children under the supervision of ornithologists, they study the reproductive success of the species. Some of the kids who have worked on this project…
Shannyn Moore: Republicans Go From Clown Car to Carnival Freak Show
Reprinted from Alaska Dispatch News I need a serenity prayer to recite before these presidential candidate debates. “God grant me the serenity to accept that politics in my country is now about spray tans, small hands, penises, outspoken racism and how the will of the people can be thwarted come convention time.” (Apologies to Reinhold Niebuhr.) Yes, I’m talking about you, Republicans. The Democratic debates have been relatively boring, what with all that talk about economic and foreign policy, but you Republicans are awesome entertainment, better than a carnival freak show. Chris Christie, the bridge saboteur and failed presidential candidate, joined…
Bird of the Week – Cliff Swallow
Sure, they’re a messy nuisance if they build their mud daub nests under your eaves, but these are mosquito-eating machines. A Cliff Swallow foraging for its young eats about 60 bugs per hour, through all daylight hours. Both parents forage, so that’s 2 birds x 60 bugs per hour x 20 daylight hours equals 2,400 bugs a day, mostly mosquitoes and flies. The hatching of their eggs is timed for peak bug season, wherever they nest. So for a month or so, a Cliff Swallow pair are biological mosquito magnets. Except, of course, that these mosquito magnets cost us nothing…
Bird of the Week – Mountain Bluebird
Okay, Enough ducks already. Let’s look at a thrush. WC isn’t sure Mountain Bluebirds breed in Alaska every year; they seem to come and go. But it sure is a treat when you find one. Birds of North America says, The Mountain Bluebird is one of the most sublime of all North American passerines. Like other North American bluebirds, it is beautiful, bold, and charismatic, with a dedicated human following. Indeed, many people view bluebirds as emblematic species representing all that is good in the world. The truth is a little less bluebird-like. The species thrives in areas of human…
The Pete Kelly Lisa Murkowski Surreality Show
State Sen. Pete Kelly, a Republican from Fairbanks, has introduced a bill to allow University of Alaska students to carry guns on campuses and into dorms. That’s public policy even more harebrained than putting pregnancy tests into bar bathrooms. Did Pete go to college? Did he live in a dorm? If so, he apparently didn’t notice that dorms aren’t exactly hothouses of good judgment. Adding firearms just increases the opportunity for adolescent bad judgment to become truly tragic. I sure wouldn’t send my kid to live in a dorm populated with gun-toting teenagers. I haven’t figured out what Kelly does…
Bird of the Week – Green-winged Teal
There sure are a lot of ducks… Here’s another dabbler species, pretty common in Alaska. The Green-winged Teal is North America’s smallest dabbling duck. Unlike many of North America’s other dabblers, this one does not breed extensively in the prairie pothole region of the central part of the continent. Instead it’s most abundant during summer breeding season in river deltas and wetlands of the boreal forest in Canada and Alaska. This Teal nests in dense cover, often in shrubs or sedges. While it is heavily hunted, because its breeding areas are far from human activity, its numbers have remained high and may even…
Max Gruenberg (1943 -2016) – Memorial in Pictures
Alaska lost Rep. Max Gruenberg (D-Anchorage) last week. He was remembered by legislators on both sides of the aisle. Jeanne Devon (former editor of The Mudflats) took these excellent shots in her new job as Press Secretary for the Alaska Senate Democrats. You can watch the moving tribute to Representative Gruenberg at 360North.
Bird of the Week – Ring-necked Duck
Sometimes WC thinks that birds are deliberately named in a way to confuse birders. This is one of the reasons. WC means, what the heck? Yes, there is an extremely faint, rarely visible ring around the bird’s neck. But thre’s a blinding white, extremely obvious white ring around the bill. Why not Ring-Billed Duck? Sigh. This is an uncommon duck in Interior Alaska; the range maps doesn’t even show the species in the state. But it is, and they do breed here. Despite appearances, this is a diving duck, not a dabbler like a Mallard. The gold eye, double white…
Bird of the Week – Blue-winged Teal
WC and Mrs. WC used to participate in a Birdathon for Arctic Audubon and the late Alaska Bird Observatory. It’s a fundraiser: birders get pledges for the number of species they will see in 24 hours, and then try to find as many species as they can. The more pledges and the more species, the greater the funds raised. One year, after 23.95 hours of non-stop birding, completely exhausted, we were standing at a very swampy pond in the Goldstream Valley, wondering how we would get another species. And, at the last possible minute, a Blue-winged Teal flew in. WC…