The Manchurian Newscaster
I think winter has come. I’m not sure I mean that in a seasonal way, or a “Game Of Thrones” way. The waterline has officially frozen from the pond and the lines have been drained. If my little bay was a snow globe, someone has definitely shaken it. I made friends with an ermine when he was still brown. He’s white now and all I have to do to see him is walk out on the porch and call him. “Herman? Herman?” He stays pretty close and I’m happy to have him for a neighbor. He kills shrews and other…
Bird of the Week – Townsend’s Solitaire
In the winter of 2008, WC and Mrs. WC were lucky enough to have a Townsend’s Solitaire hang around their bird feeders most of the winter. That’s uncommon. Solitaires don’t usually visit feeders, and usually migrate south to the Lower 48 during the winter. A drab, gray bird with a strong white eye-ring and a small buffy patch on its flank, the Solitaire breeds in the mountains, near or even above tree line. The species isn’t well studied in its breeding range. But in spring, the male’s song is a beautiful keynote to the season. Praised as “one of the…
Bird of the Week – Killdeer
Killdeer, a species of plover, are uncommon in Alaska. Famous for the call that gives them their name and their remarkable broken-wing display they use to lead you away from the nest, are North America’s most common plover. Fairbanks is at or near the northernmost edge of their usual range. But Killdeer are present in low numbers year-round in Southeast Alaska. Unlike their smaller cousins, Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer habituate to human activity and are common in parks, golf courses and sports fields. For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather Images.
FREE MOVIE: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
For more than a year Greg Palast and I have been working on a new movie. It’s about the potential theft of the election, you know the one that’s happening TOMORROW. Trump has been running around the country telling people that the election is going to be rigged. Well, I’m sorry to say he’s right. Well… half right. They are trying to rig the election – but NOT the Democrats. It’s Trump’s own border wall advisor – Kris Kobach, the Secretary of State of Kansas. He has a list of millions of voters names that he claims are double voters…
I’m not being racist here, but…
Have you ever noticed right before someone says something racist, they say, “I’m not being racist here, but…”, and then they say something racist. You know what’s coming. A Denali tour pilot wrote something racist online and he’s feeling the brunt of many Alaskans who are tired of racism against Native Alaskans. Among other things, the pilot said “no Natives.” I realize he’s an out of stater, but part of the historical shame that magnified his comments were the “No Dogs, No Natives” signs that used to hang in too many of businesses. One of the commenters on the article…
Bird of the Week – Black Turnstone
The Black Turnstone is the drabber cousin of last week’s Ruddy Turnstone. The Black Turnstone is a North American bird, breeding only on the western shore of Alaska. It winters along the Pacific coast, as far north as Kodiak Island and as far south as Baja California. This little 9.25 inch bird is about as belligerent as a shorebird gets. WC has watched them attack a Long-tailed Jaeger, a bird four times its size, screeching defiance the whole time. Unlike other shorebirds, presented with a threat, even an innocent photographer, a Black Turnstone runs directly at the threat, in a hunched-over…
Sesame Street’s Maria Reads To You About Voting
Maria, aka Sonia Manzano reads the Dr. Seuss One Vote, Two Votes, I Vote, You Vote at the North Carolina Democratic Party Headquarters in Raleigh. She was in Raleigh to support Hillary Clinton and to lead off a day door knocking. A couple of the kids that were in attendance were dressed in their Halloween costumes – Jacob aka Captain America makes an adorable appearance in the video a couple of times. Watch and enjoy. Maria from Sesame Street Reads to Kids at NC Democratic Party HQ from Zach Roberts on Vimeo.
Maria from Sesame Street Speaks out for Hillary
It’s not very often that I geek out while covering an event. I’m a cynical guy so there’s only a handful of people that I photograph that I even try and get a selfie with. Rosario Dawson, who is one of my favorite actors and a political hero of mine, Robert Kennedy Jr. which shouldn’t need an explanation… and now Sonia Manzano who played Maria for decades on Sesame Street. Maria, um, I mean Sonia was in Raleigh, North Carolina at the North Carolina Democratic Party Headquarters speaking to a small audience of kids and their parents. In the video…
The Still Before the Electoral Storm
If you’re paying attention, right before a storm comes, it gets really, really still. The blue herons and kingfishers seem to be the only birds still fishing. I wonder if it’s easier for them to see their tiny silver meals through the surface of the water when it is so quiet. From the porch you can hear whales surfacing and their tails whacking near to the channel. If you wait, you’ll see the wake ripple to the beach from their antics. The air smells like summer died. I have more devil’s club in my flesh than the devil does and…
Talking with Trump Supporters: Terry From Greensboro, North Carolina
Here’s the second of my Trump fans interviews of many more to come. I spoke to Terry from Greensboro, North Carolina at a Mike Pence Rally earlier this week. She’s a very (and I repeat, very) expressive Donald Trump supporter who yelled out to get people to start cheering and get motivated. She tells me that she’s, “not voting a straight ticket, I’m going to vote for who I want to.” Terry, a Trump Voter from Greensboro North Carolina from Zach Roberts on Vimeo.