The Big Breakdown – Alaska Elections 2020
THE BIG BREAKDOWN It took two weeks, but at last we have the final numbers in Alaska’s 2020 election! We can officially say that in 2020, Alaska had more voters turn out than in any other election ever. That’s something! It’s also worthy of note that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won in Anchorage, and performed better statewide than any presidential ticket since Lyndon Johnson! That means Democrats were motivated, showed up, and are a larger force in the state than ever before. The final was 42.8 Biden/Harris to 52.8 Trump/Pence. The state we match most closely with is Iowa,…
Return of Bird of the Week: Rufous-vented Chachalaca
Last week we looked at the Rufous-headed Chachalaca. This week we go to the other end of the bird for the critical field mark. Mrs. WC thinks it’s unseemly to name a bird after its naughty bits, but there it is. These photos are more than fourteen years old, taken with an Olympus E-1, Olympus’s first Four-Thirds Digital Single Lens Reflex camera. It was state of the art at the itme, but the lamest, cheapest smart phone camera takes much better photos today. These photos, taken at f5 (wide open), 1/200 and ISO800 with a 50-200mm zoom and a 1.4…
Return of Bird of the Week: Rufous-headed Chachalaca
In WC’s experience, at least, this is the flightiest, the most easily spooked of the Cracids that WC has seen. You can see some motion blur in the head in this photo; even at ISO1600, the fastest WC’s Olympus E-3 could shoot without very serious grain, the shutter speed was only 1/200th of a second at f7.1. The bird’s head came up, it turned away and ran down the branch, disappearing in a tangle of liana vines. There were five birds in the tree; this is the best photo. Sigh. You woudn’t know it from this photo, but this is…
Return of Bird of the Week: Speckled Chachalaca
Another “cha-cha” bird, this time a smaller member of the Chachalacas, the Speckled Chachalaca. Like a lot of the Cracids, it has consistently denied WC a clear photo opportunity. This species has a fairly wide distribution, from Columbia to Bolivia, along the eastern slopes of the Andes. It’s an easy bird to identify, with the characteristic speckles along the throat, expanding to scalloping on the chest. It has a strong, curved bill and a small dewlap in comparison to its cogeneors. It forages in groups of as many as six birds (possibly families?), eating fruits, flower buds and leaves. The…
Return of Bird of the Week: Chaco Chachalaca
Chaco Chachalaca, Panatnal, Brazil One of WC’s birding buddies call this genus of Cracids the “Cha-cha” birds. Chachalacas are cousins to the Currasows and Guans featured earlier. They generally tend to be a bit drabber than those cousins, but there are exceptions. Chaco Chachalacas are famous for their dawn chorus; this bird was vocalizing when WC got this shot. The male’s morning call is described as a “bink, ka chee chaw raw taw, chaw raw taw, chaw raw taw” and is very loud, audible for half a mile. You be the judge:
The Final Shenanigans Before Election Day
DAVID NELSON (Yes, him again) So, hang on just a second… how long HAS David Nelson lived in the district he’s running in? Good question. The rules are very specific – you have to live in your district for a minimum of one year from when you file to run. Nelson filed on February 27, 2020, which means he had to have resided in HD15 since February 27, 2019. On his own Facebook page he says he moved to Muldoon when he got a job on JBER… in December, 2019. Here’s a handy infographic with images from his own…
Return of Bird of the Week: Chestnut-breasted Guan
This is a medium-sized guan, and in contrast to its tree-loving cousins, mostly forages on the ground. It’s the rarest Cracid – the family of Chachalacas, Guans and Currasows – that WC has photographed, and is likely globally threatened. Birds of the World (paywalled), one of the definitive sources of information on the 10,000 species of birds, says, “Comparatively little is known of the species’ natural history.” That’s an understatement. This species prefers the swampy forests and savannah of the Pantanal, the very large, seasonal swamp in eastern Bolivia and western Brazil, although smaller populations are found in central Brazil….
We Found the Worst Candidate in Alaska!
Goodness knows, Alaska is a veritable banquet table of bad Republican entrees this cycle. But we think we may have found the worst – the Jell-O salad with liverwurst of candidates. David Nelson May Be the Worst Candidate Ever Just have to say. This 23-year old recent Florida transplant, who has lived in the district the exact minimum amount of time necessary to run for office, is lacking in just about everything but gall. Let’s start here: Lying about military service The Official Election Pamphlet (OEP) is mailed out by the Division of Elections before every election and includes information…
Return of Bird of the Week: Crested Guan
Last week you met your first Guan, the Black Guan. This week it’s a close cousin, the Crested Guan, another arboreal Cracid. Crested Guan, Costa Rica The Crested Guan is much larger than the Black, and is one of the largest of its genus, coming in at more than two kilograms. The bright red dewlap, red legs, black body, white-scalloped chest feathers and brownish tail make it another very distinctive species. And noisiest: not only does it have a loud, repetitive honking call, when it flies from tree to tree its landing sounds like a train wreck. For a species…
Don Young Touts Phony “Most Effective” Rating
Amid the flurry of political ads this fall – mostly for Alaska’s hotly-contested federal races – one really stands out for anyone who’s more than an election season quarterback. And it is this: “Don Young was recently rated the most effective member of Congress.” Sorry if I made you spit your coffee. So, how does one achieve this coveted “most effective” rating when, like Don Young, one has not even passed one single bill last session, and barely managed to squeak one by in only the House? Good question. Apparently the measuring stick for this phony rating is that you…