Winter Break Films – Five for Five
Note from Zach – Long ago, before I started writing for The Mudflats, I worked at a video called Emerald City Video. Outside of the normal drudgery of any retail job, it was pretty cool. The store had a better than Netflix back catalog and most of the employees had seen them all, for a film school dropout it was Heaven. One of my good friends Russ Burlingame is starting a podcast celebrating the store and the back catalogue – the films that you might only catch on TBS ‘edited for TV’ at 2am. Here’s a great list of films…
Bird of the Week – Emperor Goose
We’ll celebrate the holidays with a Christmas Goose, specifically Emperor Geese. The handsome Emperor Goose nests in the coastal salt marsh habitats of arctic and sub-arctic Alaska and Russia and winters primarily on coastal beaches along ice-free areas of the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island. Locally known as the “Beach Goose” from its winter habit of roosting and feeding near the water’s edge, the diet of this species consists largely of clams, mussels, and algae when wintering and staging in marine and estuarine habitats. When WC was in the Yukon Delta NWR photographing birds, the spring…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN – Journalist who broke Fairbanks Four case unsatisfied after their release The letters seemed outlandish. But Brian O’Donoghue went to the courthouse to check them out, part of his job in 2000 as the opinion page editor at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. What he found wouldn’t let him go: the story of four young men convicted of murder on flimsy evidence. On Thursday, their convictions were vacated and the Fairbanks Four were finally released after 18 years in prison. O’Donoghue joined the celebration but said the job’s not done. Juneau Empire – This is what it takes to get into…
Bird of the Week – Common Loon
The Common Loon is easily the best known of North America’s loon species. The male’s haunting call is a signature sound of lake country. It breeds in Alaska, Canada and the northern edge of the Lower 48. It winters along the in-shore coastline of the Atlantic and Pacific. The populations seem to be stable, but there is real concern that mining activity and tar sands mining are contaminating the water bodies that Common Loons rely upon for nesting, feeding and migration. Because Common Loons are top tier predators in their habitats, they suffer from concentrations of lead and mercury. When you approach…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska MSN – Powerful Alaska Storm to Rival Strongest on Record A potent storm that will cross the Aleutian Islands of Alaska this weekend could become the strongest recorded storm to impact the region. Audubon – The Inside Story of Shell’s Arctic Assault A months-long investigation shows how the energy giant pressured the Interior Department during the company’s gung-ho Arctic push—and got most of what it wanted (except oil). ADN – Fairbanks couple’s Internet-controlled Christmas lights are back (even I need some light hearted news now and then) For six years, Ken and Rebecca-Ellen Woods have set up Christmas lights at their home in…
Bird of the Week – Yellow-billed Loon
The Yellow-billed Loon is the largest loon, and likely the rarest in Alaska. This species’ bill is big, much larger than its cousin’s, the Common Loon. The bill isn’t always yellow; as shown here is is sometime more an ivory color. The Yellow-billed breeds on the Arctic Coast and on the north shores of the Seward Peninsula. It winters off the coast of Alaska, sometimes in large rafts of hundreds or even thousands of birds. In winter plumage, it can be very difficult to tell Yellow-billed Loons from Common Loons. The bill is your best guide, but at a distance…
The Mudflats Holiday Guide
The chaos of Black Friday has passed. The quiet insanity of Cyber Monday has gone by without incident. Now we are officially into the Holiday season, so start looking for the perfect tree, light the first candle on that Menorah and check out this short list of must have Alaska gifts. Some of them are tax deductible, some of them benefit us at the Mudflats but all of them one way or another support Alaska. 1) For just $50 you can get our favorite hoodie and a membership to Cook Inletkeeper! It’s a fantastic gift and includes shipping to where ever you…
Bird of the Week – Red-Throated Loon
The smallest and slenderest of Alaska’s loons, in breeding plumage the Red-throated Loon is a beautiful bird. This species is much better than other loons at taking off, needing a shorter distance. So it is sometimes found breeding on surprisingly small ponds. It breeds inland and on the Arctic Bering Coasts. It winters down the coast in in-shore waters, as far south as southern California. The species is in decline in Alaska, and science doesn’t yet know why. WC has found them to be uncommon breeders on alpine lakes, but always a treat to find. Camera geek stuff: f7.1, 1/320, ISO400….
Bird of the Week – Eurasian Collared-Dove
WC has received complaints that flycatchers are boring, and that readers want to see more unusual birds. All right. How about a Eurasian Collared-Dove at Maclaren River on the Denali Highway? If you look at a range map for this species, you’ll see that officially they barely make it into Canada. Yet this Marco Polo among doves turned up in the mountains of interior Alaska. Here it is picking through straw along the road from a dog musher’s winter camping spot. The species was introduced in the Western Hemisphere in the Bahamas in the 1970s, and has explosively expanded its range to…
Photos: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
For the first time in my weird career as a photojournalist I covered the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. My photographer friends and colleagues all sighed and said that they were thankful that they didn’t have to do it. They were weirded out a bit more when I said I had volunteered for the gig. So when I woke up at 7am (realistically a bit too late) I jumped on the subway uptown with a bit of apprehension and exhaustion, I had been covering a protest until about 10pm the night before. After talking my way into the gated off parade…