These are Brants . I forget what they are called in Inupiaq.
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Sunday, May 31, 2009
Aahaaliq
Known in english as Old Squaw, or the more politically correct name of Long Tailed Duck duck. The Inupiaq name for these ducks is Aahaaliq, and that is exactly how they sound Uh-haaaaaaa-lik.
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Things to See in Anchorage
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Traffic!
Butthead in a big bus with no blinker....in traffic!
Lotsa frikkin' traffic!
Kids selling an oosik on the corner of a major intersection.
Exciting stuff, I know.
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Traffic!
Butthead in a big bus with no blinker....in traffic!
Lotsa frikkin' traffic!
Kids selling an oosik on the corner of a major intersection.
Exciting stuff, I know.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Commute
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I had to fly to the village of Notak yesterday for work. Here are a few photos from my "commute" taken through the dirty window of a Piper Navajo.
The mouth of the Noatak River where it empties into Kotzebue Sound.
Hugo Mountain.
In the lower part of this photo you can see Paul's Slough.
Lower Noatak canyon.
Again.
The confluence of the Noatak and Aggie (Agasheshok) Rivers.
The Village of Noatak.
I am leaving for Anchorage this morning and will be there til Saturday evening. I will try and post while I am down there. I have some Kotzebue stuff to post and try and post some Anchorage stuff too.
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I had to fly to the village of Notak yesterday for work. Here are a few photos from my "commute" taken through the dirty window of a Piper Navajo.
The mouth of the Noatak River where it empties into Kotzebue Sound.
Hugo Mountain.
In the lower part of this photo you can see Paul's Slough.
Lower Noatak canyon.
Again.
The confluence of the Noatak and Aggie (Agasheshok) Rivers.
The Village of Noatak.
I am leaving for Anchorage this morning and will be there til Saturday evening. I will try and post while I am down there. I have some Kotzebue stuff to post and try and post some Anchorage stuff too.
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Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Bum Bum Bumblebee
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I took these photos on Wednesday. This was my first bee of the spring.
I saw my first mosquito the day before. I didn't take it's picture...I squished it.
Willow blossoms are the earliest form of food for bees here in the arctic. As soon as they are available they emerge from their winter hibernation to feed.
The bees are not the only ones feeding on the willows. The flies like it too.
Bumblebees in the arctic are larger and hairier than their more southern relatives. Their size can be kinda freaky if you are scared of bees.
But arctic bees are also rather peaceful. They don't get scared when you go near you, and they don't try to sting....at least they have never tried to sting me.
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I took these photos on Wednesday. This was my first bee of the spring.
I saw my first mosquito the day before. I didn't take it's picture...I squished it.
Willow blossoms are the earliest form of food for bees here in the arctic. As soon as they are available they emerge from their winter hibernation to feed.
The bees are not the only ones feeding on the willows. The flies like it too.
Bumblebees in the arctic are larger and hairier than their more southern relatives. Their size can be kinda freaky if you are scared of bees.
But arctic bees are also rather peaceful. They don't get scared when you go near you, and they don't try to sting....at least they have never tried to sting me.
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
Short Eared Owl
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This morning, at about awful o'clock, my dog decided that she needed to go out. When I brought her outside the sky was a beautiful red and pink with the rising sun. I figured that since I was up anyway I should take a drive and see if I could get some nice photos of the sunrise. Unfortunately, by the time I got outside of town it wasn't quite so dramatic so I turned around and headed home.
On the way back I saw this fella.
He was flying low looking for squirrels.
I pulled over and turned off my truck to see if he would land.
And he did, not too far away. He was a bold little fella.
I am not much of a birder, but I and pretty sure that he is Short Eared Owl, just like the one I saw last summer.
According to Wikapedia (which we all know is the infallible source of all truth and wisdom,)the Short Eared Owl is "a medium-sized owl averaging 34–43 cm (13 to 17 inches) in length and weighing 206–475 grams (11 to 13 ounces)."
"The Short-eared Owl occurs on all continents except Antarctica and Australia; thus it has one of the largest distributions of any bird."
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This morning, at about awful o'clock, my dog decided that she needed to go out. When I brought her outside the sky was a beautiful red and pink with the rising sun. I figured that since I was up anyway I should take a drive and see if I could get some nice photos of the sunrise. Unfortunately, by the time I got outside of town it wasn't quite so dramatic so I turned around and headed home.
On the way back I saw this fella.
He was flying low looking for squirrels.
I pulled over and turned off my truck to see if he would land.
And he did, not too far away. He was a bold little fella.
I am not much of a birder, but I and pretty sure that he is Short Eared Owl, just like the one I saw last summer.
According to Wikapedia (which we all know is the infallible source of all truth and wisdom,)the Short Eared Owl is "a medium-sized owl averaging 34–43 cm (13 to 17 inches) in length and weighing 206–475 grams (11 to 13 ounces)."
"The Short-eared Owl occurs on all continents except Antarctica and Australia; thus it has one of the largest distributions of any bird."
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Noatak River
Taken 5/20/09. Obviously I didn't take this photo since you can't get there from here right now. I got connections.
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Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Big Bird
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I received a few phone calls this afternoon about a big bird down on the ice off of Front Street.
People thought it was a hawk or an eagle and they wanted me to go take some photos. I headed down to the ice and I was surprised that he was still out there.
He was just hanging out pissing off the seagulls and looking at that dog.
And then the dog fell through the ice.
The bird was probably thinking "Stupid dog".
And then the dog made it out.
It was attracting quite a bit of attention from people on the street.
I had the lens zoomed to 200mm and then I cropped the photos as closely as possible so that it would be easier to see what kind of bird it is.
Unfortunately he was a bit outside my range so the photos aren't that great.
At first, looking at the photo on the lcd screen of my camera, I thought that it was a Rough Legged Hawk.
The coloring was kinda similar and he really didn't look all that big at first. I showed the lcd display to one of the ladies at the Park Service and she thought hawk too.
Now that I have looked at the photos more closely on the computer I don't really think that he looks so much like a Rough Legged Hawk.
His beak and his feet are huge.
I'm thinking more along the lines of a juvenile Bald Eagle.
I have seen several adult Bald Eagles along the Noatak River, one even as far down river as Paul's Slough, but I have never seen one in town.
So anyone (KC???), who knows raptors better than I do can chime in here and let us know if this was a juvenile Bald Eagle.
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I received a few phone calls this afternoon about a big bird down on the ice off of Front Street.
People thought it was a hawk or an eagle and they wanted me to go take some photos. I headed down to the ice and I was surprised that he was still out there.
He was just hanging out pissing off the seagulls and looking at that dog.
And then the dog fell through the ice.
The bird was probably thinking "Stupid dog".
And then the dog made it out.
It was attracting quite a bit of attention from people on the street.
I had the lens zoomed to 200mm and then I cropped the photos as closely as possible so that it would be easier to see what kind of bird it is.
Unfortunately he was a bit outside my range so the photos aren't that great.
At first, looking at the photo on the lcd screen of my camera, I thought that it was a Rough Legged Hawk.
The coloring was kinda similar and he really didn't look all that big at first. I showed the lcd display to one of the ladies at the Park Service and she thought hawk too.
Now that I have looked at the photos more closely on the computer I don't really think that he looks so much like a Rough Legged Hawk.
His beak and his feet are huge.
I'm thinking more along the lines of a juvenile Bald Eagle.
I have seen several adult Bald Eagles along the Noatak River, one even as far down river as Paul's Slough, but I have never seen one in town.
So anyone (KC???), who knows raptors better than I do can chime in here and let us know if this was a juvenile Bald Eagle.
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Monday, May 18, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Flying Kites
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Today Uyaana, Trish, Cooper and Ben went out behind town to fly kites.
Trish and her family just moved to Kotzebue about 6 weeks ago and this was the first time she had been up on the hill.
It was a bit too windy to be flying cheap kites. I'm thinking about ordering a couple good ones.
One of them ripped and one wouldn't fly at all.
Uyaana's kite held together but it didn't want to go very high even if you gave it more string. Too much wind.
After a while the boys got tired of kites and wandered off to play. Uyaana had a grea time being tundra tour guide for Cooper and Ben.
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Today Uyaana, Trish, Cooper and Ben went out behind town to fly kites.
Trish and her family just moved to Kotzebue about 6 weeks ago and this was the first time she had been up on the hill.
It was a bit too windy to be flying cheap kites. I'm thinking about ordering a couple good ones.
One of them ripped and one wouldn't fly at all.
Uyaana's kite held together but it didn't want to go very high even if you gave it more string. Too much wind.
After a while the boys got tired of kites and wandered off to play. Uyaana had a grea time being tundra tour guide for Cooper and Ben.
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Friday, May 15, 2009
VBS
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It's that time of year in Kotzebue....Vacation Bible School. This week is VBS at the
First Baptist Church. Seeing as how this is part of the reason I haven't been out taking photos of other things I figured I would post some pics of VBS.
This is our fearless VBS leader Tammy.
The kids are having a great time.
VBS started on monday and today is the last day.
Here's my partner in crime, Bree. She and I are snack volunteers along with a few other ladies.
On this day the kids were making smores. We melted chocolate chips in the crockpot and the kids dipped marshmallows on toothpicks into the chocolate....
...and then rolled them around in crushed graham crackers.
The kids loved them. They each had three.....we volunteers ate about 20 each I think, hahah.
Maija was a craft volunteer.
She helped the kids with their projects and kept the ensuing carnage to a minimum.
So it's been a busy but fun week.
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It's that time of year in Kotzebue....Vacation Bible School. This week is VBS at the
First Baptist Church. Seeing as how this is part of the reason I haven't been out taking photos of other things I figured I would post some pics of VBS.
This is our fearless VBS leader Tammy.
The kids are having a great time.
VBS started on monday and today is the last day.
Here's my partner in crime, Bree. She and I are snack volunteers along with a few other ladies.
On this day the kids were making smores. We melted chocolate chips in the crockpot and the kids dipped marshmallows on toothpicks into the chocolate....
...and then rolled them around in crushed graham crackers.
The kids loved them. They each had three.....we volunteers ate about 20 each I think, hahah.
Maija was a craft volunteer.
She helped the kids with their projects and kept the ensuing carnage to a minimum.
So it's been a busy but fun week.
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Thursday, May 14, 2009
Blogger Block
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I'm suffering from blogger's block...which I think is another word for lazy. This week has been really crazy. All this week has been vacation bible school and I have been volunteering from 6-8:30pm...right after work. By the time I get home I am pretty much out of ambition. I haven't even been out fishing AT ALL. I can't wait for the weekend to sleep in and then get outside. The weather forcast for Saturday looks a-w-e-s-o-m-e and I can't wait.
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I'm suffering from blogger's block...which I think is another word for lazy. This week has been really crazy. All this week has been vacation bible school and I have been volunteering from 6-8:30pm...right after work. By the time I get home I am pretty much out of ambition. I haven't even been out fishing AT ALL. I can't wait for the weekend to sleep in and then get outside. The weather forcast for Saturday looks a-w-e-s-o-m-e and I can't wait.
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Dumb Dog
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This is Rush, the cognitively impaired spotty mutt.
He is the dumbest dog....EVER.
DUH!
There is nothing that this dog won't eat. I don't mean chew, I mean EAT! He has eaten jeans, a bra, shirts, underwear, stuffed animals, a bottle of Heat, credit cards, fleece blanket, 10W40 bottle, rope, wicker baskets, and the 4WD switch on my four wheeler.
BUT....lucky for him he's cute and sweet and my mom loves him.
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This is Rush, the cognitively impaired spotty mutt.
He is the dumbest dog....EVER.
DUH!
There is nothing that this dog won't eat. I don't mean chew, I mean EAT! He has eaten jeans, a bra, shirts, underwear, stuffed animals, a bottle of Heat, credit cards, fleece blanket, 10W40 bottle, rope, wicker baskets, and the 4WD switch on my four wheeler.
BUT....lucky for him he's cute and sweet and my mom loves him.
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Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Slow Melt
Things have been slowly melting around here even though it's been snowing a bit every day for the last few days. It snows and then melts by the end of the day. I haven't been taking any photos because it's been so gloomy out. The forcast is looking better next week so here's to hoping.
We are now in the time of the midnight sun. The sun still sets at night but not until after midnight. It is now light out 24 hours a day. We won't see the stars again until about the third week in August.
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Friday, May 8, 2009
Last Day of School
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Today was the last day of school for kids here in Kotzebue.
They had the fourth quarter awards ceremony and a picnic for the kids and their families.
Uyaana received High Honor roll.
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Today was the last day of school for kids here in Kotzebue.
They had the fourth quarter awards ceremony and a picnic for the kids and their families.
Uyaana received High Honor roll.
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Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Water Dogs
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On Sunday Uyaana and I took the dogs for a run with the four wheeler out behind town. They found this big puddle of fresh meltwater and decided to go for a swim. I'm sure the water is barely above freezing, but they didn't care. They love water.
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On Sunday Uyaana and I took the dogs for a run with the four wheeler out behind town. They found this big puddle of fresh meltwater and decided to go for a swim. I'm sure the water is barely above freezing, but they didn't care. They love water.
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Sunday, May 3, 2009
More Gulls
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I finally dragged myself to the clinic on Saturday when I couldn't stand it anymore. I figured it would probably be a good idea before it turned into pneumonia. They gave me some doxycycline. It seems to be working but I am still pretty rough. My voice is totally shot.
Uyaana and I took the dogs for a run on the 4 wheeler today. I have a bunch of photos I'll try and post them tomorrow. Until then here are a few pictures of gulls.
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I finally dragged myself to the clinic on Saturday when I couldn't stand it anymore. I figured it would probably be a good idea before it turned into pneumonia. They gave me some doxycycline. It seems to be working but I am still pretty rough. My voice is totally shot.
Uyaana and I took the dogs for a run on the 4 wheeler today. I have a bunch of photos I'll try and post them tomorrow. Until then here are a few pictures of gulls.
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Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Flashback Friday
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8th Grade. 1985-1986
80's, oh 80's! Why didst thou forsake me? In an era of such total awesomeness as neon jelly shoes, shoulder pads and pegged jeans all I could muster was a hawaiian shirt and an ear cuff.
And what's with those puffy eyes? I swear I wasn't on drugs.
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8th Grade. 1985-1986
80's, oh 80's! Why didst thou forsake me? In an era of such total awesomeness as neon jelly shoes, shoulder pads and pegged jeans all I could muster was a hawaiian shirt and an ear cuff.
And what's with those puffy eyes? I swear I wasn't on drugs.
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