I am currently sitting outside at the Sourdough Campground in Tok, Alaska, enjoying a Gray Jay in the tree next to me! I think he wants a snack, but unfortunately, I have nothing with me. I did enjoy Caribou chili in a homemade sourdough bread bowl for dinner! Here's a picture of a Gray Jay that I saw this morning...
We arrived in Alaska yesterday afternoon and stayed at a campground in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. There weren't many birds around but we learned that there was a very late (major) snow storm in mid-May that occurred once many of the birds had arrived or while they were still arriving. It likely killed a lot of passerines and waterfowl that were coming in had no place to land because all of the lakes were still totally frozen. Surveys that will occur later this summer will be able to show the real damage from the storm.
In addition, when we arrived in Alaska, we were informed that there were fires in the area. Climate change has been causing increased fires in Alaska. Hotter and drier conditions make lightening storms deadly. There are currently 90 fires burning in Alaska. Thankfully, we haven't come across any yet, but we did see smoke settling in a valley where a fire had been burning.
In the hotter weather yesterday, I swam in Deadman Lake! The water was super clear and it didn't seem at all like I was swimming in a lake. Here's a picture of the lake:
No comments:
Post a Comment