Alaska, Part One

This May, my folks treated me to an Alaskan cruise.  Woo-hoo.  My sister, who lives in Washington (state), works part time in Debbie MacComber's yarn shop (yes, that's the author, Debbie MacComber), and they hosted a "Stitch -n- Sail" cruise, so my mom and I went along.  I am no longer a knitter (although seeing all the lovely yarns in the shop, I am tempted to dig out my needles again), so I was going along strictly for the opportunity to see Alaska.

I spent two and a half months in Alaska nearly 25 years ago (it was 24 years and 8 months) - I was in Ketchikan and lived on Prince of Wales Island in the booming metropolis of Craig.  Hard to believe it was so long ago.  Anywho...I wanted to see more of the state, and hopefully some great wildlife. 

We arrived in Washington two days early:  here are some highlights of our brief stay in Port Orchard.

First we went down to the bay to take in the Farmer's market.  They have a number of really cool woodcarvings by some of the shops (and one shop is an amazing candy store - GREAT fudge).

Niece, Gordon Fisherman, Sister, Mom

 Pelagic Cormorant - watched a pair catching (and eating) fish.

Skull of a wee dragon?

Bird (raven) on a bird (statue).

This just amused me.

 Apparently it was Pirate Weekend.

Next we visited Debbie MacComber's shops.

 Debbie MacComber's Tea Shop (above) and Yarn Shop (below)

Isn't this great?  It's a squash my sister made for the shop's mammogram promotion!

 From there, we headed over to Theler Wetlands, so I could take in some of the local nature.

B-i-L with a big leaf maple.  New species for me!

Great gate!

Squirrel Corn

Devil's Club

Thimbleberry

A buttercup (never did get a plant ID book)

 A raspberry past blooming and getting ready to set fruit.

Banana Slug!!!

Apparently a young grey whale washed up on the beach a few 

years ago.  The skeleton is at their visitor center.

They have some really cool art around, too.

The tide was out, so water was low in the wetland proper.

No idea what tree this is.  Interesting fruits, though.

Savanna Sparrow. 

A lesson in the language of the local native people.

Great photo of Mom.

 

Horsetails...very large and beautiful!

 

Another mystery plant/tree.  

Loved this little bumblebee with a yellow stripe on either end.

Some plants were familiar - like miterwort,

 and this bedstraw.

It was well into evening (but still light out), when we returned to my sister's home and had dinner.  The next morning we would head for the Seattle and the cruise ship.

Random Things

"They" said we'd get a winter storm today, and by golly, "they" were right.  I was out running errands until about noon, and no sooner did I get home and unload the car, then the first flakes began to descend.  A flake here, a flake there, then all of a sudden, a near white-out!  It looks like the fat and wet kind of snow...or at least it did.  Looking out right now it's starting to look like those small, sharp wet flakes - the kind that might turn into sleet.  Bleh.  I'd rather have big fat flakes.

Anywho, for lack of anything better to post, here are some random shots from the last couple of days.

First up, a lovely amaryllis.

 This gigantic plant, with it's nearly three foot long stalk, was a Christmas gift.  It's been taking its own sweet time to come into bloom, though.  We've been theorizing that it's probably because my hovel is chilly (58*F) and it's location is rather dark.

Still, it's lovely now, AND, it has, oh, another three buds at least behind this brilliant trumpet.

Next up, a couple new books. 

This first one is my new book on galls.  It's actually an older book (1940), and I believe currently out of print, but it's new to me.  One of my co-workers told me about this book and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have a copy of my own.

 Even in this modern day and age, it is considered THE book for identifying plant galls.

And not just the gnarly growths on trees, oh no; it also keys out galls on leaves!  This book is a must in every naturalist's library.

A bit newer, we have a terrific book for identifying caterpillars - this is the one we used a week or so ago to identify the large yellow underwing larva.

As you can see, it is chocked full of information and sports some pretty nice photographs of the caterpillars. All color-coded, of course.

And, finally, another peek out the Big Window at work.  This is a fabulous spot for bird and wildlife watching in general.  Now that the snow is melting (well, it WAS melting...now we'll have a fresh layer, which is back to big fat flakes), the little pond is/was visible.  Lots of feeders all around, containing lots of different foods: black oil sunflower, nyjer, suet cakes, mixed seed, etc.  Seed is on the ground, on platform feeders, in tubes, in hoppers.  Not only are there big trees for squirrels to climb and birds to sit in, but there are also some shrubs, and even a snag or two.

I saw a chipmunk out this window yesterday - a sure sign of spring.  Add to that the red-winged blackbird I heard yesterday morning (and again this morning), and it was easy to believe that winter was on its way out.  Still, it IS only late February.  Just because the irises are up 2-3 inches along the side of the hovel, and a chipmunk was scoping out the birdfeeders, that doesn't mean winter is gone.  After all, we still have about four weeks until the Spring Equinox.

A Perfect Winter Morning

We begin today's adventure with a glance out the kitchen window. Lo! and behold! it is one of the rogue neighborhood cats. Hey! You!

Yes, I'm talkin' to you! Where do you live and why do you skulk around my house? Are you eating the birds at my feeder?


Some quick detective work has turned up the hide-away. I thought things were suspicious with that board cocked at an angle. I nudged it back into place the other night, only to find the next morning it was back in this position. Hm. Seems to me that this is where the cats (there are two that I know of - the little tiger above and an orange and white fellow) are sheltering. Could this be a source of the fleas?


Anyway, it is a glorious winter day here in southern Michigan. I got up late (after all, the sun doesn't really start to get up until well after 8 AM, so why should I?) and the sun was shining for all it was worth in a blue blue sky. I decided the dog and I needed to check out some nature trails.


We headed over to Ella Sharp Park, which is only a couple miles away. I drove around until I found what looked like a trail going into the woods. This would be our destination.

Even though it was already about 11:30, the trees and plants were coated with thick crystals of ice - hoar frost.


We found some Asian bittersweet along the trail once we left the field and entered the woods. This vine seems to be ubiquitous here. In just three weeks I've already seen it more often than I have the rest of my life!

We mosied into another field. There were times where the trail under our feet was snow on ice, so I suspect this might be one of the area's many pocket wetlands.

Even the tops of the trees were still frosty. Back in the Adirondacks, this frost would have burned off by this time of day. It looks like Michigan is the perfect place for us late sleepers!


Even more common than the bittersweet is the honeysuckle. Much of the trail passed through arched bowers of the stuff. It's lovely, yes, but so invasive...as noted by the sheer numbers of plants here.


So many of the trees have lovely silhouettes. I attended a meeting of the local photography club this week. One of the things they do is assign certain topics for photographs to be viewed and judged at the next meeting. Silhouettes are on the list for the meeting in two weeks. So, I thought I'd give it a try since the sun was so cooperative this morning. However, I think the sun was just a little too bright...it was difficult to get any really good shots (but not for lack of trying).

I really like this one, though.

We've had some strong winds lately, which blew the snow from the last day or two into some interesting patterns along the sides of trees.


I've been told that the Grand River flows through Ella Sharp Park. Could this be it?


Toby's trying to form his own opinion.


About an hour later we arrived back at the car. How bare it seems without a license plate on the front - Michigan only does plates on the back.

This afternoon I am off to "work" to attend a program on Winter Bird ID by one of our staff naturalists. While my birding skills are probably better than those of the average Joe, I find myself stumped by most sparrows and other LBJs - little brown jobbers. Sputzies, as my dad calls them. I hope to pick up a few good tips.