"I'm going to speak my mind because I have nothing to lose."--S.I. Hayakawa
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Monday, June 29, 2026

Rare Edition of Half-Baked Alaska

 Mother Nature is watering the land so I'm stuck inside trying to avoid housework.   I decided to publish an edition of Half-Baked Alaska.   It's been many years, but some news of the day is just too good not to share.

Female mallard

1). A couple camping near Resurrection Bay in Seward were getting ready to eat some freshly caught and cooked halibut when a raven came too close.   As the husband turned his back to shoo the raven away, a bald eagle swooped down and took off with some nice cooked halibut.


Trumpeter swans with one cygnet.




2)  The Homer Police Department Dispatch received a report of theft.   A man exited a grocery store and began unloading his groceries from the cart.   He set a pack of ribs on the handlebar of the cart, and a bald eagle grabbed the mat and took off.

       The reporting part said he had no hard feelings toward the eagle, and the eagle obviously enjoyed the dinner.

3)  A salmon hatchery in Southeastern Alaska has been experimenting with methods to keep brown bears from accessing public boardwalks near the hatchery.   In one effort, they shot a bear with a potato gun.

    The bear looked around to see what had hit it, saw the potato, and ate it.    Naughty, naughty,   Not supposed to feed the wild animals. 



Arctic tern.   These birds migrate all the way from Antarctica.




And, finally, a bit of KARMA from Alabama:

4). A man died of a heart attack while disposing of the body of his girlfriend,  whom he had strangled.   They were found side by side, and the man's pickup was still running.

That's it for this edition.



A hatchling red-necked grebe waits for food while safe on its parent's back.



Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Just a Note.

 This is just a note to explain my absence here.   It's spring/summer and that means I am out picking up litter along the Seward Highway every day I can.


To date, my friend Mary Mcdonald (sic) and I have cleaned up almost 24 miles of highway, including a number of really trashed pullouts.   Plus, we continue to pick up new litter in the areas we already cleaned.


Tern lake.





In other news, the Tern Lake trumpeter swans are nesting and we should be seeing cygnets soon.  They changed their nesting place to a site farther from the highway, so it will harder to see if their eggs have hatched.




Likewise with the regular pair of red-necked grebes, who chose to build their nest close to the highway so I can keep an eye on them.   I wish them the best.   Last year, they "lost" two clutches of eggs so there were no cute babies.




Yes, this is the nest.   


My favorite Alaskan birds, the American dippers, have hatched their eggs.



Grub hub delivery.  to the hatchlings.





Some pics from my litter journeys:


Yellow-rumped warbler.




Orange-crowned warbler.






Northern shovelers.   Those wide bills explain their name.







Ruby-crowned kinglet.  They are tiny, tiny little birds that don't hold still for a nanosecond.





Ruby-crowned kinglet.







Well, Blogspot is giving me uploading problems, so I'll sign off for now.