The Beautiful Aftermath of Wildfires

 A couple years ago, a lightning-caused wildfire broke out in a remote area of the Kenai Peninsula.  Because it was so remote, federal officials at first decided to let it burn.   

Soon, it flared into an immense area and multiple firefighters were called in an attempt to stop it from burning two towns, Sterling and Cooper Landing, both of which are along the main road--the Kenai Peninsula.   All summer long, the skies were thick with smoke.

The towns were saved but the fire eventually consumed 170,000 acres of the Kenai Wildlife refuge, including parts of the Skilak recreation area.

The next summer saw the growth of a bumper crop of morel mushrooms and mushroom hunters were everywhere.

This summer, the second since the fire, fireweed is everywhere!   So-called because it is among the first plants to colonize burned areas, their pink/magenta blooms can be seen over acres and acres.

Here are some photos of the fireweed.

 

 

 

And, as a bird photographer, I was delighted to find this alder flycatcher there too.

If you are in Southcentral Alaska, it is well worth your while to take a drive down the Sterling highway.  Add the Skilak Loop if you have time.   It's only about 18 miles.

Things I see

 

Those Eyes!

 On a recent trip to the Denali highway, we stopped by a small lake and found a pair of horned grebes.

Their eyes will keep you awake at night.

Busy Days

 These are busy times for me.    I've cleaned litter from roughly 25 miles of highway and spent a lot of time at Tern Lake observing the birds.

I'm getting ready to go on my annual birding trip to the Denali Highway.

In the meantime, here's what's happening at Tern Lake.

 

Grebe chicks immediately climb on an adult's back as soon as they hatch.  That is where they will stay for several days.

Each pair of grebes has hatched at least one chick and are still sitting on unhatched eggs.  This grebe just rearranged the eggs.....

..and on her back, a chick wonders what all the movement is about.

It isn't all about birds, though.   This evening a muskrat swam by with a big salad for the family.

Grand-Grebes Arriving Soon

There are two sets of red-necked grebes nesting at Tern Lake this summer.   I can see both nests from the highway.

This photo shows a shift change about to occur on one nest.   Both parents take turns.

They appear to have five eggs.

It takes a while for the adult to fluff up those breast feathers and settle on the eggs.

This photo was taken in the golden light of late evening when the breast feathers looked like burnished copper.

 

A Day in the Life

 

I got home from cleaning up litter about 6:30  couple days ago, so tired I didn’t even do a little birding on the way home and was amazed that I didn’t collapse on the side of the highway with temps in the mid-seventies.

I had just enough energy to drag myself out to the front deck with a camera, iPad, and cup of lemonade, all of which I put on that cottonwood half-round that ticked off my sacroiliac earlier this month when I insisted on dragging it home.

 

 

 For the next two hours, I was thoroughly entertained.   

 Violet-green swallows did aerobatics in front of me, a female pine grosbeak landed on the cottonwood slab, looked at me with a “What have I done?” glance then hopped over to a feeder.

 

After she realizes her mistake and jumps to the feeder.

 

 

Black-capped chickadees were flitting about and carrying off the seeds I’d sprinkled on the deck rail.  Then one large one landed on the  shoe on my crossed legs,  and wanted peanuts!  No doubt about that. 

 

Black-capped chickadee

I got some shelled peanuts, gave one to the big bird and tried to entice a couple more but they flew to  the lid of a peanut butter container I have clipped to a spruce branch and where I usually put their peanuts.  Smart little things.

So, I put a few peanuts  in the lid and a few on the rail.  Shortly, I heard an unhappy chickadee and looked over to see Squirrel raiding the peanut dish.

 

Who?   Me?

 

If I’d had the energy, I would have jumped for joy when I realized a yellow-rumped warbler was at the suet feeder.

 

Yellow-rumped warbler, one of my favorite birds.

 

The male pine grosbeak landed on the rail in front of me, sang me a song and partook of the sunflower seed feast.  On top of a tree behind him, a robin was also singing that it was back.

 

Male pine grosbeak.

 

 

American Robin

 

Male and female dark-eyed juncos were looking for seeds that had spilled to the deck and, apparently, I was too big for them to see because they were almost at my feet.

 

Male junco.

 

 

Female junco.

Also joining in the fun were nuthatches, pine siskins, two Steller’s jay, a polite magpie (because he took only one peanut at a time)...

 

Black-billed magpie.  He isn't blind.  That's the nicitating membrane or third-eyelid.

 

... and an unidentified  bird that sang LOUDLY and DISTICTLY ”chimmy, chimmy, chimmy, chimmy, chee......chip, chip, chip”  that I couldn’t get a good look at.

 

Pine siskin

 

Steller's Jay

 

 

 

Pine siskins.

I should do this more often.

The Princess

 "What's the matter, Martha Dear?   Are you having trouble getting comfortable?"

"Yes, Sweetie.  I thought there was a rock under the mattress, but it was just a little pea."