pens and cobs

A particular family of Trumpeter Swans has captured our hearts and admiration throughout the summer here in Anchorage.  It has been joyful to watch the cygnets grow from small, grey, downy hatchlings to nearly adult size.  There are five of them, and I confess to counting them each time we see them to be sure they're all present.  

I've learned there are several collective noun names for a group of swans.  A regatta.  A bevy or bank.  A lamentation, a royal, a squadron, or a sounder.  A fanfare, a tranquility, a team, or a whiteness.  A school.  Or the easiest - a flock.  Animal group names are fascinating and often funny.  

I'm not the only swan enthusiast enjoying this lovely family.  Each time I visit, I get to see the happiness they bring to others as well.  They often stop people in their tracks, and those of us who've been watching for months exchange stories of our sightings and comment on the current size of the cygnets.

If past seasons are any indication, they will be here for weeks to come.  This birdwatcher will be keeping an eye out right up until they migrate south.

June

June

mid-July

mid-July

late July

late July

August 

August again - preening adult in fog and mist

grit

Sandhill Crane adult and colt, Cook Inlet and Mt. Susitna

Grit is a word that comes to mind when I think of birds.  The endurance of migration and reaching breeding grounds.  Finding a mate, building a nest, laying eggs.  Raising, feeding, and protecting a brood.  Reverse migration, returning to wintering grounds.  Repeating it year after year.  Sounds exhausting, doesn't it?  

Greater Scaup drake

Not every bird species migrates, of course.  Some stick to one region, often toughing it out part of the year in harsh weather by means of controlled hypothermia, constant foraging, being fed by humans, etc.  Migratory or resident, the life of a bird takes perseverance and effort.  

Short-billed Dowitcher

It brings me tremendous joy to watch the cycle of their lives unfold.  To see gulls show up in spring and later watch their chicks go from grey, fluffy, speckled cuteness to fully feathered versions of their parents is a delight.  Watching Red-necked Grebes carefully construct mounded nests in water, sit on their eggs, and then see the striped little faces of the grebettes on a parent's back can put a smile on my face for days!  Sandhill Cranes and their colts?  I adore everything about them and will excitedly watch them for hours.

Short-billed Gull with chick

Red-necked Grebe pair with grebettes

As July moves along, I find myself thinking that some of Alaska's summer species will soon leave for points south.  Once the Arctic Terns leave, summer begins coming to a close.  Not all migrators leave as early as terns.  In fact, many who breed further north linger well into autumn so there are many weeks left to enjoy those who pass through.  

Sandhill Cranes with colt

It's good to also appreciate our year-round avian friends, the ones who visit the spruce and birch trees behind our house and raise their fledglings in close up view.  The birds we hear and see on neighborhood walks.  These species are remarkable as well.

Trumpeter Swan with cygnets

Northern Pintail drake

it is spring, right?

 Because it looks a lot like fall.

tramping here and there

 

movement

 

Near one of the few current spots of open water in Anchorage, we spotted this short-term visitor last week.  This may have been my first ever Snow Goose sighting.  I honestly can't recall if one (or many) had ever crossed my path, so to speak, prior.  Mixed in with many geese and Mallards, this birdie couldn't care less that it was drawing attention.  It was focused solely on eating.

Not a great photo (low light, cloudy day, distance), but what a handsome drake.  He and his pretty partner were fishing and preening.  Since my Yellowstone days, Buffleheads have been one of my favorite waterfowl species. 

This beautiful lady flew in to join the Bufflehead pair, and I could have watched her for hours.  Again, not a great photo.  However, I like her visible crest and reflection in the water.  Common Mergansers are another favorite bird.  Calling them a favorite may seem like there are birds I don't like or enjoy.  Not really true.  Perhaps the only bird I recall not being entirely enamored with is the Skua.  Once you've had one dive bomb you in Antarctica, it's easy to not be a fan.  

Perhaps my admiration for some species is their connection to where I first began to truly notice and fall in love with birds - Yellowstone National Park.  Several species we see passing through in spring and fall are common in YNP.  Safe to say, there is a bit of nostalgia intertwined with my adoration.  If we had Western Meadowlarks, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, Ruddy Ducks, American White Pelicans, and Red-winged Blackbirds to boot, I'd be an even happier bird watcher in Alaska.  

between-time

Migratory birds are being spotted around town - Trumpeter Swans, Northern Pintails, Common Mergansers, Gadwalls, and my personal harbinger of spring - gulls.  Breakup season is upon us, but you could be fooled into thinking winter hasn't yet left as today we have fresh snow on the ground.  Waterways are opening, however, which is allowing our avian friends from the south to return.  Looking forward to heading out with binoculars in the upcoming days. 

As it had been brightly sunny and warm for a few weeks (snow melting, songbirds collecting nest building material), I'd been thinking about our back garden.  More specifically, I've been thinking about the beady ornaments and garden knickknacks that live there during summer and fall.  Ever one to keep things until they are just this side of useful or only slightly damaged, I decided to dismantle a few mobiles.  They have been hanging from metal hooks on our fence, but on windy days they often get tangled between the pickets.  Rather than have to potentially bug our new neighbors for access to their yard to collect broken strands of beads, I took them apart.  And now I get to daydream a bit about where/how these stone chips, plastic flowers & glass beads will be used next.  Hmmm.

handiwork

I am not all together sure when hearts became my thing, but I am drawn to keep making them.  Over and over in clay, of fabric or felt, from wire and beads, on paper.  I've read some artists find hearts trite, but I suppose that could be said of flowers or fruit or landscapes, no?  As my mom would say "to each their own."  Here are some hearts I've made, some quite recent and others within the last year or so.  A few were given as gifts, and the others live on a wall in my craft room.  Do I have still others in the works, projects started and others in mind?  Yes, I do.