Notes from Alaska

Appearing regularly, stories and observations from Paxson and around Alaska

February 9th 2002:

Back in the Alaska Range after 5 weeks Outside.How did my 38 chickens fare in their tight little enclosure? It looks as though the monster (350-lb and 55 gallon) feed and watering system I created worked! All the chookies clucked and looked at me when I opened up their house; couldn't find any carcasses; was a bit daunted by the layers upon layers of eggs in the boxes. Apparently the virtual darkness I had imposed upon them wasn't absolute enough to fully inhibit their laying. And thank goodness for cold temperatures - no odors.

Anyway, as usual, the hens had no desire to go out into the slightly subzero temperatures and all that white. But a few days ago, with the Ts up to about 20F, I forced a number of them out. That's when I found their one perished colleague. Apparently during one of the four times Alan had snowmachined in the 22 miles to check up on them, he let them out for the day, and upon returning after dark, he missed one, and...

So down to 37 hens. That's still a LOT of eggs come summertime.

And Voxy hadn't lost any of her good manners around the birds. She still greets them, and wonders if there isn't any nice smelly chicken poop she can eat, but has no desire to chase or eat the birds. Amazing.

Quite a few of you asked me "Why do you want to get back to Alaska now? What are you going to be doing the rest of the winter?"

Right now is one of my very favorite times of year. It now stays light until just past 5pm, and by 8:30 am it's light outside, although the sun's not yet risen. So there is plenty of day to be outside, and we're gaining a bit over 6 minutes each day, or 45 minutes per week. There is plenty of snow - almost 30" on the ground, and temperatures have been fine - generally between -10 and +15.

Yesterday I took the Ski-doo 22 miles up the Denali Highway. Those of you who have seen the views during the summertime, or have looked at some of my photos, might be able to conjure up how spectacular the midwinter vistas are. Serried row after row of mountains, all immaculately white, with 10,000 feet of vertical between treeline and summit, stretching across well over 180 degrees of view. At dusk, the pink to rose to mauve to purple alpenglow of that entire swath is like no other sight on earth.

And the caribou! Our Nelchina herd has decided to remain here the entire winter. At times - such as the prior four winters - the herd moves on almost to the Canadian border. Not this winter. Yesterday I was looking at a forest of antlers. Between miles 4 and 20, as far out on the tundra as one could see, thousands and thousands of caribou. I didn't try "group counting" them this time, but I'm pretty sure I saw between 15,000 and 18,000 animals. At time I could see 1,000 to 2,000 at a single view. There is virtually no hunting pressure on them at this time of year, so they would remain placid, either eating or lying down a few dozen yards from the road, as I drove by.

Put another away, except for those of you who have been on African safari, or have viewed the gigantic bat "tornadoes" on their evening departures from some SW US caves, I probably saw more mammals yesterday than any of you have seen in your entire lifetimes.

So many of my July and August guests complain of how they see no animals. Or perhaps one moose and two beaver, during their day-longdrive aross the Denali Highway. Winter is the time to see wildlife here! You won't see bear or beaver - they're wisely sleeping - but aside from this grand caribou spectacle, winter is the best time to see wolf, and lynx, and fox, and ptarrmigan. Moose can be even easier in winter than in summer, too.Yesterday I ssaw a small bevy of about 20 ptarmigan. I'd not have found them, except a caribou ran right through their willow scrub and brought them up.

How to cope with the cold? If it's -10, and you're running a snowmobile at 40 mph, the windchill is a nippy -70F. But it's not really difficult. A reasonable set of warm layers and a windproof outer layer serves the body. My wolf hat and beard keep all but a small part of my face toasty, and a face mask serves the rest. I've tried this sytem extensively at 30 degrees colder, and am fine. As some of you know and the rest can imagine, after all these years I have not yet acquired the typical Alaskan "underskin insulation" - especially prevalent out here in the Bush. But again, I never have seen a well-padded champion dogmusher, either. So as with other walks of life, I am pretty sure it's a function of diet and activity - no great insight there.

Late breaking news! (February 11th)

How more appropriate an exciting bird-news story can we get to tie in with the hoopla over searching for a probably long-vanished ghost of a woodpecker?

We probably have lost that species (Ivory-billed) forever (2005 update....well, we know better now!). But news yesterday from here in Alaska suggests that we may have just gained a species, as well.

Here is the first half of the story: There is a Great Spotted Woodpecker Picoides major that has been frequenting a site along the Parks Highway since early autumn. Great Spotteds are one of the most common and widespread Eurasian woodpeckers, but have been recorded in the Americas only nine times before, and always one on of our outer Aleutian or Bering Sea islands. This represents the first mainland observation. As exciting as that is to birders, and of reasonable interest to others, what should be of great excitement to all nature enthusiasts is the rest of the story: it appears that there is not one, but a male-female pair of these birds! That there is indeed one male is verified. The female has not yet been authoritatively observed.

I have been planning to head to Anchorage on Wednesday. I'll now plan to leave a day early, to swing by this location as well.

In other news...and I thought this exciting until last nights revelation...I observed two wolves yesterday just down the river from me. A large and a small (male and female, most assuredly), both jet black. This is the first time I have seen wolves from my compound, although I have had their tracks closer to me than that. As long as they stay away from my chickens, they're safe! Still between ten and eighteen thousand caribou just up the road from here, where they've been encamped all winter. A magnificent sight.