Christmas Full Moon 2015

Clearing skies gave me the opportunity to film the full moon this Christmas season, one that doesn’t come come around very often and the next one won’t be until 2034 . Our stretch of clear weather also brought our coldest weather of the season with the temperature at –32F/-26C Christmas morning.


On the 24th, the sky was covered with a thin overcast layer and the moon was showing a 22 degree halo for most of the morning. At other times the moon was visible through thicker clouds that didn’t have the necessary ice crystals for the formation of halos or arcs. Christmas Day broke bright and clear with visibility greater than 25 miles, just what I needed for my project I had in mind for this day. I wanted to film the setting full moon once it descended low enough to be effected by the inversion layer that creates mirages. In order to be able to do this I needed a very clear horizon to the north as that is where the moon would be setting today.

While waiting for the moon to move around to the north I filmed it with various objects around the homestead. There was nice contrast with the moon and some of the willow bushes covered with thick frost and a nice moon beam shimmering across our lake ice.

The final moment arrived around 11AM when I started my project which lasted until 12:25PM. With the temperature holding at –31F, I was glad that the wind had dropped from yesterday’s 14 mph wind and a wind chill of –54F. My camera battery had a full charge when I started, but with the cold it was blinking and about to shut the camera down when I took my last photo of the series #115.

Start of the series of photos as the moon starts showing the inversion causing mirage effect. This second photo also has a small green flash on top and what looks like a orange one on the bottom as refraction is causing colors to separate along the edges of the moon. Time 11:41 AM

Time 11:49 AM moon is being distorted more on the bottom as it gets closer to the horizon. Notice another capture of a green flash.

Time 11:54 AM another green flash can be seen and the moon has been pulled apart on the bottom.

Time 11:59 AM in this shot the two halves look almost like mirror images as the moon looks to be touching the horizon.

Time 12:03 PM Here the mirage has taken on an almost rectangle shape with a small anvil and green flash on top.

 Time 12:16 PM now just two thin strips as last of moon mirage is about to disappear. This is where my battery gave up and since there wasn’t much more to see I didn’t put in a fresh one. Also even with my fur parka and other heavy gear I was chilled and ready to snuggle up the warm wood stove for a spell.




It was fun watching the moon go from a round shape to one that was constantly shifting and becoming more flattened or elongated. To add to the thrill, I was also able to see and catch on film several green flashes. A green flash is caused by refraction causing color separation when the moon’s disk is close to the horizon.



As a side note, I was actually filming the moon below the horizon for the last 20minutes or so as atmospheric refraction causes a vertical shift of about half a degree. Since the moon’s angular diameter is also half a degree the moon is really below the horizon when the moon’s disk appears to touch the horizon.

Spring Flooding 2013

 

Our winter wasn’t as cold as last years, but we had more snow which set us up for serious flooding if the right conditions were met.  Winter did not want to leave and we were still  having very cold temperatures into the month of May. Usually we experience a few days of melting at the end of April or beginning  of May, not this year.  On the first of May the night time temperature dropped to –20F/ –29C  and  it wasn’t until after the middle of May before we had temperatures getting above freezing.  On the 1st of May I took the monthly ice thickness in the Colville River by our house and even with 17 inches/43cm of snow on top of the ice it was still  68 inches/172.7cm thick.

                                                     Standing on snow machine to start the drilling operation to get through the   thick ice.

The early arriving Greater White-fronted Geese had a rough two weeks before there was much melting providing water and bare ground for feeding.  Our Snow Buntings were three weeks later  than the yearly average with the first male showing up at the feeder on May 6th.

 

   Male Snow Buntings waiting out a  breezy snow squall.

 

 

 

A group of Black Brant with a pair of Snow Geese feeding in a small patch of melted out tundra before breakup.

 

When the weather finally turned warm at the end of May it stayed warm, not even freezing at night so the spring runoff  was rapid and this led to our second worst flood in the past two decades.  We live on a island in the Colville Delta and over 85%   of the island was covered in water.  Several of the waterfowl nesting areas were flooded with several feet of water and many of the early nesters lost their nests. 

 

      Brant flying over a white landscape.

 

 

 

 

River starting to flood its banks with a small group of King eiders resting on a small pan of river ice.

 

 

 

   Local breeding Brant flocking up on some of the last high ground during this years flood.

 

 

 

View showing water around some of the buildings and flooded runway in the center of the photo.

 

 

 

    A flock of King Eiders in the edge of the flooded lake by our house.

 

 

 

Fortunately most were just starting and were able to continue once the water levels receded, although many of the clutch were smaller than in a normal  year. 

         A female Brant starting her second attempt to lay eggs this spring.  She now has two eggs and is starting to add down from her breast to help insulate the eggs  while incubating.  She also covers the eggs with the down when she leaves the nest to go bath and feed for short periods several times a day.  The down will keep the eggs warm for several hours.

 

I will end with a photo showing our island and lake when it is dry and green.

Colors of Fall

With the lengthening  of nights and cooler temperatures the yellows, gold, and reds of fall have replaced the  Arctic tundra’s green of summer.  This posting will be more of a photo essay to show the various fall plants and their colors.

 

 

A small shallow water pond in the Colville Delta showing the red color the Pendent Grass “Arctophila fulva” acquires in the fall.  Large areas of the Arctic Coastal Plain is colored by this shallow water-loving plant. 

 

 

 

Juvenile King Eiders almost ready to leave the north country for their wintering grounds, with red pendent grass in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

Alpine blueberry  “Vaccinium uliginosun Subsp: alpina”  A nice contrast of the blue of the berry with the deep red leaves.  A rare treat this far north for us, as most years the season is too short for berries.  The few we do get are usually used to make blue berry pancakes.

 

 

 

Another berry we are able to enjoy at times is the Lingonberry “Vaccinium vitis-iduea “   Cooked up they make a great sauce for meats or bread.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will end this post with the gold and yellow leaves  of sweet coltsfoot “Petasites hyperboreus”, one of our earliest  blooming flowers here in northern Alaska.

Living With Tundra Swans

About 5 PM I loaded my dog Ruby into the 6-wheeler and drove down to the big aircraft hanger to close one of the big sliding doors, which I had left open to allow the interior to dry up some.  The northeast wind had been picking up all day and now that it was doing 18-20 knots, I didn't want the door to shake loose and get broken if the wind continued to build during the night.

As I pulled up in front of the hanger, I realized that the Tundra Swan family had been feeding in the ditch that runs along the outside of the runway.  They were starting to climb out onto the runway, and Ruby started barking.  After quieting her, I quickly shut the hanger door, and then slowly turned the rig around so as not to frighten the birds and headed the half mile back to the house. The male was airborne when I started back but the female was still standing on the edge of the runway with the three cygnets.   I figured she would either move the cygnets back into the river, which was only 50 meters from the edge of the runway, or lead them off to the pond system north of the buildings and runway. 
Imagine my surprise when Ruby and I pulled up in front of the house and two big swans passed low overhead. Both adults had followed us to the house and when we stopped at the house they circled several times in formation.  They were just flying above the roof of the house and a couple times they rode the air currents around the end of the house, almost playfully. It reminded me of when the ravens would ride the current off the end of the house,diving and playing with each other.  The swans were riding the currents and twice the female acted like she was going to grab the male's tail, like they do when chasing other swans out of their territory, often trying to pull them out of the air.  I have seen a few individuals loose tail feathers if they weren't quick enough to dodge or pull away from the attacker.   Once these swans seemed sure that we were not going any further, they flew off going up river away from where the cygnets had been left.

I made a quick run back to the hanger to see where the cygnets had gone.  They were making good time across the tundra away from the river and runway to the ponds about 1/2 mile away. I turned around and hurried back to the house and just as I was pulling up to the garage door one of the adult swans went by, headed back to the cygnets.
I have never had our local swans follow me before when I have encountered them while they were feeding along the runway or river. This pair has had its territory around our homestead for 4 years now so they are quite used to the activities around our place and their nest site is just over a half mile up river of the house.

I have seen non-breeding swans in June follow a grizzly bear as it wandered past where they were feeding  and as the bear swam the river channel the whole group of 30 swans  followed, staying about 40 meters behind the bear.  When the bear reached the other side and ambled down the sand spit the swans stopped in shallow water but continued to call until the bear was about 1/2 mile away,then the whole flock swam back to their feeding spot.  I have also watched Sabine’s Gulls, Arctic Terns, and geese escort golden eagles out of the nesting area. They follow the eagle staying off to the side and slightly higher and all are calling and scolding the raptor till it gets far enough away from the nesting area that they feel safe enough to return to nesting duties.  But this is the first time I have had  swans escort me away from their young. 

 

 

Nest  from the Tundra Swans that nested near our home this year.

 

 

 

 

 

Cygnets just out of the nest.

 

 

 

 

 

Cygnets are growing up, but still have a ways to go before fledging and heading south for the winter.

 

 

 

Swan family sleeping edge of our lake not far from the house, view out kitchen window.

Colville Lousewort's

We have four species of lousewort (Pedicularis) growing around our home here in the Colville Delta.  With the different species we get a blooming period from early June through late August, and even a few stragglers into September if it is a warm summer.  The habitat varies from dry polygon ridges to wet sedge meadows; all lousewort are edible though some have a tap root too small to be of much interest.

The genus name, Pedicularis,  means little louse. It was once thought that animals feeding on this plant would become infected with these pests. Wort comes from the old English word meaning flower, giving us lousewort.

The Wooly Lousewort (P. Kanei subsp. Kanei) is the first to appear in the spring, often starting to grow in early June when much of the ground is still covered with snow.  It isn’t uncommon to find the first ones of the season blooming in a small patch of tundra surrounded by snow, a bit of pink in a world of white. To protect itself from the freezing temperatures and cold winds it has developed a covering of dense wool, and before it starts to bloom, it looks so different it could be mistaken for a different plant.  This plant also has the largest tap root of the four and it is good to eat cooked or raw, a good source of starch, and the taste is similar to that of a sweet potato.  It grows 15-20cm/6-8 inches tall from a thick yellow taproot with rose colored corolla.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Three views of the Woolly in different stages    from early inflorescence white and woolly and as a mature flower.

 

The next two  louseworts to bloom are the Capitate (P. capitata) and the Purple lousewort (P. sudetica).   The Capitate Lousewort is yellow and prefers dryer ground and can grow in large patches covering several meters in diameter.   The stem is single, growing from a thin rhizome, and the unbranched stem can have up to four flower heads, although one or two are more common. The corolla is yellowish or at times the upper lip can become rose-colored with age. Average height is around 15cm/6 inches.

 

 

  The photo on the left shows the rose coloring that the older flowers can acquire, while on the right is one that is all yellow.

 

 

The Purple Lousewort (P. sudetica subsp. albolabiata) likes moist to wet tundra and grows either  as a single flowering stem, or in clumps of ten or more flowering stalks from stout rootstock.  These  two plants tend to have a long growing season and overlap the start of the flowering of the fourth species that grows here.  The petals are multicolored,  having a pink corolla with a purple apex that has a white lip.  This species is also referred to as the Sudeten Lousewort.

  

 

 

 

 

 

A nice Purple Lousewort  cluster and a close up of the flowering head.

The Whorled Lousewort (P. verticillata) has the most delicate blossoms of the four and you can have a single flowering stalk or many growing in a tight group from a branching taproot.   They like moist meadows and river banks and grow up to 7 inches or 18cm.  Petals are purple with a pink base.

 

 

 

 

 

A nice group of Whorled Louseworts on the left with a close up of the flower on the right.

All of our louseworts have eatable tap roots, but other than the Woolly, most are too small to make it worthwhile to collect.  Speaking of collecting, some species of voles collect lousewort tap roots and store them in small caches for the winter.  The vole caches I have found are usually about a cup in quantity.  Since these are such a good food source, the grizzly bear love to search out these vole treasures and feast on them.  I watched one bear work several willow thickets in the river bed, and after a couple hours had consumed a large quantity of stored roots.  I’m sure the voles weren’t too happy about this, but at least they didn’t get eaten on this day.

One last photo showing a yellow Capitate Lousewort blooming next to a Lapland Rosebay (Rhododendron lapponicum).