menopausal mumma

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Bald Eagle Action Shots by Randal Rodgers

My daughter's new father in law worked with the Alaskan Parks and Wildlife Service for many many years, he is also a very good artist and a stunning wildlife and landscape photographer, so while we were there he shared with me some of his photos. Bless his heart, he and his gorgeous wife also sent me home with one of his paintings that proudly sits in my office at work.

As I am too tired to blog, I though I would share some of Randy's eagle photos, enjoy.

Want to see more then visit Randy's website, which has landscapes and other birds and bears. He also has another website I just can't remember the name, damn.

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Thanks for popping by, I will try and write some more tomorrow or the day after. xxxx

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

And So The Salmon Run, A Retrospective Tale of Two Travellers Part 6

Apparently 2013 was the year of the Salmon, I kid you not, we were told that a record number of salmon were returning to spawn and they were still coming while we were in Sitka. It was towards the end of the season and yet still we saw hundreds of salmon, most tired but still trying to swim upstream, even in water that was only inches deep.

I felt sorry for the salmon, and on the first day in Stika when I found some in really shallow water, trying to get to a small waterfall, I really, really just wanted to pick them up and carry them and help them on their way. I know, I'm a softie, but this is what their life is all about, getting back to where they were born and spawning, avoiding hungry bear, hungry fishermen and all sort of obstacles and the reality is only the fittest get there ultimately to die. Sort of glad I'm not a salmon, really glad actually!!

The pungent odour of dead and dying fish was often wafting on the breeze and especially bad at a couple of recreation spots, along with the smell was the constant squawking of gulls. With all that free fish you think they would have more than enough to share, in fact I know they did. But still they fought as gulls do!!

You got used to the smell, well sort of. Normally the rain has come and started to wash the dead fish out to sea, but it was still quite dry and had been a warmer summer than usual as well. It wasn't so bad when the tide was in and luckily when we did the Estuary Boardwalk (another post) it was high tide and not too bad.

The Coho Salmon (also called silver or silvers) seemed to be the main ones we saw at Starrigavan Creek (photos below), although pink salmon are also found particularly in the Indian River as mentioned in the article link above.

Swim little salmon swim

See how shallow the water is?

The waterfall they were heading for

Those that didn't make it up the stream

This video of hubby's was taken at the Sitka Sound Science Centre Salmon Hatchery, and even the salmon born there come back to spawn, the day we visited the gates into the tanks were shut, but still they tried to get in, poor salmon!

Thanks for popping by xxxx

Monday, October 7, 2013

Eagles, Owls and Bears Oh My, A Retrospective Tales of Two Travellers Part 5

Eagles, Owls and Other Raptors

We were lucky to see lots and lots of Bald eagles in Sitka, including a regular adult visitor and a juvenile bird as well, that fished very close to where we were staying. But a visit to the Alaska Raptor Centre also allowed us to see eagles and owls and other raptors up close and personal. The Raptor Centre aims to rehabilitate and release the birds back into the wild, however some are so badly injured that this is not possible and so these beautiful birds are kept and used as part of the education experience, which is also a huge part of why the Raptor Centre exists.

They receive birds from all over Alaska (and if I remember rightly even from other parts of America). Bald eagles are regularly injured by man, not maliciously but because they share what once was wild areas, one of the common injuries is caused by eagles flying into power lines and breaking their wings.

I'm calling this the I See You series, this is the main educational eagle used (just can't remember the name.

Snowy Owl

Tootsie, who you meet as you enter the Education Centre/Gift Shop/Office area.

We were even lucky enough to see an adult Bald eagle eating a fish, surrounded by Ravens waiting for their share (see sequence of 10 photos below - taken by my hubby). What I love about this is that the Tlingit (pronounced KLIN-kit) Alaskan Native Indians are divided into two clans within each Tribe - the Wolf/Eagles Moiety and the Raven Moiety, in Sitka it is Eagles and Ravens rather than Wolves and Ravens and their Tribe is known as Outside Edge of a Branch Tribe (obviously in their language it looks different - check out this PDF for more information on Tlingit Tribes).

Bears Oh My

While we were not privileged to see any brown bears in the wild, we did travel out to the Fortress of the Bear Rehabilitation Project. Fortress of the Bear is a not for profit organisation run by a man who love bears. The Fortress takes in nuisance bears and where possible re-home them at zoos and other facilities. They also have 5 bears currently in residence at the Fortress, they are homed in two huge circular concrete walled areas (the remains of a pulp mill plant) and while I found it confronting, the love that these people have for bears is amazing. With no government support they have raised money, to save the bears. The bears they have kept are too humanised to release into the wild and would struggle with other zoo bears, so rather than euthanise them, they provide a home and care and allow the public to visit at a modest entry fee to support the upkeep of the bears.

From the Fortress of the Bear website : The Brown bears of Southeast Alaska represent a distinct population, genetically dissimilar from any other bear. Research suggests these bears are remnants of a Polar bear population stranded in Southeast Alaska following the last ice age. They have adapted to the rain forest environment and learned specific behaviors and marvelous survival skills. They successfully hunt everything from mountain goats to seals. Their ability to adapt sometimes brings them into conflict with their upright urban neighbors. The means to deal with these bears has been limited or non-existent. Our goal is to seek a solution that is better than simply shooting them.

It is really obvious when you listen to them talk about the bears in their care, just how much they love these bears. The bears respond in kind and it is obvious they know the voices of their carers. The bears do not perform, although they do respond knowing that food is coming on certain cues (see the first two groups of photos below).

I left Fortress with mixed feelings, while I would love the bears to be free and not in concrete walls, I know that they are loved and would more than likely be dead if it wasn't for the Fortress. And without government funding living in the remains of a pulp mill is the best that is possible at the moment. There is a vision to build a new Fortress and I'm hoping they will be successful with this outcome, their passion for the bears deserves nothing less than fulfilling their wish to provide a real home and an education centre for the brown bears of Alaska.

Thanks for popping by, if you would like to donate to either of the rehabilitation centres mentioned here, I am sure they would appreciate your donation. xxxx