A quick trip back to New England for business purposes allowed me to switch out the white and gray of a long-winters' end in Alaska for bright greens of all varieties. A refreshing and soothing change.

Something that's been on my mind, though, fits right into a return to home. That is, what constitutes a sense of place?

Have you ever made a rookie mistake well into your career?  A time when you just didn't think something through all the way?  Something so basic?

It's true. Birds are on the cusp of initiating their seasonal migration. One question that often comes up is, "How do they know when to go?".

January was a very moosie month around here. Three hands are needed to count all the moose I saw this month alone. I took that as a sign it was time to tackle a moose.

Moose drawing, that is.

Have you ever paid careful attention to the winter solstice in your region... how short the day feels and how long the night feels? Where the sun rises and sets in your winter landscape?

On Thanksgiving Day my husband and I went in search of ptarmagin, Willow Ptarmagin (Lagopus lagopus) specifically. A little bird watching instead of bird eating.

Larix laricina It's not a dead spruce.

Seriously. The Tamarack (Larix laricina), a species of tree that Alaska shares with New England and almost all northern regions in between, is a curious and stunning work of evolution that is often mistaken for its relative, the spruce tree.

An Alaskan thing, really.

According to the Dictionary of Alaska English (yep, that's a thing, too), Termination Dust represents the end-of-summer snow that falls on the surrounding mountains.

Rain, Rain, and Mushrooms. August was kind of a blur.  Visitors, travel, orcas, puffins, humpbacks, and glaciers.  And a whole lot of rain.

Just a few days ago I sat fifty feet away from a 900lb alpha male Coastal Brown Bear (Ursus arctos horibillis) named "Lippy".  Yep, I did that.

Fireweed!
Apparently, Common Fireweed, Chamerion angustifolium, can be found throughout most of the U.S. and Canada, but I had never seen it before Alaska.

Arctic to Antarctic and back every year. That's what the Arctic Tern does... FLIES from one end of the globe to the other.

Twice a year. Every year. It tops the list for longest migrations in the world.

25,000 miles. Does that number sink in?

Two days after returning to Anchorage I went to Spenard Crossing to see what species of ducks had also arrived in Anchorage.  Spenard Crossing is an ideal location for early migrant birds.  It is a small pond and one of the first bodies of water to melt out. This means concentrated numbers of birds in a small space... super fantastic for birders!

Common Ravens are everywhere here, making observations of them as easy as choosing which parking lot to position myself in.  As a highly intelligent animal, they learn and adapt their diet and shelter requirements to the situation in front of them.  Being a talented tool user is a super skill, too.

I have been fixated on trees this month. Secret: I love trees as much as I love birds.  You can read a short piece about why in this month's blog post titled Reciprocity.

Ever since I moved to Alaska I've been intrigued with the light... how much there is in the warm months, how little there is in the cold months, how the shadows are always at an angle no matter the time of year.  Why?