Waxwings!

I stumbled across a flock of Waxwings, the Bohemian variety, while taking a walk. They usually form large flocks and today was no exception. There were about 40 of them near our house. I believe they visited us yesterday as well but the sun was on the opposite side of them, making it impossible to see exactly what they were.

The guy in this photo with the inquisitive look was at Petroglyph beach with his mate (I assume). They remained on this tree for quite some time and the following pictures are all of the same bird.

He isn't singing, he's just trying to choke down another awful dried-up berry. "Just when is spring coming?", he seems to ask. Good question, last night we had wind chills between -20 and -25 degrees F.

He was reluctant to expose the glamorous colors on his wings to the camera without at least trying to partially hide behind some obstacle.

Here he is ruffled up and trying his best to keep the cold and wind at bay.

Ole Eagle Eye

I (Christina) had noticed an eagle perched in some of the spruce trees. This day I was curious if the eagle was out there again, and it was. It was sitting in the shorter tree, which is closer to our house. I grabbed the camera right away and these are a couple of pictures I took.


This picture makes me laugh!

I wonder what it's looking at?

Walk

On January 21st Christina and I took an evening walk out spur road to watch the moon rise. We had to wait for a while before the moon came over the horizon. Our lips got cold.

A little later the affection disappeared...

...and eventually returned.

Moon rise

The moon finally came up after lagging behind the mountins. I quickly fired off a couple test shots (this was one of them) as I dialed in the camera settings and of course the battery died. I wasn't able to get any decent shots of the moon coming over the ridge because I was too busy changing the camera battery. It is somewhat ironic that about a half hour before Christina mentioned how bad it would be if the battery died when the moon finally came up. Sure enough.... To defend myself, it was at 50% power when we left but the cold drained the life right out of it.

After I put the new battery in and got up and running, this was the result.

The last shot of the night.

Summer!*

On January 20th I drove out the road to enjoy the scenery. What a beautiful day at 8 mile beach. If it wasn't for the 20 degree weather and the biting wind I may have been tempted to strip down to my sweatshirt, jeans, and a single pair of gloves to enjoy the warmth of sunlight.

Woronkofski Island in the background.

The rope swing.

*Not quite.

Water

I tried taking a half to quarter second exposures while zooming in at the same time. This was the best out of many attempts.

A small wave breaking on 8 mile beach.

Workonofski Island was looking it's best.

I walked out on the ice covering Pats Lake. Much of it was rough but there was a hockey rink size patch of nice smooth ice. It was enough to make me think about getting my ice skates but I passed up the opportunity.

After Pats Lake I drove to the Nemo Loop Road and climbed up behind the host's campground to capture this shot of the mountains behind Wrangell.

In retrospect it would have been better to drive to the east side of Wrangell isalnd where the moon was rising over hills painted with the suns last rays. I was a little to late for the good color show, but it was very pretty even after the sun had dropped below the horizon.

Beautiful end to a lovely day.

Moon and Sun, Set and Rise

The weather has been so nice lately (as of Sunday, Jan 20) that I decided I should get up early and go skiing. I was thinking about trying to spot some northern lights but then noticed that the moon would be setting a little before the sun came up. That was enough incentive for me to get up at 3:40am and start skiing up the mountain a little later. In this photo, the moon is setting beyond Fredrick Sound.

The horizon was filled with soft colors in every direction.

Looking down toward the North Wrangell High Country Shelter. Can you spot it?

Just another lovely scene. Part of the reward for a nice long hike.

Brilliant Surroundings

It didn't take long for the sun the brighten the surroundings and the snow to lose it's soft colors. The land behind me is Crittenden Creek area and the little Wrangell Peak.

Looking down at Fredrick sound, where the moon set earlier.

The March of the Trees. (Christina's suggestion)

Same place as above with a different twist. The mountain in the background is Woronkofski Island.

Petroglyph Beach

The setting sun gave the mountains a beautiful color.

I've spent a lot of time in that little green and white Cessna 150. That's my instructor, Mr. Ruks, on short final coming into runway 10.

A sight seldom seen, the moon!

Golf Course

Christina and I took a walk during a beautiful January afternoon (the 19th). Although this doesn't show it, there where many places where the fairways still had snow and ice.

All smiles.

This is a view of the top of Woronkofski Island a little earlier in the day. Clouds would come and go, at times completely enveloping the top of the island that disappearing within a matter of minutes.

Skiing Part I

I took Friday morning off because we got our first nice sunny day since Dec 20 2007. I couldn't resist the call of the moutain so I strapped on my skis and headed up the mountain.

Looking toward the South. Fog was beginning to fill the valleys.

I'm usually not a big fan of black and white but when I came across this scene I knew it would be perfect for a BW conversion. I was excited to go home and see what it looked like, it turned out as I had hoped.