Walking with the dogs

Nice winter day... Oh wait it is still fall... anyhow it was a nice day for taking the dogs for a walk.

one of the creeks that feeds the John river is not frozen yet.

Zoey.

Whisky, Kiita's Brother.

Field trip to the river

I should have done the unit on water quality first, starting in August! We had to find spots where the water did not freeze yet.

We had to make some holes in the ice.

We found a few places where the water was not frozen yet.

Rock fishing

My first Fish. I caught it with my bare hands! In the winter the river starts to dry up and freeze. The pools of water get smaller and smaller and and the fish are trapped. Sometimes people throw rocks to try to stun them. But by the time I found the fish in the pool, there was so little water I could pick them up with my hands.

I caught two fish on different days.

Fried them up for dinner and ate them with rice. They were really tasty.

Snowy sunrise and Sunset

It had already snowed in the village by the time I got there early this August. But the first snow did not really stick until about mid-September.

A recent Sunrise out my classroom window.

Labor Day Paddle down the Chena River

A nice sunny warm day. 70 degrees and no wind. Felt like my last day of summer!

Camped out down by the river in my "new" truck.

Fall Colors

The red leaves are bear berry plants.

Looking up the Contact Creek Valley from one of my cranberry picking spots.

Cotton Grass.

Rainbow.

Hunting blind... or wind shelter?

Little Contact Creek.

Looking out toward the Anaktuvuk River Valley.

John, the new Ashley. (Just kidding he is the new SPED teacher.)

Looking down at fire station from the hill where I pick berries.

State Fair

The growing season is short, but the days are long. The interior of Alaska is know for having very large vegetables.

And cute bunnies...

and funny looking goats... or is it a sheep?

Photos from summer... long gone...

Kiita in the Fireweed in the White Mountains, Northwest of Fairbanks.

Came here to pick blueberries. Got a little over one gallon.

There were several fires burning around Fairbanks this summer. You can see the haze in the sky.

Eagles of Anchor Point

Last weekend when I was in Kenai, we drove out to a place called Anchor Point on the way back from Homer.

When we first drove up we saw four adult Eagles on the beach. Looking closer there were a few juvenilles too. Here is a photo of one below.

First there were 4... then I noticed 7 more! (Below)

Yum, Tasty dead fish!

This bird is having a bad hair day!

Saving the best shot for last:

Seaward Sealife Center: Puffins are REAL

I have been taking a closer look at photos of puffins in the last few months. They are so cute and so odd. I thought they looked fake and was starting to wonder if they were real. I do not know if I have ever meet anyone who had actually seen one in real life. But a trip to the Seaward Sea life center has convinced me otherwise.

Another bird, the rhinoceros Auklet. How cute.

This horned puffin was a HAM. He was all about bathing and preening.

Hey stop that splashing you are getting water on my camera!

Common Murres below.

King Eider. What great colors.

Harlequin duck. Saw some of these on my camping trip in Anaktuvuk Pass a few weeks ago.

Person for scale..

Puffins "flly" underwater to catch fish.

They look like they belong in space.

Harbor seals each have unique spots that acts like a finger print used to identify them.

Skittle the Sea otter underwater.

Octopus tentacles.

This sea lion is HUGE. Would hate to run into this guy underwater.