Rooster-esque ravens

Until recently I have awoke to the incessant cawing of a family of ravens. Ravens are ubiquitous here and are well known for their creative approaches to finding food. Just last week, some of the perpetually ravenous ravens found their way into the back of one of Cathy's neighbors truck where garbage was left overnight. It then became apparent that bears may relate certain raven activity with a food source, and it wasn't long before a black bear showed up and crawled in the back of the truck. It has been a bit quieter the last few days and it appears the young may have dispersed to signal dawn for some (un)lucky people elsewhere.

I have been nursing a sprained ankle for the last few weeks so my exploration has been limited until I get through the second set of surveys next week. I took a drive over to Douglas Island which is connected to downtown Juneau by a lone bridge. This waterfall was alongside the road but caught my attention.


The island has the only downhill skiing in the area (that I am aware of) and I noticed a number of homes had some version of used skis as decorative items at the end of their driveways. However, I think this was by far the most elaborate (and colorful).


After a day at the office Cathy and I went on what was supposed to be a short hike on the trail system near the Mendenhall Glacier. We got a bit turned around (honestly, not lost, just took a few wrong turns...really) and covered a bit more ground than planned, but it felt great to be out and moving around after convalescing the last couple weeks. These are a couple plants that are new to me since being in Alaska.

Nootka Lupine (Lupinus nootkatensis)

Watermelon Berry (Streptopus amplexifolius)

Broomrape (Boschniakia rossica) (a.k.a. Ground Cone)

I am familiar with horsetail, but had never seen this dense of a stand. The entire lake was covered in this prehistoric plant.

Horsetail (Equisetum spp.)

This waterfall seems to float among the trees on the side of the mountain.

(Waterfallicus pseudofloatus)

We didn't plan on going as far as the glacier, but we were able to see the remnant of a recent calving.

(Icicus mendenhallianus)

I am headed back to Admiralty Island next week to finish up the goshawk surveys and to do a deer habitat assessment. I am definitely looking forward to getting back outside.