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posted: March 31st, 2017 |
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This page begins with March 16th and some bird pictures here at home. On March 17th I took some photos inside the house of "Disco Time". On the 19th I took a single photo out the West Window to match one which I took back on August 22nd - it makes for an interesting contrast. Then, on the 27th we took a trip to Wickersham Dome and climbed partway up that mountain. Specifically, we were searching for Ptarmigans. We didn't go vary far because, although it was not so very cold, the wind was blowing quite hard and the chill factor was colder than we wanted to endure. This page ends with two shots taken on March 28th to show the hardpack on our road. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin March 16th through 19th |
The purpose of the first photo is to show bird tracks. Okay, you'll notice snowshoe tracks first of all. Then you might be able to recognize the Grouse tracks from Page 2, Row 11. Then, there is another set of Grouse tracks heading down the hill. There is a great abundance of Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) tracks and even a single Common Redpoll near the right side of the photo. The second image is a 3-shot panorama of photos taken at 7:53 AM and the third image is a 2-shot panorama of one less photo than the previous panorama.
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 Mar16_01_AtHome _GrouseTracksRC |
 Mar16_09_10_11_Auto Pano_AtHome_Yard_SnowRC |
 Mar16_10_11_At Home_Yard_SnowRC |
Here is a photo of more bird tracks, followed by a nice photo of a Common Redpoll (Acanthis flammea) on the ground below the birdfeeder, and then a photo showing several Common Redpolls hunting through the sunflower seed husks below the birdfeeder for seeds that have been knocked out of the feeder.
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 Mar16_14_At Home_BirdTracksRC |
 Mar16_15_At Home_RepollRC |
 Mar16_16_At Home_RepollsRC |
In the first photo is a Pine Grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator) on the ground below the birdfeeder and then a Pine Grosbeak and a Common Redpoll. The third photo shows several Common Redpolls and the single female Pine Grosbeak.
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 Mar16_19_At Home_GrosbeakRC |
 Mar16_23_AtHome _Grosbeak_PedpollRC |
 Mar16_24_AtHome _Repolls_GrosbeakRC |
In the afternoon, when the sun shines in our west window, we always have what we call "Disco Time". We have a 3-inch Disco Ball, hanging there, and the ceiling fan gives it enough motion so that flashes of light run around the entire house! The first image is a 10 photo animated GIF file and the second photo shows what the ceiling looks like at Disco Time.
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 TN_Mar17_07Thru16 _DiscoTime |
 Mar17_02_ DiscoTimeRC |
Here is a close-up of our 3-inch Disco Ball and also a 3-shot panorama showing how deep the snow is in our west yard on March 17th.
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 Mar17_03Crop_ DiscoTimeRC |
 Mar17_8_9_Auto_Pano _Home_Yard_SnowRC |
I was looking at photos which I took last August and noticed the amazing difference between what the view from our west window was then and what it is now, so I attempted to duplicate the photo I took last August. Here is the August photo and also my attempt to duplicate it.
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 Aug22_23_ Around_House_LandRC |
 Aug22_23_Around_House_Land _Mar19_4_OutTheWindowRC |
 Mar19_4_Out TheWindowRC |
| End March 19th, Begin March 27th and 28th |
Monday, March 27th, was a day off work for Kazuya, so we took a drive out to Wickersham Dome and climbed a short way up that mountain. We were Ptarmigan hunting - with cameras, not firearms. Although the actual temperature on the thermometer was a rather pleasant +10° F (-12.2° C), the wind was blowing quite strongly and therefore the chill factor was COLD! We knew that the weather was relatively warm (not considering the chill factor) and therefore, we were not wearing our coldest weather parkas, only our normal winter coats. We got cold and that's why we only climbed up a "short way". The first photo in this row shows a scene looking back down the trail towards the parking lot. The second shot shows the distant Sawtooth Mountains, snow, spruce trees and animal/bird tracks. The third shot shows bird tracks - maybe Ptarmigan!
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 March27th_001_ WickershamDomeRC |
 March27th_003_ WickershamDomeRC |
 March27th_004_ WickershamDomeRC |
"Oh, look! A bird just flew into that tree." We zoomed in with our cameras and we managed to each get one photo before it flew away. Here is a cropped out portion of the one Kazuya took - is it a Ptarmigan already changing from it's white winter coat to its brown summer coat, or is it a Grouse? I believe it's a Ptarmigan! The only one we saw. The second and third shots show snowy scenery. The person in the third photo is me.
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 March27th_005Part _WickershamDomeRC |
 March27th_006_ WickershamDomeRC |
 March27th_007_ WickershamDomeRC |
Here are three more scenery shots we took as we climbed a short way up Wickersham Dome. This name may seem familiar to you, if so it is because this is already the third time we've been on Wickersham Dome. We climbed to the summit on July 13th; CLICK HERE for that July trip, and then we came here again on October 1st (CLICK HERE). You may notice that the trail appears to be well used. This is probably common all winter, as this area is only about 30 miles out of Fairbanks, but in addition, this was the finish day for the "White Mountain 100" race, a 100 mile Human-Powered race. Skis, bicycles, and foot are the ways this race is accomplished! We knew nothing about this and were surprised to find the parking area practically filled with cars and trucks when we arrived. We did not see anybody finishing the race. Check out their website if you think this sounds like an interesting event.
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 March27th_008_ WickershamDomeRC |
 March27th_011_ WickershamDomeRC |
 Mar27_03_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
The second and third shots show the extent of our climb. As you can see, we made it to the first rather high domed area, certainly nowhere the summit - the 3rd shot shows the summit area. We stopped here at this wind-scoured and snow-free area and spent a few minutes taking photos and then headed back down.
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 March27th_012_ WickershamDomeRC |
 March27th_014_ WickershamDomeRC |
 Mar27_04_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
Now we are headed back to our rig. The second and third shots show what we assumed to be Ptarmigan tracks in the snow. They were definitely large bird tracks.
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 Mar27_05_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
 March27th_015_ WickershamDomeRC |
 Mar27_07_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
Here is a shot of Kazuya on the trail and then a shot showing more large bird tracks. The third shot was taken from the opposite side of the Steese Highway from the Wickersham Dome parking area. After we got back to the rig we made lunch for ourselves, we took fixings with us, drank some hot coffee and tea and then we left and drove over to the area opposite the parking area and took some photos.
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 Mar27_08Crop _WickershamDome_SnowRC |
 March27th_016_ WickershamDomeRC |
 Mar27_09_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
These three shots were all taken from the area on the opposite side of the Steese Highway from the parking area. In the first and second shots you can see the summit tower on Wickersham Dome. I've outlined it in the first photo so that you can find it. The third shot is zoomed in to the ridge.
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 Mar27_10_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
 March27th_017_ WickershamDomeRC |
 Mar27_11_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
Here are two more final zoomed shots showing the Wickersham Dome ridgeline.
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 Mar27_12_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
 Mar27_13_ WickershamDome_SnowRC |
Now it's March 28th and we took a walk up Steele Creek from our house. These two photos show the icepack/hardpack/snowpack still remaining on our road on March 28th. Then, on March 30th, it snowed 1 - 2 inches! I guess that probably brings us up to about 82 inches of snow for this Winter 2016-2017 season. So, please let me repeat what I said in Row 2 on Page 1, This is the tenth snowiest winter on record for Fairbanks, Alaska, with a total of 80.72 inches of snowfall to March 29th. In October we had 0.82 inches, in November we had 4.4 inches, in December we had 33.5 inches, in January we only had 17.0 inches, in February we had 23.3 inches, and in March we had 1.7 inches, to March 29th, plus 1 - 2 inches on the 30th.
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 Mar28_1_ HardpackOnRoadRC |
 Mar28_2_ HardpackOnRoadRC |
| End March 28th, End Page 3 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Please continue on to page 4 for the conclusion of this month's photos - Kazuya's Baked Delights! |
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