posted: May 2nd, 2019 |
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This page begins with April 22nd and another visit to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.  Then we show you some photos of our yard and snow and melting snow and snow again and so on.  Down near the bottom are the month's photos of Kazuya's Baked Delights products.  Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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Begin April 22nd |
  Here are the first three photos from our April 22nd trip to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. In these shots you can see Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator), Canada Geese (Branta canadensis), Mallard Ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and more. |
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  Here are three more shots of migratory waterfowl at Creamer's Field. These birds stop by here for a short time to take a break from their annual migration to their breeding grounds. |
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  We hope you can appreciate the Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks and so on. We surely do appreciate it - it's a sure sign that spring is soon going to be here. |
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  Here are yet another three shots. The center shot truly shows the scale of a Trumpeter Swan compared to a Canada Goose. The Canada Goose would appear huge compared to many birds, but in this shot it is dwarfed by the Swan. |
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  Here are two more shots of migratory waterfowl. The center shot is an overview of Creamer's Field. |
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  Incredible. Is that the best word? |
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  Here are two shots which show the White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons). We don't see a great number of these here. |
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  Here are two more shots in which you can find the White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) as well as some Canada Geese. |
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End April 22nd, Begin Spring Breakup |
  This has been a really strange spring here in Fairbanks. On April 11th the snow in our yard was nearly gone and I had raked out the pile beside the driveway so that it would melt quicker. Then on April 19th it snowed again - about 2 inches here at our place. In the third shot you can see how heavily it was snowing. |
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  That snow from April 19th melted quickly and by April 21st our yard was totally bare of snow. We cut down 4 of the trees in our West Yard - you can compare this photo to the first one in the row just above to see which ones are gone. We want to cut down all of the trees which are dangerously close to the house over the course of this summer. Then, on April 24th we woke up to another 4 inches of snow, as can be seen in the center photo. By this time of the year the sun is giving off good heat, and that is obvious in the third photo, where the unmelted snow shows the precise shadow of the woodshed.
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  The first photo here, taken on April 15th shows the sun reflecting off the stovepipe of our woodstove at 8:30 PM. The days are already incredibly long, but nothing like how long they will soon be. On April 15th we already had 15 hours, 11 minutes, and 43 seconds of possible sun. On April 30th we had 16:55:39 of possible sun. On the solstice (June 21) we'll have 21:49:36 of possible sun. The second photo shows an amazingly bright sun-dog on April 20th. This was noteworthy because we don't generally see sun dogs when the sun is this high in the sky.
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  As I have done for the past years since we've been in Alaska, here are comparison shots of our driveway and garden area, taken from near the front porch. These shots show April 30, 2017, April 30, 2018, and May 1, 2019. |
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April 30, 2018 April 30, 2018 |
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End Spring Breakup, Begin (Link to Kazuya's Baked Delights Facebook Page) |
  Here are some noteworthy Baked Delights which Kazuya baked during April. The first shot shows Chocolate Marble Twists while the second and third shots show the exterior and interior of some Maple Melon-Pan. He melted some butter and mixed Maple Syrup in it and then let it harden again and placed pieces of it in the center of these. They are super delicious. |
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  The first shot in this row shows what Kazuya called Miso-Pan, but they were actually more like a Miso cookie. He didn't like the taste, but I did. The second and third photos are Pao De Queijo, also delicious. |
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  Here is a cake which Kazuya made for a special order. It was rather funny. It was ordered by a husband for his wife and he told Kazuya precisely what to write on the cookies. Then, they sent him a photo as she was getting ready to blow out the candles, and they had removed the cookie which says 41 and replaced it with candles which said 42nd birthday! I guess it's typical - how many husbands even remember their wife's birthdays, let alone their wife's correct age? The third shot shows some Walnut Buns. Of course they were delicious.
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End Kazuya's Baked Delights, End April 2019's Photos, Begin Our Publications Links |
We'd be thrilled to have you buy one of our books. For additional information regarding any title please click the "General Information" tab on the "Our Books" button down at the bottom of this page. Click on any thumbnail to go to its Amazon.com webpage. |
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End Our Publications Links, End Page 2 of 2, April 2019 |
If you would like to donate to our hiking & traveling fund or show your appreciation for our efforts you can donate through PayPal. A single donation will entitle you to request a single full-sized photo IN THE DONATION MONTH - which you may then use as a desktop wallpaper or whatever. The copyright will be retained by us and the photo will be inconspicuously marked with the copyright symbol (©), year and photographer's name. (Donation probably not tax deductible.) |