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This is Page 1 of 2 - the best of April 2021!
posted: May 2nd, 2021
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This page begins with a series of photos which were taken between September 24, 2020 and April 4, 2021 which show the snow as it was building up through the winter.  The second image in Row 4 is an animated GIF which shows the entire series. Each image shows for 3 seconds, so please be a little bit patient.  Then there are some photos which were taken as the snow fell on April 4.  After that are some photos which were taken at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, and then a few more snowy photos taken near home.  Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Snow Accumulation - September 24, 2020 through April 4, 2021
  As stated up above, the first four rows this month show the snow accumulation over the course of our long Alaskan winter. This row shows the first three shots, taken on September 24, October 26, and October 29.
Sept24_WestYardRC
Sept24_
WestYardRC
Oct26_1_Snow_At_HomeRC
Oct26_1_
Snow_At_HomeRC
Oct29_1_WestYardSnowRC
Oct29_1_West
YardSnowRC

  Continuing the "snow accumulation" series of photos - these three shots illustrate the situation on November 6, November 7, and November 17.
Nov6_05_SnowStormAtHomeRC
Nov6_05_Snow
StormAtHomeRC
Nov7_10_iPhone_SnowWorkAtHomeRC
Nov7_10_iPhone
_SnowWorkAtHomeRC
Nov17_1_iPhone_AtHome_SnowRC
Nov17_1_iPhone
_AtHome_SnowRC

  The first "snow accumulation" photo in this row was taken on January 11 - note that the snow has actually decreased since the previous photo on November 17. This photo was taken during early morning daylight hours and that is why everything is a bit pinkish. The second shot was taken on March 7 and the final shot was taken on March 29. Until March 28 it seemed that we would not have much of a total snow accumulation this winter, but then it started getting ridiculous.
Jan11_iPhone_EarlySunColorsRC
Jan11_iPhone
_EarlySunColorsRC
March7_OutWestWindowRC
March7_Out
WestWindowRC
March29_1_FromWestWindowRC
March29_1_From
WestWindowRC

  And then - April 3 and 4 came along and we were no longer short of snow at all, in fact there was one heck of a lot. If I remember correctly it ended up being about the 4th most snow accumulation on record or something like that. Officially, there were 40 inches of snow on the ground on April 10. The final shot in this row is the animated GIF which shows the build-up of snow. It's 3 seconds between images to give you time to study each image a little bit.
Apr4_1_OutWestWindowRC
Apr4_1_Out
WestWindowRC
Winter_2020_21_WestYard
Winter_2020_21
_WestYard

End Snow Accumulation, Begin April 4 - 24
  The first shot in this row was taken during the snowstorm of early April. I thought that we had around 14 inches of new snow, but officially it was 18-19 inches. All of these photos were taken during early morning hours. Isn't the amount of snow on the bird feeder kind of amazing?
Apr4_1_NewSnowAtHome14InchesRC
Apr4_1_NewSnow
AtHome14InchesRC
Apr4_2_3_ManualPano_NewSnowAtHome14InchesRC
Apr4_2_3_ManualPano_
NewSnowAtHome14InchesRC
Apr4_9Adj_NewSnowAtHome14InchesRC
Apr4_9Adj_NewSnow
AtHome14InchesRC

  These three images were all created from photos taken on April 11. The first one was taken from the porch while looking south across our garden. The center shots were taken while looking more or less east from our porch and the third image was taken from the edge of the driveway.
April11_1_2_AutoPano_AtHome_SnowRC
April11_1_2_AutoPano
_AtHome_SnowRC
April11_4_5_AutoPano_AtHome_SnowRC
April11_4_5_AutoPano
_AtHome_SnowRC
April11_6_7_AutoPano_ExpSIP_AtHome_SnowRC
April11_6_7_AutoPano
_ExpSIP_AtHome_SnowRC

  On April 13 we went to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge to see which migratory waterfowl had arrived in Fairbanks. As you can see, the Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and the Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) had arrived, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game had cleared parts of the Refuge main field and also had spread various types of barley and other foods - the birds were happy.
Apr13_1_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr13_1_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC
Apr13_4_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr13_4_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC

  On April 13 the evening sky was a really strange light orange/pink color and it was quite the scene. These photos do not even begin to show just how weird and amazing it was, but maybe you can get an idea.
Apr13_1Crop_iPh_EveningLighting_SnowRC
Apr13_1Crop_iPh_
EveningLighting_SnowRC
Apr13_4_5_Adj_AutoPano_iPh_EveningLighting_SnowRC
Apr13_4_5_Adj_AutoPano_
iPh_EveningLighting_SnowRC

  On April 18 we took a walk up the road from our place. These two shots show Gettinger's Field, a place we often walk to and look at. In the second shot you can see that we have found a fox which we were able to zoom in to. It was walking back and forth in an area and we realized, after a while, that it was probably listening for voles and/or shrews running along in their tunnels beneath the snow because we'd see it stop from time to time and jump on the snow to crush it down and maybe grab a shrew or vole.
Apr18_01_GettingersField_FoxRC
Apr18_01_Gettingers
Field_FoxRC
Apr18_02_GettingersField_FoxRC
Apr18_02_Gettingers
Field_FoxRC

  This shot of Gettinger's Field is more zoomed than the one just above, and the shot of the fox is, likewise, more zoomed in than the one above it.
Apr18_2_GettingersFieldRC
Apr18_2_
GettingersFieldRC
Apr18_10_GettingersField_FoxRC
Apr18_10_
GettingersField_FoxRC

  On April 21 we again went to Creamer's Field to check out the Migratory Waterfowl which utilizes that place. In this row you see some Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) and Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator).
Apr21_01_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_01_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_02_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_02_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_04_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_04_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC

  In the first shot in this row you can see more Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator), along with some Canada Geese and a Mallard Duck. The birds in the second and third shots are a pair of White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons).
Apr21_08_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_08_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_16_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_16_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_17_CreamersFieldWaterfowlRC
Apr21_17_Creamers
FieldWaterfowlRC

  These two shots were taken three days later and at that time the Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) have also arrived.
Apr24_4_CreamersFieldBirdsRC
Apr24_4_Creamers
FieldBirdsRC
Apr24_5_CreamersFieldBirdsRC
Apr24_5_Creamers
FieldBirdsRC

End April 4 - 24, End Page 1
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