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posted: April 30th, 2023 |
This page begins with sunrise colors on April 3rd. After that, we jump to April 8th with a trip out to Chena Hot Springs and several bird photos. Then there are two photos that were taken at home - they show the snow depth and extent. Then we show some photos of more birds on April 14th, more snowy photos at home, then a Boreal Owl at home. After that is a visit to Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge and several photos of waterfowl. Similar to past years April photos pages, the final item here is seven photos that compare snow depth in our driveway on April 30 in the years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin April 3rd - 30th |
The two sunrise shots in this row were taken on April 3rd at 7:10 AM. They were taken from the east end of our front porch.
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 Apr03_1_Sunrise TimeAtHomeRC |
 Apr03_2_Sunrise TimeAtHomeRC |
On April 8th we went out to Chena Hot Springs for a relaxing day soaking in the hot spring lake, eating their food, and seeing what there was to see. One thing we saw in unprecedented numbers were Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis). As you can see, somebody put out some bird seed and they are quite happy to eat that free food.
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 April8th_005_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
 April8th_021_ChenaHot Springs_SnowBuntingRC |
 April8th_027Crop_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
Here are three additional shots of Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis). The only time of the year we see this species is during spring migration, when they briefly pass through Interior Alaska on their way to their nesting grounds.
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 April8th_076_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
 April8th_007Crop_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
 April8th_130Crop_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
Here are the final two photos of the Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis). We hope to be able to see them again next year.
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 April8th_081_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
 April8th_138Crop_Chena HotSprings_SnowBuntingRC |
We were most fortunate to also have seen a single pair of Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches (Leucosticte tephrocotis) - WOW! Kazuya had never seen this species, and I had only seen it once before in my life - back in 1977 at Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
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 April8th_146Adj_ChenaHotSprings _GrayCrownedRosyFinchRC |
 April8th_150Crop_ChenaHotSprings _GrayCrownedRosyFinchRC |
 April8th_155Crop_ChenaHotSprings _GrayCrownedRosyFinchRC |
The first photo in this row was taken looking south while standing in our driveway on April 13th. The second shot was taken out our west window and shows snow depth. Note that this is AFTER I have already climbed up on top of this pile once and knocked the top off it so that we could continue to be able to throw snow up there.
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 Apr13_ DrivewayAtHomeRC |
 Apr14_ FromWestWindowRC |
On April 14th the Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) came to our neighborhood. One of our neighbors down the road has some Mountain Ash trees in their yard and those berries are the reason these birds visit our local area. Kazuya was most fortunate to have gotten these shots of them while they were in the area.
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 April14th_010_ BohemianWaxwingRC |
 April14th_016_ BohemianWaxwingRC |
 April14th_028_ BohemianWaxwingRC |
Here are two additional photos of the Bohemian Waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus) when they visited our neighborhood. The final photo in this row shows something we tried as an experiment this year (more details in next row).
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 April14th_044Crop_ BohemianWaxwingRC |
 April14th_054_BohemianWaxwingRC |
 Apr16_From WestWindowRC |
The first photo in this row shows the experiment upon completion. The center shot shows our house and woodshed from our driveway. The third shot shows this experiment a couple of days after completion. We did this to hopefully, give the snow-melt that is uphill from here some space to soak into the ground before it gets to our driveway. If the experiment works it may prevent our driveway from being so muddy during mud-month (spring breakup).
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 Apr18_ FromWestWindowRC |
 Apr23_1_2_ReposPano_From DrivewayLookingNorthRC |
 Apr21_West YardFromWindowRC |
On April 18th I thought I saw something weird in the woodshed while looking out the window, so we went outdoors to study the situation. What did we find? Well, this Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus) is becoming a regular visitor to our porch, and now our woodshed. Maybe this summer it will grace us with some views of its young ones.
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 Apr18_4_Boreal OwlInWoodshedRC |
 April18th_012 Crop_OwlRC |
On April 25th we spent a few hours at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge - the waterfowl migration is now in full swing. In this row you can see primarily Trumpeter Swans (Cygnus buccinator) and Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons).
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 Apr25_11_Creamers FieldBirdsRC |
 Apr25_16_Creamers FieldBirdsRC |
 April25th_006_ CreamersFieldRC |
Here are three additional photos of waterfowl at Creamer's Field. In this row, in addition to swans and white-fronted geese, you can also see several Canada Geese (Branta canadensis).
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 Apr25_17_Creamers FieldBirdsRC |
 Apr25_19_Creamers FieldBirdsRC |
 Apr25_27_Creamers FieldBirdsRC |
Here are the final three shots of waterfowl at Creamer's Field. The final shot, by Kazuya, is pretty special, isn't it.
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 April25th_200_ CreamersFieldRC |
 Apr25_30_Creamers FieldBirdsRC |
 April25th_241_ CreamersFieldRC |
These two shots were taken from our East upstairs window on April 27th. As you can see, there's still a good amount of snow left here. Those animal tracks that are filled with leaves and birch seeds were made by the feral cat that roams the neighborhood every day.
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 Apr27_1_2_ReposPano_From UpstairsEastWindowRC |
 Apr27_3_From UpstairsEastWindowRC |
In this row we show you the first three of seven photos that were taken on either April 30 or May 1 over the years. These three photos were taken on April 30, 2017, April 30, 2018, and May 1, 2019.
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 April 30, 2017 |
 April 30, 2018 |
 April 30, 2019 |
Here are the next two comparison photos - April 30, 2020, and May 1, 2021.
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 April 30, 2020 |
 May 1, 2021 |
And here are the final two shots, taken on April 30, 2022, and April 30, 2023.
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 April 30, 2022 |
 April 30, 2023 |
| End April 30, End April 2023's Photos, Begin Our Publications Links |
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| End Our Publications Links, End Page 1 of 1, April 2023 |
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