snow

I knew the snow would eventually get here, but kept hoping I could hold on to summer and fall just a little longer. But Saturday morning I woke to a dusting in my yard. That melted pretty quickly as the temperatures warmed up a bit, but it continued to rain and/or snow all day at my house.

This morning, on my weekly trip to the grocery store, we stopped to gas up the vehicle and I noticed Birch Hill still had some good spots of yellow. The deep dark green of the spruce and the yellow of the birch trees were highlighted by the small amounts of snow and frost. Very pretty.

more gold, more cranes and moose

I had to travel with another woman from the office to Delta Junction Wednesday. We left about 8 a.m. with mostly sunny skies and some clouds. As we headed down the Richardson Highway, the gold colors on the trees were vibrant and seemed almost fluid.

About 30 miles or so before we reached Delta Junction, there's a turnout. It sits on top of a bluff overlooking the Tanana River with the foothills and the Alaska Range in the background. In the 30+ years I've lived here, I've traveled that road many times, but never stopped there.

Wednesday, we decided to stop for a short while to take some photos. It was worth it.

I love the different colors, the meandering Tanana and the mountains. On a clear day, the peaks stand out crisp and sharp. Some heavy clouds hung near the summits, but they weren't enough to hide the beauty of this spectacular range of mountains.

I also decided this was a good spot to try out the sweep panorama on my new camera. I'm not disappointed with that feature.

We got a briefing and a look at some of the off-road area near Delta, and managed to get in a little wildife viewing as well.

I have to admit I'm a little embarrassed by this one. I know (and I've been told MANY times) to not shoot photos through the windshield. But I did it anyway, and this one was covered with smears from insect hits. But I wanted to get a shot of this very young cow and her calf. They were near the road, and I know I can't outrun a moose, so the windshield it was. When they figured we weren't moving soon enough they moved into the trees where they watched us as we shot a few more photos before leaving. They were almost perfectly camouflaged among the spruce trees. We took a few more (got more moose's butt than anything else) photos and left them in peace.

We were talking with several of the people we met there and heard a babble overhead. I looked up to see sandhill cranes that apparently been disturbed. It seemed they wouldn't stop coming. I managed to catch a few in flight.

It's trips like this, even when I'm working, that sometimes leave me breathless with the beauty of this land and so very grateful that I live in a place where I can see the spectacular scenery and the wildlife in their habitat.

It's not done yet...

We had a lovely day yesterday, with sunshine and temperatures reaching 70 degrees at my house.

I spent the morning with my daughter and granddaughter. Maddy, 4, "helped" me fill the bird feeders and entertained herself looking through my mini binoculars and running from the camera.

After a nice lunch we headed over to Creamer's Field to see how many birds are left. We didn't see a single sandhill crane, but there were about 100 geese resting in the field and a handfill of ducks. Maddy didn't have quite the same level of interest I did, but she did enjoy looking through the huge public binoculars set out for visitors. They're mounted on a pole and are like those that often require coins to operate, although these don't require payment for use.

The geese were busy feeding and flying. The flight photo is one of the first I've been able to accomplish without too much blur to identify. The camera was on a long-range setting, so the picture is a little soft, but at least the geese are recognizable.

The fireweed is nearly done completely now, with much of it nothing more than red leaves now. I was able to capture this one with a bit of fluff still on it, but those little white seeds were flying all over the place yesterday!

I'm still working on building my photographic skills. I envy people who can look at something and see a story. I upgraded my camera this week, but still haven't gone to a DSLR. I like the ease of transport and convenience of my high-zoom camera. It's got the ease of a point & shoot, but a better zoom and the option of using either an auto setting or a manual one. I have lenses from my old film 35mm cameras that are compatible with a DSLR (I checked), but I know if I go there I'll be toting around 40 pounds of camera gear. And since I like to simply toss the camera into my purse when I go out, I'm staying where I am for now. I keep a small point & shoot in my purse all the time just in case something comes up, but I really prefer the high zoom when I plan to shoot.

These high-zooms have given me a lot of great photos and a lot of pleasure. However, I can't come close to some of the photographers I know. I need a lot more practice and ultimately I may have to move to a DSLR. But for now, I take photos of things that please me. It's a great hobby and I'm never without a camera.

My friend and I went to the Salmon Bake for dinner last evening and the ducks at nearby Mining Village (part of Pioneer Park - http://co.fairbanks.ak.us/pioneerpark/) were either swimming in the water by the sluice or resting on the grass. As I stepped onto the grass to take a photo I startled one very pretty duck who got up and moved away. His left leg must have been injured, as he hopped away on his right one, then stood with the left foot tucked up near his tail.

I'm not sure what the injury is, but I'm a little worried for him. I hope it's a minor one and he will be able to survive either the flight south or the winter. I suspect the ducks at Mining Village may be some of those that winter here. Hopefully he will be ok.

It's another sunny gorgeous day and 59 degrees now, so I think I'll pack up the car and head out with the camera. It's too nice to waste indoors.

Happy Labor Day weekend.