“Be a harbinger,” they said. “It will be fun,” they said.

The flight was delayed due to pulchritude.

A visit to Haines, Alaska, is like frosting on the cake.

Al Batt: Cloudy November a norm, but Decembers don’t fare much better

 The guy from just down the road

  My neighbor Crandall stops by.
  “How are you doing?” I ask.
  “Everything is nearly copacetic. Overall, I’m not too shabby. There are days when I wish I lived some place where I could shovel the snow from my driveway with my hat. Thanksgiving was a good one. I can tell by the weight gain. I was reminded once again that stuffing and green bean salad are what you eat when you run out of mashed potatoes and gravy. I forgot to make a list of things to do today, so I’m feeling listless. That gave me time to think about hunting with my grandfather. Grandpa was a character. He chewed tobacco because it saved on matches. We hunted rabbits without using a gun. I’d dig a hole and he’d drop a rock into it. Then we’d wait until we saw a rabbit. I’d shout and wave my arms at the critter. This scared the bunny enough that it looked for a place to hide. When the rabbit saw that hole, it jumped into it, hit its head on the rock and knocked itself out.”
Naturally
  November isn’t the favorite color of many. We have an average of 39 percent of possible sunshine in November, our cloudiest month. December, the second cloudiest month, gives us 42 percent. The two months save us money on sunscreen.
  Crows gather in flocks to circle the wagons. More eyes make for more effective predator detection.
  There is the “Farmers’ Almanac” from Lewiston, Maine, and there is the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” from Dublin, New Hampshire. The two publications are useful and entertaining, and make great gifts. They serve as reminders that I need to get out there and enjoy nature.
Going outside and staying a while
  “So you’re back?”
  “Here I am, I think,” I said in response.
  “Why did you go to Alaska?” a friend asked.
  “To visit Haines.”
  “An underwear factory?”
  “No, Haines is a beautiful city and borough in southeast Alaska.”
  “What do you go there for if you’re not looking at underwear being made?”
  “To see the bald eagles,” I say.
  “You can see them here.”
  “True, but the ones I see here aren’t in Haines, Alaska. Haines is a place where when I go outside, I want to stay outside. That’s the way I was as a boy. Haines helps me remember that.”
  That said, I have Minnesota between my toes and that suits me.
An Alaska account
  The road, tucked between mountains and a river, twisted towards road construction and bald eagles feeding upon spawned-out chum salmon. The natural phenomenon responsible for five miles of open water during freezing months is called an alluvial fan reservoir. Water there remains 10 to 20 degrees warmer than surrounding water. The warmer water percolates into the Chilkat River in Haines, Alaska, and keeps it from freezing. In 1917, the Territorial Council initiated a bounty on bald eagles, blamed for having a negative effect upon the salmon industry. Beginning at $1 per pair of feet, the bounty was raised to $2. By the time the bounty was discontinued in 1953, over 128,000 eagles had been killed. When Alaska achieved statehood in 1959, the bald eagle became protected under the Bald Eagle Protection Act of 1940.
  There was a lone bird against the sky. A raven watching as a bald eagle plucked a merganser from water filled with salmon. It apparently had grown weary of eating salmon.
Q-and-A
  “Why are some moths called millers?” The wings of the moths are covered with fine scales that rub off when touched. They look similar to the fine powder found on a flour mill worker's clothing.
  “Do hedge apples repel spiders? The yellow-green grapefruit-sized fruits are also called Osage oranges, hedge balls, horse apples, green brains, monkey balls or mock oranges. The hedge apple tree, related to the mulberry, has several names including Osage orange, bodark or Maclura pomifera. Early settlers found the Osage orange useful. Because of its thorny branches, it was planted as a living fence that made an effective barrier for livestock. The wood was used as fence posts, furniture, archery bows, nails and firewood. Do hedge apples repel spiders, insects or mice? The fruits are sold in supermarkets for that purpose. Iowa State researchers extracted compounds from hedge apples that were found to repel insects when concentrated. However, the scientists reported the natural concentrations of these compounds in hedge apples were too low to be an effective repellant. I’ve tromped around fallen hedge apples in the company of spiders and insects many times. Hedge apples do repel if you throw them at the spiders.
Thanks for stopping by
  “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” -- Edith Wharton
  “The lost leaves measure our years; they are gone as the days are gone.” - Richard Jefferies.
DO GOOD.

© Al Batt 2018

A Steller’s jay seen in Alaska. The name Steller’s makes this one of the most often misspelled bird names. - Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune

The incredible vanishing bird, not appearing daily.

The Hawkeye goldfinch, the state bird of Iowa.

A house sparrow dressed for winter.

On a busy day, the eagle decided to eat at its desk.

Home for Thanksgiving.

The scene of a bird dance class.

Harlequin ducks.

 Orchards have shared their treasures,

The fields, their yellow grain,So open wide the doorway--Thanksgiving comes again!

–Unknown

At the Tongass National Forest.

A blue jay ponders the human condition.

Not all lovely fall colors fall from trees. Some fly from trees.

Blue jays will work for peanuts.

The pond at Carleton College. Perhaps a water studies class.

The good folks at Alaska Air always seem to be happy to see me. They may be pretending, but I don’t care.

It’s a new day. Time to climb another mountain and be surprised by what is on the other side.

Part of my daily walk in Haines, Alaska, was downhill, yet it was uplifting.

 “Shall we gather at the river?” said I.

“Let’s do that,” said the eagle.

The cafe was out of salmon patties.

This young bald eagle discovers good things come to those who don’t bait, too.

Cold weather is all fluff.

According to the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, opossums groom themselves fastidiously and eat any trespassing ticks they find.

This fish wheel in Haines, Alaska, is a water-powered device, consisting of a revolving wheel with baskets and paddles attached, used for catching fish, particularly salmon.

A beaver chew.

A natural high in Alaska.

The cat of the house attempts to turn down the sunlight’s brightness.

That jokester Jack Frost gave this rusty blackbird a coldfoot (the opposite of a hotfoot) and the blackbird found a warm spot in its own feathers.

This rusty blackbird dropped a seed. Butter bill!

A rusty blackbird wishing it had caught an earlier flight.

The feathers tipped with gray will slowly wear over the fall and winter, revealing a cardinal in brilliant red plumage.

A snowbird on a snowy day.

Chipmunk cheeks

Al Batt: Beavers with satisfactory swimming holes may build lodges instead

by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
November 17, 2018 09:00 AMBald eagles — older and younger. Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I say.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. I lost my mood ring. I don’t know how I feel about that. I’m glad the election is over. I voted just once this year. I know politicians keep only 6.3 percent of their promises, but I hope they are worth keeping. Maybe things will be all right. I was so busy voting only once that I haven’t had the time to do any macrame.”

“You do macrame?” I ask, changing the subject.

“I just told you that I haven’t been able to find the time to do any macrame. I’ve never been able to find the time to do any macrame.“

“How is your cold?” I say.

“One day, I was fancy free and footloose. The next day, I felt like I needed some fixing up. I finally went to see the doctor. I’d come from attending a function where I’d felt it was proper to wear a suit and tie. I’d put a flower in my lapel. I felt lousy and I must have looked worse because the doctor said I looked like a well-kept graveyard. That gets a fellow’s attention.”

Leave it to beavers

I was slaving away in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The city was named for a beaver dam located in a stream flowing into the Beaver Dam River. The area had been known as Okwaanim, Chippewa for beaver dam. Beaver dams are built by beavers to provide ponds as protection against predators such as coyotes, wolves and bears, and to provide access to food in winter. If lakes or rivers have deep enough water, beavers may not build dams and live in bank burrows and lodges instead. If the water isn’t deep enough to keep beavers safe from predators and the lodge entrances ice-free, beavers build dams. These structures modify the natural environment in a way that the overall ecosystem builds upon the change, making beavers a keystone species. A keystone species is one that helps define an entire ecosystem and without that species, an ecosystem would be dramatically different or cease to exist.

American Bald Eagle

Foundation

I spoke at the Bald Eagle Festival at the American Bald Eagle Foundation located in Haines, Alaska. Alaska is where folks think Texas is cute. Haines is 80 miles north of Juneau. As many as 3500 baldeagles have been found in a single count. All species of Alaska’s Pacific salmon (king, sockeye, coho, pink and chum) are caught in the Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers. Hemlock and Sitka spruce trees predominate. Brown and black bears, wolves, coyotes, moose, mountain goats, porcupine, river otters, harbor seals, orcas and humpback whales are seen there. The 1991 movie “White Fang” was filmed in Haines as was “Gold Rush” on the Discovery Channel. The population of the Haines Borough is about 2,400 (and 1,897 dogs) in the summer, dropping to 1,800 in the winter. Haines is where the tundra and the rainforest meet. The numbers jump around depending on the source, but the average annual rainfall is approximately 48 inches with an annual snowfall of 122-130 inches. During the winter of 2011-12, 360 inches of snow fell downtown. I love seeing the mountains. I recall leading a trip to Alaska and hoping that Denali (formerly Mt. McKinley) would be visible. I arose early and delighted in seeing the highest peak in North America. I told my charges that the mountain was out. One of them asked, “Where else would it be?” I was nearly hit by a LFBE (Low Flying Bald Eagle) while birding in Haines this year.

Q&A

“Why do Canada geese like lawns?” Two reason: goose food and safety. The grass provides the food and a lawn makes it easy to detect predators.

“How much can a chipmunk stuff into its cheeks?” The eastern chipmunk is about 10 inches long including its tail. Its cheeks can stretch to three times larger than the chipmunk’s head. I’m often told that its name came from the sound that the animal makes. However, the common name may have been spelled “chitmunk” from the Odawa word jidmoonh or the Ojibwe ajidamoo. A male chipmunk is called a buck; a female is a doe; a baby is called kit, kitten or pup; and a group of chipmunks is a scurry.

Thanks for stopping by

“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” — Dalai Lama

“The thin snow now driving from the north lodges on my coat. How full of the creative genius is the air in which these flakes are generated. I could hardly more admire if real stars fell and lodged on my coat.” — Henry David Thoreau

“No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, November!” — Thomas Hood

Do good.

Bald eagles — younger and older. 

We have snow, but it’s still steady as she goes.

Seen at the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska.

Seen at the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska.

I challenged the day to show me something. It showed me everything.

As seen at the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska.

As seen at the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska.

Thirty-six pounds!

As seen at the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska.

Birding takes many forms.

Cold weather is the opossum Olympics

A porcupine cannot throw its quills. This is especially true of one that is stuffed and mounted.

My wife releases a rehabilitated bald eagle in Alaska.

Slicing

This bald eagle is no golfer, but it has a slice. The ejection of fecal matter by birds of prey is called slicing. This bird flings it with some velocity.

In Haines, Alaska.

There is some fishing going on in Haines, Alaska, but the bullheads weren’t biting.

We don’t have a deer rock, so our kitchen table is a place where major decisions are made.

Nature is great when taken in small or large doses.

This particular pronghorn was not reaching speeds of 60 mph.

Wile E. Coyote’s cousin Ware E. Coyote.

With each step I take on this day.

A bag bird perched in a tree. I was unable to determine the species.

The victor and a bit of the vanquished.

So long have you been fishing?

It pays to use good fishing equipment.

I had accidentally stumbled into the world’s worst petting zoo.

I was far from it, but I felt as if I were at the top of the mountain.

As Jeffrey Lebowski, in the movie “The Big Lebowski,” would say, “Ah, nice marmot.”

A groundhog is a species of marmot.

A pied-billed grebe takes its leave from a leaf.

Mulling over mountains

 “The top of one mountain is always the bottom of another.” — Marianne Williamson

Magpies climbing a mountain.

Gold prospecting in the Chilkat Valley.

Part of my morning walk is here in the Fort William H. Seward area of Haines, Alaska.

I was welcomed with opened arms at Fort Seward in Haines, Alaska.

 “How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!”

John Muir

Made from mussel shells, marine bivalve mollusks.

A beached whale in Haines, Alaska.

A woman puts ice & snow traction cleats on her shoes in the village of Klukwan in Alaska. Snow tires for humans.

Part of the garb worn by a dancer in Klukwan, Alaska.

Leaving Haines, Alaska.

The Steller’s jay is one of the most frequently misspelled bird names.

The Shrine of St. Therese’s in Juneau, Alaska. A lovely place to be quiet.

Colder winter than usual?

Al Batt: Get ready: Farmers’ Almanac predicts colder winter than usual

by Al Batt, albertleatribune.com
November 10, 2018 09:00 AMThe hardy Carolina wren has been wintering farther north in recent years. - Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

My neighbor Crandall stops by.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“Everything is nearly copacetic. My philosophy is limited to the lyrics from the songs of The Rolling Stones and lines from old movies, but I believe every time I hear a mousetrap snap, an angel gets a mouse. I should feel sorry for the mice. After all, I’ve been caught. I remember it being around this time of the year when I got caught eating a Butterfinger candy bar in class. The Butterfinger was the last remaining survivor of my Halloween candy. Mrs. Bach asked if I’d brought enough candy for everybody. I said, ‘Where are we living, in the Soviet Union?’”

“I remember that. You took a big note home from school that day,” I say.

Naturally

William Wilfred Campbell wrote, “Now by great marshes wrapt in mist, Or past some river’s mouth, Throughout the long, still autumn day, Wild birds are flying south.”

The yard scold, a boisterous blue jay, has a comment on everything. This is the time of the year when the crows begin to get on the nerves of anyone named Caw. It’s also the time of the year when we notice much of the leaves remaining on trees belong to nonnatives like buckthorn, lilac and weeping willow.

I moseyed along a lovely trail at the Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary in Columbia, Missouri. I walked in on a Carolina wren concert. A pair bond can form between Carolina wrens at any time of the year and they usually mate for life. A pair stays together all year and forage on their territory together.

The 2019 Farmers’ Almanac — not The Old Farmers’ Almanac — predicts a colder-than-normal winter from the Continental Divide east through the Appalachians. The Farmers’ Almanac, in Lewiston, Maine, bases its long-range forecasts on a mathematical and astronomical formula developed in 1818, also predicts above-normal precipitation (much snow) for the Midwest, with the majority of it falling in January and February. The teeth-chattering cold is to arrive mid-February.

Q&A

“Do both male and female pelicans get bumps on their bills?” During the breeding season, both males and females develop a pronounced fibrous plate on the top of their beaks called a nuptial tubercle that is shed by the end of the breeding season.

“What are the three sisters?” Corn, beans, and squash. Native Americans found this trio thrived when planted together. In legend, the plants were gifts from the gods to be grown together, eaten together and celebrated together. The corn offers the beans support. The beans pull nitrogen from the air and into the soil for the benefit of all three. The large leaves of the sprawling squash protect the others by creating a living mulch shading the soil while keeping it cool and moist, and limiting weeds.

“Were dodos really stupid?” No. Dodos were thought stupid because they were comfortable around humans and were easily hunted on their native island of Mauritius. Their trusting nature and the introduction of invasive species wiped them out a century after they were discovered. Dodos had a similar brain-to-body size ratio to that of pigeons, which demonstrate an ability to be trained.

“What is the world’s largest songbird?” The common raven.

“Do bats have hollow bones?” Unlike most birds, which have hollow bones, the bones of bats aren’t hollow, but are typically small and delicate. The bones of their wings are lengthened to provide support for the wing membranes. Bats make up one-fifth of the mammal population on Earth according to Bat Conservation International.

“How can I identify common buckthorn?” The leaves remain green in the fall. Buckthorn has three or four upward curving veins on each side of the mid-vein. When veins curve at the ends as they approach the leaf margin, the leaves are called arcuate. The leaf margin or edges of the leaf are slightly serrated or toothed. Buckthorn berries are found only on mature female plants and become purple to purple-black in late summer to early fall. Each berry contain three to four seeds and the stem attaches directly to the twig. Berries of native species like chokecherry or black cherry are grouped and have a single seed each. Non-chemical buckthorn control options include cutting the tree and covering the cut stump with a tin can or black plastic to prevent re-sprouting. Use nails to affix the can or a tie to affix the black plastic and leave in place for one or two years.

Thanks for stopping by

“Now is the time of the illuminated woods; they have a sense of sunshine, even on a cloudy day, given by the yellow foliage; every leaf glows like a tiny lamp; one walks through their lighted halls with a curious enjoyment.” — John Burroughs, from “The Heart of Burrough’s Journals”

“When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.“ — Lin Yutang

Do good.

Al Batt of Hartland is a member of the Albert Lea Audubon Society. Email him at SnoEowl@aol.com.

The hardy Carolina wren has been wintering farther north in recent years. - Al Batt/Albert Lea Tribune

This young bald eagle will develop a white head and tail at about five years of age.

The scenery made waiting for a pilot car on the Haines Highway in Alaska a most pleasant time. Road work is ubiquitous.

A bald eagle thinking of having salmon for lunch.

Bear tracks.

The view from the village of Klukwan in Alaska.

John Muir said,“The mountains are calling and I must go.”

They have me on speed dial.

 “Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” — Theodore Roethke

The old don’t always look in the same direction as the young. Bald eagles along the Chilkat River in Haines, Alaska.

Haines, Alaska, in the early morning.

Alaska is where rubber duckies can still be found in the wild.

An eagle on a stick.

Seeing the light in Haines, Alaska.

Mountains never block the view.

The ferry LeConte on its way from Juneau, Alaska, to Hoonah (The Little City with a Big Heart) 48 nautical miles away. A nautical mile is 1.1508 miles.

Eldred Rock Lighthouse in the Haines Borough, Alaska.

Chilkoot Lake. Haines, Alaska.

A black-billed magpie. Magpie means “black-and-while Margaret.”

Fenced graves at a cemetery in Haines, Alaska.

A quiet cemetery alongside the Haines Highway in Alaska.

Merganser comes from the Latin mergus (waterfowl, diver) plus anser (goose).

This giant hammer at the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska, was modeled after a 1923 Maydole hammer.

The Haines Brewery is owned by a gentleman originally from Owatonna, Minnesota. The grownups tell me that the adult beverages produced there are very good, especially the spruce tip ale.

Haines, Alaska, where the mountains rise from the planes.

There are days when the DOT has nothing more to say.

What does an eagle have to do to get his photo taken around here?

It isn’t the highest perch, but the rent is reasonable.

OK, bald eagles, look at the camera and smile.

A young bald eagle tries to hide a salmon from other eagles waiting to pirate it.

A black-billed magpie. A magpie is a person who chatters noisily.

Ready for takeoff.

If you wanted to partake in the Gold Rush of 1880-1904, you needed a large backpack and a large piggy bank.

This corpse flower(Titan Arum) was at Gustavus Adolphus. It doesn’t often flower, but when it does, it produces an intense odor similar to the stench of rotting flesh.

One of my favorite places. Chilkoot Lake in Haines, Alaska.

One of my favorite birds, the American dipper was once known as a water ouzel.

This spot along the Chilkoot River was, as might be expected, peaceful.

If this starling could talk (and they can learn to talk), it would say, “I’m a pretty bird.”

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau.

These are not rolling stones

I’ve taken a liking for lichen.

It’s not only a squirrel feeder, it’s a place for a squirrel to wait for a bus in inclement weather.