Moth Feeding I

Post twilight brings out these formidable moths for feeding. The moth was flitting about quite similar to that of a hummingbird.

Glenn Moose

Moose, Alces Alces. Moose (also known as elk) are found in the cold plains of North America and Europe where they were named by locals as twig-eaters. The male moose have enormous antlers that the moose actually renews once a year. After the warmer mating season the male moose will shed its antlers to conserve energy for the winter. In the springtime the moose begins to develop its new antlers which take from 3 to 5 months to fully grow. There are thought to be six different subspecies of moose found in the sub-arctic forests today. These are the European moose (found in Finland, Sweden and Norway), the Eastern moose (found in the east of Canada and northeast of the United States), the Western moose (found in the west of Canada), the Siberian moose (found in the east of Siberia and Mongolia), the Alaska moose (found in Alaska and Yukon) and the Shiras moose (found in Wyoming and Utah). Female moose do not have antlers and tend to give birth to the baby moose after an 8 month gestation period. The female tends to have a single moose calf but twins and triplets have been known. This solitary moose was about a half mile off the Glenn Highway, near Eureka, which is about sixty miles west of Glenallen, and one hundred twenty miles east of Palmer.

Are We There Yet?

The pink salmon run in Valdez, Alaska provided this opportunity; I was looking at a stream packed full of salmon. The stream was analogous to that of sardines in a can. Trying to figure out how to present the "crowd," these two popped up. The sequence startled me, I almost missed the opportunity...

Battle Cry

Stellar Sea Lion, Stellar Sea Lions claiming their respective territory and willing to back it up with physical force. The seal on the right lost this interaction and dove off to the right. This group was located in Kenai Fjords National Park, out of Seward, Alaska.

Catching Some Rays

Grizzly Bear, Ursus Arctos Horriblis. The grizzly bear is a sub-species of the brown bear, also known as the Silvertip Bear. The grizzly bears live in the uplands of western North America, and each female bear produces a litter of young roughly every other year. Grizzly bears can often be seen to congregate together around streams in the salmon season to get the best catch. The grizzly bear is generally a solitary mammal. It is estimated that less than 10% of grizzly bears make it into full adulthood. While the grizzly bear has no natural predators, the bears have been hunted by humans almost to extinction. This Griz is making the most of the early summer afternoon sunshine to absorb some comforting warmth.

Bou Here

Caribou, Rangifer Tarandus. The caribou (also known as the reindeer) is found in large and small herds in the very north of the world. Reindeer inhabit both the Arctic Tundra and the North Pole regions which include parts of North America, Europe and Asia. The reindeers hooves adapt to the season so in the summer when the tundra is soft and wet, the reindeers footpads become sponge-like in order to get a bigger surface area on the damp group. In the winter, the reindeers footpads shrink and tighten, exposing the rim of the hoof which cuts into the ice and crusted snow to stop the reindeer from slipping. The changes to the reindeer hooves during the winter enables the reindeer to dig down through the snow to the reindeers favorite food, a lichen known as reindeer moss. The reindeers coat has two layers of fur, a thick woolly undercoat and a longer-haired overcoat which consists of hollow, air-filled hairs which helps to keep the reindeer warm. The reindeer travels the furthest of any land mammal with these migrations often containing thousands of reindeer. The caribou of North America can run at speeds up to 50 mph and can travel as many as 3,000 miles a year. This "lone ranger" was meandering in Denali National Park, Alaska.

Otter be a Meal

Sea Otter, Enhydra Lutris. The sea otter is a small marine mammal native to the north and eastern coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the fact that sea otters are the largest members of the weasel family, sea otters are among the smallest mammals in the marine world. The sea otter is known to have one of the thickest, warmest coats of fur in the animal kingdom which helps to keep the sea otter warm in the cold waters of the North Pacific. It is not uncommon for sea otters to spend their lives exclusively in the water. Sea otters are omnivores as they do eat seaweed and other aquatic plants. Despite this though, most sea otters have a primarily carnivorous diet with sea otters known to eat more than 40 different species of marine animals. The sea otter mainly hunts sea urchins, clams, crabs, snails and small fish in the water. The sea otter is one of the few animals in the world that has the remarkable trait of using tools, such as rocks, in order to get at it's prey. Sea otters have few natural predators in the sea due to their large size. Those sea otters that live further south are mainly preyed upon by the great white shark and those sea otters that inhabit more northern regions of the Pacific, are preyed upon by killer whales. Sea otters are today considered to be an endangered species are they were extensively hunted for their fur in the 18th century which meant that sea otter populations took a devastating plunge and sea otters became rarer and rarer. There are estimated to be less than 2,000 sea otter individuals left in the wild today. Unlike other marine mammals, the sea otter does not have a layer of blubber to keep it warm, so the sea otter has to rely on it's dense fur to keep the cold out. The fur of the sea otter is so thick that no water actually touches the skin of the sea otter. The sea otter's fur also consists of two layers, a waterproof layer of long guard hairs with a layer of short thick fur underneath. Although sea otter hunt and forage for food on their own, sea otters are often seen resting together in large single-sex groups known as rafts. Typically, the average sea otter raft consists of between 10 to 100 sea otter individuals, with the largest recorded sea otter raft containing nearly 2,000 sea otter individuals. After a gestation period of up to a year, the mother sea otter gives birth to a single sea otter although twins are known to occur. Mother sea otters are known to nurse their pups for up to a year. Sea Otters are a challenge to photograph, they are constantly moving. Cute, but moving... This sea otter was feeding in Valdez, Alaska.

Nice Catch !

Black Bear, Ursus americanus. Despite their name, Black Bears can range in color from black to dark red or brown and can even be a lighter tan in certain areas. They have short thick fur covering their heavily built body and have a pointed muzzle, small eyes and larger and more pointed ears than their Brown Bear relatives. Along with being a great deal smaller, there are a number of other notable differences between the two species including the Black Bear lacking the distinctive shoulder hump of their larger cousins. They also have shorter legs and claws which makes the Black Bear a much more agile climber than the Brown Bear. Like all bear species though, the Black Bear has an excellent sense of smell which is used to detect food and less developed hearing and sight, due to their relatively small ears and eyes. This young Black Bear just snagged another "Pinkie" for some additional nutrition. If the salmon run is plentiful enough the bear can be somewhat picky about what it will eat of the salmon. The bear will drop the salmon on the ground, step on its stomach, forcing the roe out whereupon the bear enjoys some "pinkie" caviar. Valdez, Alaska.

Salmon

Salmon on the Run. There doesn't seem to be much water for this salmon to navigate, in fact, this unit took a wrong turn and had to turn around.

Stellar Sleepover...

Stellar Sea Lion, Otariidae. Today there are seven different species of sea lion found in waters around the world, These are the Steller sea lion which is also known as the northern sea lion as it is found in the North Pacific Ocean, and the Steller sea lion is the largest sea lion species. The sea lion generally lives in coastal areas where there is a good food supply and land close by for the sea lion to have a rest from swimming and hunting in the water. The sea lion has 4 flippers which the sea lion is able to turn around when on solid ground, allowing the sea lion to walk on land. Stellar Sea Lions are noisy, odoriferous, and constantly jostling for position. What a perfect place for "king of the hill." These seals are located in Kenai Fjords National Park, near Seward, Alaska.

Turtle Up...

Sea Turtle, Chelonioidea. Sea turtles are found in all of the major oceans and smaller seas with the exception of the Arctic Circle as it is generally too cold for sea turtles as they tend to prefer more temperate waters. The bigger species of sea turtle are found more in the Southern Hemisphere in the tropical, warmer waters. There are 7 known species of sea turtle today; the green sea turtle is found all over the world but there are larger populations of the green sea turtle in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Although sea turtles spend their time out at sea, sea turtles always go back to the same beach to breed and often travel huge distances to get there. The female sea turtles bury their eggs in the sand on the beach where they were born. After laying her eggs the female sea turtle will return to the sea, leaving her eggs to hatch in their nest under the sand. When the baby sea turtles hatch, they walk straight into the ocean and begin their life at sea. Today, all of the 7 different species of sea turtle are under threat from extinction. The decline in the world's sea turtle population is thought to be mainly due to the sea turtles being caught accidentally by large fishing boats and due to the fact that humans will often take the eggs of the sea turtle to eat as a delicacy. Numerous conservation projects are underway all over the world in order to try to protect and preserve the sea turtle populations that remain. Sea turtles tend to eat sea grasses, shrimp, crabs, fish and jellyfish, depending on what the sea turtle can find and catch. Sea turtles have the remarkable ability to travel hundreds (in some cases thousands) of miles in order to get between their feeding grounds and their nesting grounds. Most female sea turtles return to the same beach to nest every time and will often emerge from the water just meters away from where they nested the time before. Sea turtles will often be able to breed for around 30 years with some species of sea turtle not being able to do so until they are 50 years old. Adult sea turtle have few natural predators besides large sharks and being caught up in human fishing nets meaning that they can live to more than 80 years old. Around 90% of baby sea turtles are eaten by smaller predators like raccoons, sea birds and large fish. This rather large Green Turtle seemed to have nary a care in the world... The image was captured during a beautiful boat cruise around the Maui, Hawaii area.

Bottlenose Dolphin

Bottle Nose Dolphin, Tursiops Truncatus. Bottlenose Dolphins are the most common and well-known type of dolphin. Bottlenose dolphins are found inhabiting warm seas worldwide. Bottlenose dolphins are grey in colour and grow between 2 and 4 meters long. These dolphins typically stay in groups from 15 to 2,000 in number. Dolphins are thought to be one of the more intelligent animals of the mammal world, along with bigger primates and humans. Dolphins are thought to communicate to other dolphins through a series of clicking sounds. Bottlenose dolphins generally have a good relationship with humans and due to their intelligence, bottlenose dolphins have been trained by military forces for tasks such as locating sea mines or detecting and marking enemy divers. In some areas the bottlenose dolphins have been known to help the local fishermen by driving fish towards the fishermen and then eating the fish that escape the nets. Some interactions with humans however are harmful to the dolphins as people hunt bottlenose dolphins for food, and dolphins are often killed by accident when there is mass tuna fishing. Bottlenose dolphins are generally known to have a calm and playful temperament, particularly around humans. Hawaii is a wonderful destination... This Bottle-nose provided several minutes of viewing pleasure.

Denali Duo

Moose, Alces Alces. The male moose have enormous antlers that the moose actually renews once a year. After the warmer mating season the male moose will shed its antlers to conserve energy for the winter. In the springtime the moose begins to develop its new antlers which take from 3 to 5 months to fully grow. The antlers serve as protection and assist in the moose ability to hear their surroundings. As fall approaches, bull moose shed their antler "velvet" in preparation for the rut. The lighter rack still displays "pink" from the capillaries, indicating the velvet has been removed for just a short time.

What's That Mom?

A herd of Dall Sheep reside in the Chugach Mountains, along the Turnagain Arm, just a few miles southeast of Anchorage. When driving south on the Seward Highway, if one is aware, the sheep may be seen bounding along the mountainside.

Grazing in the Fall

Solitary caribou grazes on foliage to prepare for the oncoming harsh winter. Fall presents a plethora of color, even if is rather short in duration. This "Bou" was located in Denali National Park.

Moose Ripples

Moose, Alces Alces. Female moose do not have antlers and tend to give birth to the baby moose after an 8 month gestation period. The female tends to have a single moose calf but twins and triplets have been known. Late afternoon near Cooper Landing, Alaska, this young lady was multi-tasking, bathing and munching the local flora. She was apparently enjoying the warmth of the sun and didn't give a care about who was around.