wildlife Archives ~ Page 2 of 4 ~ Rambling ranger

January 22, 2021January 24, 2021

Biodiversity is an Emotional Issue

When it comes to biodiversity, my feelings run through the full gamut of emotions.

Happiness

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge — Biodiverse landscapes make us happy.

Being close to nature has been a priority of mine for nearly my whole adult life. From my first backpacking trip on, I realized that immersing myself in landscapes teeming with life – many different forms of life interacting easily and naturally with each other – kept me healthy, happy and sane. Knowing that I am just a piece of a very big puzzle, a cog in the unbelievably complex wheel of the Universe, helps me to regain a proper perspective when I get overwhelmed by challenges that seem too great for me to handle. It’s really not all about me; my problems are so inconsequential when I am surrounded by the real Big Picture.

I’m not alone. It has been acknowledged by cultures all over the globe that healthy, thriving ecosystems are necessary for our physical, mental, and spiritual health. Variety IS the spice of life.

Gratitude

Death Valley Monkeyflower — Plant biodiversity is incredibly important in our lives.

Every day I am grateful for the complexity of life. Biodiversity is responsible for all the choices we have in the foods we can eat. It is responsible for life-saving medicines, with more being discovered all the time. Lack of biodiversity has been connected to many disease outbreaks. Biodiversity is accountable for resiliency and flexibility in the face of dramatic changes to our planet. It is necessary for the very air we breathe and water we drink.

As a park ranger, biodiversity is essential to my employment. It’s probably the main reason people visit national parks. But you don’t have to work in the tourism industry to be economically dependent on biodiversity. According to the Living Planet Index, people derive approximately $125 trillion of value from natural ecosystems each year. Gotta be grateful for that.

Concern

We are losing our biodiversity at an astonishing rate, a reason for great concern. Species extinctions currently vary between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate of one to five extinctions a year over the history of the planet. That doesn’t even get into the decline in populations of many species not yet in danger of extinction. The average population size of vertebrate species has declined by 68 percent from 1970-2016. Since biodiversity is essential to our survival, we should all be concerned.

Sadness

Monarch Butterflies — The Western Monarch Butterfly population is down more than 99% from the 1980s count.

Witnessing this decline breaks my heart. It makes me very sad when I read about mass die-offs of seabirds in western Alaska or see with my very own eyes the decline of a species like the Monarch Butterfly.

Fear

Denali National Park — After a lengthy court battle, grizzly bears are still covered by the Endangered Species Act in the contiguous US.

As I watch ecosystems crash one by one, as we continue to do little to nothing to address this issue, I feel fear. I fear for our quality of life and our very survival as a species as we continue to degrade the resources we need to depend on, both now and in the future.

Guilt

Wramgell St. Elias national Park & Preserve — Like most of us, I need to make more conscious choices.

I’m an American. I’m guilty. It’s ridiculous how much we Americans contribute to the loss of habitat and the loss of biodiversity. All because we have been trained to constantly want more, more, more, just to keep our consumer-driven culture intact.

I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was 50. I didn’t want to become part of the problem. But I am part of the problem. I’ve driven a couple of hundred thousand miles since then.

I’m not much of a consumer for an American. I’m not one of those getting Amazon packages every day. I seldom buy something unless I need it. But I don’t always buy organic or make wise choices about eating locally. Pesticides, herbicides, and industrial farming methods are some of the main drivers behind the loss of biodiversity. Transportation of foodstuffs from one part of the world to destinations tens of thousands of miles away is an incredible waste of our planet’s resources. I could do better. We all could do better.

Anger

graffiti on redwood tree — Disrespect for living things makes me angry.

Although I feel guilt, I feel a lot more anger. I feel angry at everyone that disrespects nature and the diversity of life. The thoughtlessness of an individual vandalizing or destroying a tree or a flower can make me mad, but the heartlessness of powerful corporations and individuals who put short-term profit before the long-term health of the planet makes me rage.

Despair

Sea Star and hermit crabs — Hermit Crabs scavenging a dead sea star

I’ve felt a lot of despair over the last 4 years as I’ve watched all the hard-won environmental reforms of the previous 50 years go by the wayside. I’ve felt despair as I’ve had to stand by while the Trump administration gutted the Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, two key pieces of legislation for the protection of biodiversity.

It can be overwhelming when the reality of the situation really sinks in. When I walk a beach in Olympic National Park that no longer supports starfish, or think of the reefs in the Florida Keys that I used to snorkel that are now white, dead skeletons, I feel despair.

Joy

But it’s not all doom and gloom. We humans have some amazing capabilities. We can turn things around when we really try. There are success stories out there. There are species that have been brought back from the edge of extinction and are now thriving.

Elephant seals are one of those species. So are sea otters. So are bison. They’re out there, those examples of times when we’ve corrected the mistakes we’ve made. I feel great joy when I see these success stories.

Hope

Yellowstone National Park — American Bison have come back from the brink of extinction.

“With unity, we can do great things.” – Joseph R. Biden

Although my emotions run the whole gamut, the main emotion I am feeling right now when it comes to biodiversity is hope. A new day is dawning. We have an opportunity right now to turn things around and build a better world for the future, a world where biodiversity matters. But to make this happen, we need to change our mindsets. Instead of asking ourselves, “What will best benefit me?”, we need to ask ourselves, “What will best benefit us, all of us? What policies can we enact that will be good for not just the short-term, but for the long-term health of our Mother the Earth?” We need to take a good look at how we do things and figure out better ways to do them, ways that protect biodiversity and lead to a cleaner, greener planet. We have a chance, and we need to act on it. Now.

“It’s time for boldness because there’s so much to do.” – Joseph R. Biden

Thank you to Patti of Pilotfishblog for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge theme, Emotions.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve — Biodiversity is good for all of us!

Answers to last week’s quiz – 1) Purple Cress, alpine 2) Purple Mat, desert 3) Bristly Langlosia, desert 4) Spring Beauty, alpine 5) Bigelow Mimulus, desert

December 11, 2020December 12, 2020

Amazing Alaskan Animals

For this week’s Lens Artists Photo Challenge, Patti of the Pilotfish blog chose “things that begin with the letter A”. Alaska, where I live. Arizona, where I sometimes play. Anza-Borrego, Arches National Park…. so many choices.

As I pondered my choices, I heard thundering hooves charge right by my window. I dashed to the door to see what it was all about, and watched a dog chase a big bull moose through the fields into the woods behind the house.

That’s not necessarily an uncommon sight where I live, but it would be unusual for most folks. So it came to me – what about Alaskan animals? That would be a worthy “A” subject! Better yet, how about amazing Alaskan animals?

After all, Alaska is synonymous with animals to a lot of folks. So I thought I would share a few photos of animals often seen in The Great Land yet rather rare in most other places (with the exception of Canada, of course.)

After all, one of the best places to see wildlife in the entire state is Denali National Park, and I was a park ranger there for 2 summers. I must have a few photos on file…

Sometimes I even have stories to go with the pictures – for instance, this wolf. That day I was leading some visitors on a Discovery hike in the Stoney Hill region. We had just gotten off the bus and I had barely started into my orientation talk when I saw him coming. I told my visitors to stand together and be real quiet, and they would soon see something really special. He passed us less than 50 yards away. After this super cool experience, to start our hike, I asked each visitor to share their most memorable wilderness experience. I do this to gauge just how tough a hike the visitors will be comfortable with. The first woman I asked, jaw still dropped in wonder, replied, “It just happened.” Everyone on the trip agreed.

Another story is about this little marmot. He was up at the Eielson Visitor Center. At first, all you could see were his legs, standing upright under the frame of the bus. He looked like a mini-mechanic, hard at work fixing something down there. What he was actually doing was probably making more work for real mechanics, eating salt from the dust abatement chemicals they spray on the road off the undercarriage. Sometimes the rodents will eat holes in the hoses in their quest for the tasty treat. About a week later, rangers reported a Hoary Marmot at Wonder Lake. Wonder Lake is forest habitat, not the alpine tundra that marmots normally live in. This little guy had stowed away under the bus and ended up in a strange new land! He was eventually trapped and returned to his home territory.

If I were to reincarnate as an animal, I think I would choose a marmot. After all, they live in the most sublime landscapes, above the treeline in alpine tundra, my favorite place. They’re fat and happy, eat flowers, play all summer and sleep all winter. For a rodent, they don’t have too many predators. They just have to keep an especially keen eye out for Golden Eagles.

But they’re not my totem animal. Everyone tells me my totem animal is the bear. We’re built the same, and I have this weird bear magnetism, which has given me a lot of bear tales – too many for this post. Besides, if you’ve ever been to Alaska, you probably have your own tales to tell – about those amazing Alaskan animals!

July 10, 2020

Summer

This week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge is Summer. For me, summer is Alaska, has been every summer since 1994.

It’s working at Kennecott.

Enjoying the view from my front porch.

Bunnies in the yard.

And occasional moose and other critters.

Wildflowers, of course.

Road trips and grocery runs.

Hope you have a good summer!

April 23, 2020

Morning – Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

Morning is the challenge Ann-Christine of To See a World In a Grain of Sand has offered us this week; either what our mornings are looking like now or a special morning we won’t forget.

I’m not a morning person. I have often said that I am actually, truly, allergic to morning. Getting up early can be painful for me. In my home in Alaska, sunrise can be anywhere from 2AM to 10AM, depending on the season, so waking at the crack of dawn to watch the sun rise has never been one of my morning rituals.

Mendocino County morning — Morning in the redwoods

I tend to get up and hit the computer first thing, business first, and focus on the fun later in the day. And my current mornings, sorry, are frankly not worth writing about. But there have been times when getting up early has rewarded me with priceless treasures and magical experiences.

As I look over the last 6 months or so, I remember a lot of very special mornings. Watching the sun rise over the desert. Seeing the mists dance through the redwood forest. Photographing early morning light on a Pacific Coast lighthouse.

California coast — Point Cabrillo Lighthouse

But the mornings that stand out most in my memory are the ones spent in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Preserve this past winter.

The Bosque is a birder’s paradise. I play at being a birder sometimes. But if I was a real birder, I’d get up early in the morning! Well, for the Bosque I made an exception and did just that.

Watching the sun rise and the snow geese take off from the ponds on the Bosque is quite an experience. It’s a ritual, like watching the sunset in Key West. It takes dedication. Not only do you have to get up at the crack of dawn, it is freakin’ COLD out there!!

You need patience. Sometimes it seems like not much is happening, and it gets colder and colder because you are standing still. But wait for it.

Morning in Bosque del Apache — Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese

There will likely be a few geese already in the ponds when you arrive. The cranes have spent the night there, roosting in the shallow water as protection against predators like the coyote.

Then you hear it. A cacophony of honking, braying geese. You might see them in the distance as they fly from one pond to another. Or you might be suddenly overwhelmed, as hundreds of birds appear from seemingly nowhere, surrounding you as they join their kin in the waters before you. The din is terrific. One flock after another arrives.

Morning on Bosque del Apache — Northern Shoveler

A flush of pink begins to fill the sky. Although the cranes and snow geese are the stars of the show, you may begin to notice other birds – ducks, Shovelers and Pintails, swimming around in the foreground, and perhaps a gaggle of Canadian Geese behind those cranes.

If you look closer at the vast flocks of Snow Geese, you begin to discern a few differences. That one is much smaller – it must be a Ross’ Goose. See the dark one over there? It’s a White-Fronted Goose. The sun rises behind you, lighting up the sky. But it hasn’t reached the ponds yet. They are still in deep shade.

With the additional light, the cranes begin to get restless. They start walking, in groups. In shallow, frozen places, they slip and slide with a graceful gait. You might notice a group – peering, watching, intent, looking for a signal perhaps. They begin to take off randomly, two or three at a time. I found it hard to anticipate – which cranes will take flight next? But most of the birds are not ready to leave just yet.

They’re waiting for the sun. When the sunlight reaches the birds, they know it’s time to move to the fields for the day. On some mornings birds continue to leave in small groups, a crane here, a crane there, a dozen geese at a time.

Morning on Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge — Snow Geese

But other mornings are magic. If you’re lucky, you may see one of those rare spectacles of nature that people travel thousands of miles to observe, that National Geographic moment.

The anticipation builds. The constant background chatter of thousands of squabbling geese crescendoes. Then every goose on the pond takes off at once, exploding into the air. This is a sight you will remember forever.

March 11, 2020

Reflections

For this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, I’ll showcase a few reflections of places I love.

I love the way the clouds are reflected in the wet sand at low tide on the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington.

The Colorado River near Moab, Utah, is one of my favorite places to catch those mirror images.

The Colorado River from the Potash Road near Moab

On my last visit to Rocky Mountain National Park, I caught this buck thinking about crossing the road through my side rear view mirror.

Bird reflections are always a favorite. I caught this one at Moss Landing Beach in California.

Watchable wildlife — Snowy Egret fishing

Rear view mirrors aren’t the only place I might see my surroundings reflected on my little truck.

The view from my campsite at Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, Arizona

A post of my favorite places wouldn’t be complete without something closer to home.

Wrangell St. Elias National Park — Reflections along the McCarthy Road

I recently left a wonderful stay on the Mendocino Coast,

and now I’m road-tripping, Mendo to the Mojave. Today I’ll be in Death Valley. It rained hard last night. Maybe I’ll see a scene like this…

Death Valley National Park — Badwater Reflections

February 26, 2020

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #85 Treasure Hunt

For this week’s lens-artists challenge, Tina of Travels and Trifles has presented us with a treasure hunt.

Challenge Items: Sunrise and/or sunset, Something cold and/or hot, a bird, a dog, a funny sign, a bicycle, a seascape and/or mountain landscape, a rainbow, a church, a musical instrument, a boat, a plane, a waterfall

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge — Mendocino Sunrise

I just shot this sunrise from the porch of the place I’m housesitting this month in Mendocino County.

Russian Gulch State Park — A waterfall near Mendocino

Extra Credit Items: An expressive portrait of one or more people, a very unusual place, knitting or sewing, a fish, an animal you don’t normally see, a bucket, a hammer, a street performer, a double rainbow, multiple challenge items in a single image.

Wrangell Mountains — The view from my front porch

For extra credit I thought I would include this view from my front porch back home in McCarthy. Rainbow, mountain landscape, something cold (glaciers).

Here are a few more –

Sunset, seascape and boat (or at least the remains of one!)

Getting ready for the slow bike race McCarthy 4th of July

Bicycles, dog and a very unusual place – at least I think McCarthy qualifies as a very unusual place! McCarthy is where good dogs go to heaven, and sometimes it’s hard to take a picture in town WITHOUT a dog in it!

Plane, mountain landscape, and something cold

Maybe it’s not really a funny sign, but it is a bit unusual – and it gives you a good idea of just what kind of a place McCarthy is.

Alaska wildlife — Another view from my front porch…

Here are some animals you don’t normally see walking up to your front porch, but one day I did. I was baking date-apple bread for a potluck and I guess it just smelled too good to resist!

My last image is a sunset in someplace hot, far, far away from my home in McCarthy.

Tag: wildlife

Biodiversity is an Emotional Issue

Happiness

Gratitude

Concern

Sadness

Fear

Guilt

Anger

Despair

Joy

Hope

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Amazing Alaskan Animals

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Summer

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Morning – Lens-Artists Photo Challenge

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Reflections

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #85 Treasure Hunt

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Happiness

Gratitude

Concern

Sadness

Fear

Guilt

Anger

Despair

Joy

Hope

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