Critter pictures - finally!
6.19.2010
Yup, I'm forgetful. If Holly hadn't commented, who knows when I would have remembered. *sigh*
First up - moose! We saw lots of moose when we were in Denali National Park. Mostly grazing along near the side of the road. :)
Here's a picture of the state bird of Alaska - the ptarmigan. It's the only state bird that changes colors based on the season - white in the winter and brown in the summer (although some that live way north stay white). This one shows about where we were, season-wise. He or she was still mid-change. LOL
We saw several caribou, as well. They were less cooperative, photo-wise...they insisted on staying further up the hillsides. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!
We saw several black bears while we were in the park, too. But they were much too far away to get decent pictures of. Even with binoculars they were hard to see unless they were moving. Also, they weren't actually black - the ones we saw were blonde. :) We didn't see wolves, darn it. But we did see snowshoe hares - they were too quick for me to get pictures but, wow, their feet are HUGE! And we saw some kind of special squirrel...arctic squirrel? I don't remember the name but they look more like chipmunks.
In my earlier post, you saw the grizzly we spotted and the whales and our seal. We saw several bald eagles, too. They're fast! And mostly kept their distance. Still, I like this picture - the sky is beautiful and Mr. Eagle is nice and clear. :) I think you'll see a bigger version if you click.
This concludes our wildlife tour of Alaska. Oh, peeps, you really should consider a trip there. So amazingly gorgeous! The pictures don't come close to capturing it.
First up - moose! We saw lots of moose when we were in Denali National Park. Mostly grazing along near the side of the road. :)
Here's a picture of the state bird of Alaska - the ptarmigan. It's the only state bird that changes colors based on the season - white in the winter and brown in the summer (although some that live way north stay white). This one shows about where we were, season-wise. He or she was still mid-change. LOL
We saw several caribou, as well. They were less cooperative, photo-wise...they insisted on staying further up the hillsides. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!
We saw several black bears while we were in the park, too. But they were much too far away to get decent pictures of. Even with binoculars they were hard to see unless they were moving. Also, they weren't actually black - the ones we saw were blonde. :) We didn't see wolves, darn it. But we did see snowshoe hares - they were too quick for me to get pictures but, wow, their feet are HUGE! And we saw some kind of special squirrel...arctic squirrel? I don't remember the name but they look more like chipmunks.
In my earlier post, you saw the grizzly we spotted and the whales and our seal. We saw several bald eagles, too. They're fast! And mostly kept their distance. Still, I like this picture - the sky is beautiful and Mr. Eagle is nice and clear. :) I think you'll see a bigger version if you click.
This concludes our wildlife tour of Alaska. Oh, peeps, you really should consider a trip there. So amazingly gorgeous! The pictures don't come close to capturing it.
