Have to make do with a feeble attempt to photograph the blueberry flowers in the garden. These flowers are the first sign (promise?) of more flowers to follow. They don't imply any promise of when the next flowers will bloom, but do give some assurance that spring and summer are coming. The salmonberries buds are fat on the island, but not showing pink yet. The other sign of spring I notice this week was the breeding patches on the Pelagic cormorants. The weather is also rather spring-like, snow, hail, and sun usually within the same hour.


Seemed suitable to acknowledge the first full day of spring by wandering up Indian River trail to check in with the dippers. It also happened to be mostly sunny, with a few light intermittant snow showers. As usual went further than I had intended or perhaps further sideways. Found one dipper on the way up the trail at the gravel bar by the boundary line clearing(?). Found both birds on the way back, not sure if both were there all along or if one was foraging in another reach. Watched one eat a fish, no luck for the other.

Crossed the river a bit lower because the other side was beckoning. It looked a sunny and mossy, so how could I resist? Found a confluence of a small creeklet, so walked up it a little ways. Distracted by an upturned root wad. Even without my glasses, I could see the Schistostega. There wasn't much, what I could see was sporophytes. There was alot of uncolonized soil and several other species (didn't do a very complete inventory, but did notice Pogonatum contortum, Bartramiopsis lescurii). I could vaguely make out the cilia on the sheath of the Bartramiopsis with a hand lens, meant to check it with something more powerful, but my extremely small collection seems to have disappeared. I still wonder if alluvial soils favor establishment of Schistostega. Back near the main river found a pool (12 x 4) with alot of salmon (by the size of the fish (up to 3-4 inches), I'm guessing some were in their second year).

Also heard/watched several flocks of redpolls, working the trees along the river, but on the ground further back in the woods. To my ignorant ear, the redpolls sound alot like siskins and I've been wondering if some of the flocks that I've heard (not seen) in the past that I've assumed were siskins were in fact redpolls.
There seems to be alot of redpolls in the area. This morning in the commons on Galankin there were between 60 and 80 redpolls mostly foraging on the ground. They would fly up as we got close, but fairly quickly went back to ground. I didn't see any siskins in the flock.

Also saw/heard Chickadees, Golden crowned kinglets and winter wrens up the river.

Earlier in the day briefly stopped by Swan lake. I'm fairly certain that there were both Lesser and Greater Scaups around. Still a little hesitant on that one. The female Ring-necked duck, 2 swans, Cackling Goose, Buffleheads, Mallards and a few gulls were also present. I was kind of amazed to see any gulls on the lake, given the activity in the channel and between town and the island.

The rocks by Breast and Turning island were covered with gulls on the way home this evening. Herring?
Commute birds: 4 Pacific loons, Harlequins, Common murre (breeding plummage), Common mergansers, Surf Scoters, Barrow's Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Mallards, and a Heron or two.

On Tuesday I finally got around to looking at the roots of the wheat plants I had innoculated with a fungus isolated from Cornus suecica. None of the plants I had innoculated with commercial mycorrhizae had a sign of infection, so I wasn't in a hurry to be disappointed. I was very pleased to see a dark septate hyphae infecting the roots. The pattern of infection was similar to what I've seen in all of the muskeg plants I've looked at so far.

The next step is to attempt to identify the fungus. Extracted DNA or at least went through the process of extracting DNA on Thursday. Extracted from both the Cornus isolate and another from Kalmia which I haven't used for innoculum as yet. It was quite entertaining trying to get the hyphae out of the culture tubes and into the very tiny extraction tubes. Try stuffing spiderwebs into something half the size of a thimble, all the while making sure that everything stays nice and clean. Next time I'll grow the fungus in a petri plate, that would at least be easier to scrape. Next step is choosing the primers.

Wednesday went to Indian River and out to Starrigaven with Scott and a group from University of Portland. It was sunny and cool with fresh snow. Didn't have much time at either place, but it was a nice day to be out. They heard a winter wren or two and saw a Sapsucker and probably heard more about fungi and trees than they ever wanted. I suspect I start to sound a bit loopy when I start talking about how all the growing things in the forest are interconnected in life and death. Maybe that's why mycologists are often thought of as being a bit odd. The group as a whole was most interested in social issues around native land claims and social justice issues, but seemed to enjoy seeing the forest. It was fun watching Oregonians drive in the snow out at Starrigavan, I guess I've come along way (in confidence, not necessarily competence) in terms of snow driving since I moved here.

Longlining opened last Saturday and the channel is full of gulls. Took a few breaks from writing on Friday to look at the multitude. It was intermittantly sunny and cold with the northwest wind. On one of the trips to the ramp I counted the birds. It is alot easier to count that many gulls with a class, or maybe it was just easier to supervise the counting. I saw Herring, Thayers, Mew, Glaucous-winged and one Western Gull. There were also a number of eagles, and a few Common mergansers, Scaup and Barrow's Goldeneyes. On the second trip out, there was more of everything and a few Sea lions. There was one spot that looked like spawning Herring were around. The birds and Sea lions were certainly focusing on that area.

Saturday was sunny again so I walked through the park on my way back from dance class. It was low tide so I spent most of my time on the beach looking at another multitude of gulls. There were a few kittiwakes in the mix, one of which had very bright orange-red legs. I didn't get a good enough look at it to say anything terribly definitive about it except that it was most likely a kittiwake. Did see a Robin in the park as well.

Found a flock of Redpolls in the alders in the commons. Took me a bit to find them after I heard their chatter. They were foraging on the ground instead of the tree tops, perhaps all of the alder seeds have fallen by this point.

The elderberry buds are swollen and purple, the salmonberry buds are swollen, but no pink on the island. One branch of Early blueberry was in bloom on the east side of the house. It looked a little the worse for the cold, kind of dry and bit yellow. Today I found another shrub with healthier looking flowers toward the burn pile.

Decided that it was time for a walk in the woods regardless of the weather. It was raining rather hard in the morning, but there were variable lengths of breaks in the afternoon. It wasn't an favorable start in terms of weather, as soon as I arrived in town, it started to hail, but didn't last long.
I had been warned at the opera that the Indian River trail was rather slippery, but found it to be fine. I was a bit cautious though after trying to crack my hard head open on the Cross trail. I had at least learned by that mistake to avoid the pools of water on top of ice .
The water was alot higher than it was on my last visit, but then alot of snow has been melting as well. Found a pair of dippers in the reach below the gravel bar on this trip. When I first saw them they were about 1ft or less apart working the center of the stream. One caught a small fish and got it down pretty fast while I watched. I'm assuming by their proximity that they were a pair. I couldn't see any noticable size difference between the two birds, so I'm not positive that they were a pair, but I seem to remember that dippers are rather territorial. Regardless of their relationship, they were working the same reach of the stream rather compatibly.
I didn't see a bird in the other reach that I've seen one on the way up the trail, but did find it on the way down. Not sure if the two birds I've been watching through out the winter are the pair I found today or not or for that matter how many total dippers are residents of this river. Good thing Mary is returning in a couple of weeks to remind me of everything I was supposed to have learned last winter, hopefully I'll have time to take her up the river.

Went as far as the second bridge, was thinking about going to the muskegs, but unfortunately answered my phone on the trail and was called to return to work on the grant. Before I turned around heard a flock of something over the noise of the river. Finally found a mixed flock of siskins and redpolls in the alders in the Polystichum andersonii spot (below the second bridge).

On the way back saw someone's fire through the woods toward the west valley. Curious creature that I am started to walk toward it to investigate, but decided it might not be one of my smarter moves and returned to the trail.
The water wasn't so high that I couldn't walk down the bank in a few spots. Found what I hope is a Mnium on the cut bank (it is probably an Oligotrichum) there are paired teeth, but I still need to make certain there aren't lamellae. With it was a Fissidens, of uncertain species at this point.

Surprised a mink when crossing the river near the owl spot. It scurried off, but lured me into the woods. Was amused by the pink flagging that said "escape route". Seemed like a good route to me. Collected a resupinate fungus from a very rotten snag, not sure that there is any hope of identifying it, but might as wel try.
Lots of Guepiniopsis alpina and a few smaller Panellus fruiting right now. No Coptis yet.

Stopped by Swan lake on the way home (not avoiding work, just waiting for Ian). Hoping to see the Hooded merganser, no luck, but did find two swans on the far side of the lake. The female ring-necked duck, lesser scaups, and the usual residents were around.

Was wrong about the flowers in the garden. Looked a bit closer and found a few snow drops blooming and the crocus leaves were starting to push up.

Managed to get sucked into working on a grant application, so didn't get out much this week, in fact I was distracted enough to forget to do the channel count.

I did hear another winter wren singing near the house on Thursday morning. It could have been the same bird I heard earlier in the week, but this one's song was much more assured sounding. At least it sounded more like what I expect from a winter wren song.
The earliest bulbs have started blooming in town at least in the warmer spots. The crocus along the east side of the Franklin building are blooming as are the snow drops by the Pioneer home. No sign of bulbs in my garden, it is usually a couple of weeks later than those in town. The Witch hazel flowers are completely open.

Did get to see the Juneau based Opera to Go production of Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Nakahidi. Opera from the 17th century is alot different from the later more familiar (to me) operas. The musical clues are not quite as helpful for the unfamiliar. You always know when the opera is over in a show like Carmen, not so with this one. In fact there weren't any great Bugs Bunny opera moments at all. Bugs should have worked on a Baroque opera or two so that I could familiarize myself with the structure. People don't die quite as dramatically (none of the choke on your own blood stuff with this show) nor did the music really let me or anyone else know that it was done. Reading the libretto would have helped, and since it is quite short it wouldn't have taken much time. The director should have given the audience a few more clues, because without a few ringers in the audience we wouldn't have really known when to clap. I tried to watch the viola players husband for clues, but he wasn't much help.

The company made good use of the space, they didn't use the stage, instead they used the benches below the central exit and the center floor as the stage. They didn't confine themselves to the stage, but used all of the aisles, space in front of the audience on the actual stage and the central exit. They also used the light booth as a platform for the witch, it was an excellent idea and the odd lighting up there added alot to the weird gleeful evil of the character. The audience sat on the sides and on the stage (didn't look comfortable up there, the sides were much more anonymous feeling).
The music was quite nice, particularly the harpsichord (brought from Juneau) and the guitars added something to the strings. The opera lasts about an hour, and it seemed that the directors felt like the audience would feel cheated without a full evening, so after intermission they did a 30 minute version and allegedly a 5 minute version. During the 30 minute version they showed a very odd modern film version of the story (with the singers as the actors) while the singers sang the highlighted sections of the opera from the side. The audience on the stage moved to the sides or usual back during intermission. The 5 minute version was Dido and Aeneas singing one aria.
Operas in english aren't really any easier to understand than those in Italian. In fact I didn't really have much of an idea of what was going on except that I knew that Aeneas shows up in Carthage, he and Dido fall in love, he is compelled to leave in order to found Rome, and Dido dies. Basically that is what happens in both the Aeneid and in the opera with the addition of evil witches, forests and bad omens to the opera.

The final scene illustrates why the audience didn't know that the end was near,
When Dido rather foolishly says to Aeneas (who is offering to defy the gods and stay)

No, faithless man, thy course pursue;
I'm now resolv'd as well as you. No repentance shall reclaim
The injur'd Dido's slighted flame.
For 'tis enough, whate'er you now decree,
That you had once a thought of leaving me.

so he leaves and she decides to die, but doesn't noticably act on it. A later opera would have milked this for all it was worth and the poor audience would have been reduced to tears and known that it was the end and clapped in appreciation. We did clap, but there was a long pause before we figured out that it was time.

White knuckled my way home again, solid white caps all the way across, so I took the lighthouse way home.
Two thick billed murres in front of Crescent harbor on my way in tonight, other than that it has been surf scoters, common mergansers, mallards, golden eyes and the usual gulls on my path to town.

Didn't manage to up my Fairbanks species count, but I wasn't likely to do so listening to student presentations, shopping at Fred Meyer or bowling. I was there long enough for 15F to feel quite warm and long enough to drive off twice without unplugging the car.

Nice to back home in the land of high humidity, I was going through hand lotion at a phenomenal rate. Walked to UAS in the afternoon picking up mosses off the rocks (including Polytrichastrum alpinum and Polytrichum juniperinum). Also found a nest in the Sitka Rose hedge near the row of Shore pines on the island on my way. It looked similar to the sparrow nests I found on Galankin this fall.
Had to chase a Flicker over the rail (by the island) on the bridge. The way it was balancing on a branch, I thought it might have been a hawk until I got a better look at it which was never that great, but sufficient. Why carry binoculars?

I harvested the innoculated wheat plants Wednesday morning at the lab. It had only been three months, but if there was going to be any infection, I would expect to see some evidence of it by now. The one isolate was from Cornus suecica and might not infect wheat, but usually fungi aren't quite that fussy. The AMF innoculum should have worked. Looked briefly at the stained roots, but didn't find anything. I'll look more thoroughly tomorrow.
I did find some Cornus canadensis seeds to innoculate a bit later in the spring. I don't know if I can find C. suecica seeds anywhere local, in fact I don't think that I see that plant fruiting that often. Curious if I can start some plants in sterile media from cuttings. The hormone treated gel packs might work to get some plants going for a trial.

Stopped by Swan Lake between tasks and was finally convinced that the scaups I was looking at were Lesser Scaup. I'm not sure that I will be as certain again, but this morning the shape of the back of their heads looked rather steep or abrupt. Maybe I'll be a convert now that I've been convinced of their existence. There was one Ring-necked duck there as well. I believe it was a female. The eye ring was rather distinctive as was the white line on the bill. Doesn't look like a juvenile would have as distinct of a white bill line.

Before I went back to my personal grindstone, I stopped at the Baranof cemetary to look for more deciduous tree trunk epiphytes. Found fairly luxurious growth of Neckera douglasii on the trunks of Mtn. Ash. A few had capsules. This is the second time I've found this moss this year, but I really don't remember picking it up before. Not sure if I've forgotten the other instances or if I just wasn't looking in the right places. Probably a little of both.
It is rather distinctive, it forms downward pointing mats of branching stems on the trunks. The leaves are undulate with long pointed tips. The tip margins are toothed, some of the teeth are curved. In fact the tips look rather ornate under the scope. The leaves I looked at didn't have a costa, but apparently it is a possibility.
The capsules are on stems that are long enough for the capsule to stick out of the cluster of leaves that surround it.
The most similar moss is Buckiella undulata. The branching stems, serrate leaf tips, and lack of a long upright seta should be enough to distinguish the two species.

Fairbanks

As I thought, the second day at 0°F felt better. Maybe I could adjust to not breathing deeply, but the amount of driving necessary in this very spread out town would not be inviting.

I did forget to record my first sight of Denali. Yesterday we had a nice view of the mountain from the airplane. Am I a real Alaskan now?

Yesterday was windy and because of that quite cold, but the sun was out. Despite the temperatures, I saw one local walk without a coat from the Arctic research building to his car on the far side of the parking lot. Most of the other locals were well bundled, the footwear was often substantial. The overnight low was -11°F much colder than that with the wind added. Distances could be measure by whether or not my nostril hairs froze. Pulling the collar of my turtleneck over my mouth and nose improved conditions considerably. I’ve had my susceptible fingers turn yellow/white a couple of times, but that really isn’t any more often than at home. Of course it happened in about 15-20 minutes, which is a lot speedier than at home.

I checked the number of species found in the Great Backyard Bird count in Fairbanks this February, 10. I’ve seen three of them so far, all while driving, so perhaps if I get out of the car in an appropriate place I can see one or two more. There was one Common redpoll in some sort of a domestic tree on campus, the rock doves were near the airport and ravens have been in a variety of places.

Chaperoning is so far relatively painless, except that I have to drive a tuna boat of a van around a town with which I’m not that familiar. There is very little snow, most of the main roads are clear, but the ones that aren’t are rather like skating rinks. I’ve slid the van around a few times and have managed to get turned around almost every time I drive anywhere. In fact, I don't remember ever getting so lost. Maybe it’s because its because I haven’t figured out any topographic markers, at least not on the strip mall roads. I am learning the store markers, if I go by Value Village, I’m going the wrong way on Airport drive.

We spent the morning at the Science symposium listening to the student presentations. This is my first exposure to science competitions. At first I wondered about the whole competitive aspect of the symposium, but in the end it seemed alright. It seemed to motivate the students (cash prizes) and none of them panicked when things didn’t go as they wanted. I only had time to listen to three talks that weren’t by the students I was chaperoning. Nothing earth shattering, but I did learn about electronic calipers which could be useful for doing moss cover on cedars. Most of the Edgecumbe students did a good job with their talks and answered many of the judges’ questions reasonably. They had to wait until this evenings banquet to find out how they placed in their section and if they were moving on to the finals. The Archaea group took second and made the finals and the laccase group took a third.

The afternoon was spent at the University’s Reindeer farm, it corrected a few misconceptions that I had about the animals and about reindeer sausage. They are much stockier and have shorter legs than caribou, and the nose is a bit shorter. They are quite tame, and recognized the lichen bag from quite a distance. Hand feeding reindeer lichens was interesting enough that I overcame my urge to pocket the lichens to look at later. It looked like an interesting mixture of Cladonia and Cetreria. The keepers organize lichen collecting parties in the summer in order to collect enough lichen to full a small outbuilding. I really wanted a look in that building, but it didn’t happen. They also feed the reindeer Alaska grown barley and fish meal from a plant in Kodiak.

It was the antler shedding information that I had a bit off. The pregnant females do keep theirs through birth of the calf, but the males are more variable in time of shedding than I had heard. The timing seems to depend on age. If I remember right, the younger males keep theirs until March or so while the mature males lose theirs after the rut, but any time from December until February. The feet were wide; the tracks were almost round, with a lot of hair on the bottom. The dew claws were very low, they kind of looked like grappling hooks.

The herder made reindeer sausage sound so good that I was tempted to buy some next time I went shopping, but then he said that is sold at the grocery stores is only 2% reindeer. Didn’t quite seem as interesting.