Wildlife – Page 22 – Wandering Dawgs

Day 71: More exploring around Ninilchik

July 26, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, Sunset, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, Kenai Peninsula, Mt. Redoubt, Ninilchik Village, sunset4 Comments

Day 71: Thursday, July 25, 2o13

Blondie and I started the day with our usual early morning walk by the marsh behind the campground.

The marsh behind the campground

View of the marsh and the bluff at the mouth of Deep Creek

Wildflowers everywhere

Later I went for a long walk on the beach away from the campground and boat launch area. It was a beautiful day and many boats had gone out fishing. I passed by many people digging for clams, walking along the beach, or four wheeling by the water. The tide was low so there was plenty of beach.

My hope was to find flocks of eagles feasting on the fish carcasses that end up on the beach at low tide. The only birds dining on the carcasses were hundreds of gulls at waters edge. I managed to find a couple of eagles sitting tucked away high up on the bluff overlooking the water.

Lots of trailers lined up on the beach

There were trickles of water coming down the bluff by the beach

There were several downed trees at the base of the cliff

Razor clam shell. Digging for these razor clams is a popular activity along the beach.

People strolling along the beach at low tide with the sea gulls in the foreground

Shell and rocks on the beach

Eagle on the bluff overlooking the water

This eagle was hard to spot behind the grass

Later in the day Henry and I took a drive to see the Russian Orthodox church which sits on a bluff overlooking Ninilchik Village. Ninilchik was first explored and settled by Russians and there are families who have lived here for many generations. I met two women at the church who manage the gift shop and maintain all the graves. They grew up in Ninilchik together and lived with relatives in Anchorage to attend high school because at the time there was no high school in Ninilchik. They graduated together in 1950.

There was an eagle soaring over the bluff as I looked down into the village.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik

Gorgeous field of wildflowers across the street from the church

Russian Orthodox Church

Eagle soaring over bluff at Russian Orthadox Church in Ninilchik

Looking down at Ninilchik Village from the Russian Orthodox Church

We enjoyed relaxing with Ted and Ruth Ann and feasting on clam chowder that Ruth Ann made from the razor clams that Ted had dug that morning. Henry cooked hamburgers on the grill to finish up a great dinner. As we sat by a campfire after dinner we could see about 2 adult eagles and 4 or 5 young eagles soaring over the bluff by the mouth of Deep Creek.

I went to bed early and was sleeping soundly when Henry woke me up about 11:00 pm and said to come outside to look at something. I couldn’t imagine what it was but put on a jacket over my pajamas before going outside to see the most spectacular sunset I’ve ever seen. It was so out of this world I felt like I was on Mars!.

Amazing sunset after 11:00 pm

Mount Redoubt sunset in Ninilchik, Alaska

Day 70: A little sightseeing and a lot of Beach

July 26, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, Sunset, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, Deep Creek Beach, Deep Creek State Park, Kenai Peninsula2 Comments

Day 70: Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Our friends Ted and Ruth Ann moved from the RV park to the site next to us on the beach at the state park. While Henry took the truck to the mechanic I rode with Ruth Ann and Ted to Homer to check it out.

The last few miles into Homer are down a hill with a spectacular view of the bay and mountains with glaciers across the bay. We stopped at a couple of the city of Homer campgrounds on the famous Homer Spit and looked at the private parks there also. Ted and Ruth Ann needed to pick up their mail at the Homer Post Office and while Ted went inside I managed to get a few pictures of a mama Bald Eagle and one of her babies on their nest across the street.

Mama and baby eagles across from the Homer Post Office

Mama and Baby Eagles in Homer

We stopped on the way out of town to get gas and discovered an RV park sitting on the bluff with a spectacular view. We liked it the best of all the ones we saw.

Back at Deep Creek State Park we cooked hot dogs over a fire and took a late night walk on the beach. Life is good.

Going for a walk on the beach at 10:00 at night

This is at 10:00 at night with a while to go before sunset

Day 69: Moving to the beach

July 26, 2013February 9, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, State Parks, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, Deep Creek State Park, Ninilchik1 Comment

Day 69: Tuesday, July 23, 2013. Alaskan Angler RV Park to Deep Creek Beach State Park, Ninilchik, Alaska. About 3 miles traveled.

We broke camp and moved to Deep Creek Beach State Park on the beach in Ninilchik. From our campsite we can see volcanoes, the ocean, and hear the waves crashing on the beach at high tide. I think I’m in heaven!

Our campsite at Deep Creek State Park

View of Mount Redoubt from our campsite

Camping at Deer Creek Beach, Ninilchik, Alaska

Mount Redoubt erupted in 2009

The campground is located a short walk down the beach from the boat launch area in one direction and Deep Creek in the other direction. We spotted an eagle in a tree on the bluff across from Deep Creek so I headed down there to get a few pictures. He did a great job of posing for me.

Bald Eagle on Ninilchik Beach

This eagle was perched in a tree on the side of the bluff overlooking Deep Creek

Same eagle

Another pose

After I got my fill of watching the eagle we noticed the fishing boats were starting to come in so we walked down to the launch area for a few photos and videos.

We watched them bringing in the boats

Skidders were bringing in the boats non stop

Here is a video of the skidder taking a boat out of the water.

Right after we got back to the campsite I got a call from Ruth Ann that Ted was going out on an afternoon charter so I walked back down to the launch area to see him off.

Ted waiting to board for his Halibut fishing trip

Ted boarding for his fishing trip. He caught his limit of 2 Halibut

Heading out to the fishing grounds

Glaciers and Wildlife in Seward, Alaska

July 22, 2013February 10, 2016Posted in Alaska, Birds, City Park, Glaciers, National Parks, Restaurants, WildlifeTagged Aialik Glacir, glacier calving, Holgate Glacier, humpback whales, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kenai Peninsula, Nature, Puffin, Sea Otters3 Comments

Our Alaskan Journey continued in Seward, Alaska where we spent three nights in the Seward Waterfront Park.

Day 63: Wednesday, July 17, 2013. Palmer to Seward, Alaska. Seward Waterfront Park, Resurrection Campground Site R5. 132 miles traveled.

Our drive took us through downtown Anchorage and then south along the Seward Highway. There were spectacular views of Turnagain Arm and mountains most of the way.

Turnagain Arm at low tide

Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage

Henry and Blondie enjoying the view

Gorgeous scenery every where we went

Resurrection Campground City of Seward Waterfront Park

Small boat harbor in Seward, Alaska

We arrived in Seward and searched the city campgrounds for a waterfront site but had no luck so we picked a site in the fourth row from the water and then took a walk to the small boat harbor to check things out.

Day 64: Thursday, July 18, 2013.

A van picked us up at 9:45 and drove us to the harbor for our 7 1/2 hour sightseeing cruise on the Spirit of Adventure with Major Marine Tours. Our trip took us through parts of Kenai Fjords National Park and there was a park ranger on board to tell us information about the wildlife and glaciers we were seeing. We had comfortable seats inside a cabin where we stored our gear and then went outside to see the sights. As we traveled through Resurrection Bay we could see our RV when we cruised by the campground. There were sea otters in the water and we stopped to watch a mother and calf humpback whale.

Our campground from the water – we’re in the middle on the back row

The buildings on the top of this rock are bunkers from WWII

We saw sea otters all day

Sea otters enjoying the day

So relaxed

Humpback Whale

There were Puffins in the water

The cruise continued thorough Ailiak Bay to the Holgate Glacier for a close view of the half mile wide Holgate Glacier and Surprise Glacier. Captain Nicole turned off the engines so we could listen for the sound of ice breaking loose from the glacier before falling into the sea. When the ice breaks loose and falls it is called calving. We heard and watched about four or five calvings before moving on to the next glacier.

Henry and Beth at Holgate Glacier

Holgate Glacier

Surprise Glacier

Ice fallen from the glacier floated all around us

Our next stop was at the mile wide Ailiak Glacier where we witnessed more spectacular calvings. There was complete silence on the boat as we waited for the roar of ice. We were fortunate to see several more chunks of ice fall into the water including what our captain said was one of the biggest ones she has ever seen. Take a look at the next sequence of pictures to get an idea of what the ice falling looks like.

Seeing ice calving on Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords trip from Seward

Hearing and seeing the ice fall was simply amazing. I could have sat there all day but the cruise continued as we traveled through the Chiswell Islands and saw more humpback whales, puffins, and other wildlife. Captain Nicole got us back to the dock right on time at 5:30. What a great day.

It was our anniversary so we drove about four miles out of town to the Salmon Bake restaurant for a Salmon dinner to celebrate. I just can’t get enough of this salmon!

Day 65: Friday, July 19, 2013

After a day at sea, some of it being in very rough waters, we were both sore and exhausted. I think 2 months of travel and sightseeing tours finally caught up with us. We both slept late and took it easy all day. We took a last drive around Seward in the afternoon.

View across Resurrection Bay from Seward

The Iditarod Trail starts in Seward

The tiles on the Seward library are designed to look like the Northern Lights

Three nights in Palmer, Alaska

July 17, 2013July 4, 2017Posted in Alaska, Historic Sites, Tourist Attractions, WildlifeTagged Alaskan Husky, Big Bear RV Park, Hatcher Pass Road, Iditarod Headquarters, Independence Mine, moose, Palmer Alaska, Titanium Fifth Wheel3 Comments

I’m sure many of you are getting bored to tears with all my posts and photos so I will condense our three nights in Palmer into one post.

Day 60: Sunday, July 14, 2013. Talkeetna to Palmer, Alaska. Big Bear RV park, Site 56. 145 miles traveled. We are actually closer to Wasilla but the RV park has a Palmer address.

After all the excitement and fun we had in Talkeetna we hated to leave but there is still more of Alaska to see. The drive was uneventful except for seeing a moose cow and her calf cross the road in front of us.

Our first order of business after getting set up was to go to Walmart a mile down the road to get some much needed supplies. When we got back we met some fellow Titanium owners from Missouri who were parked in our row.

Day 61: Monday, July 15, 2013

Our plan for a drive on Hatcher Pass Road was shortened by fog but we enjoyed our drive as far as the Independence Mine

Henry and Blondie at the Little Susitna River

Wildflowers by the river

It was foggy all day

Marmot on top of one of the old buildings

Independence Mine State Historical Site

Old Mine Train

Henry and Blondie exploring the Independence Mine in Alaska

Wildflower

Independence Mine

Day 62: Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A trip to the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska and then a shopping trip to Fred Meyer for our final grocery shopping before heading to the Kenai Peninsula.