Tundra Swans

I took a trip down to Potter's Marsh today.  The eagles weren't out, but the two swans we'd seen last weekend had multiplied into a dozen and I got some great shots as they flocked overhead.

Pretty neat, huh?  They stayed together for a while, then broke into a bunch of smaller "V's" and circled overhead a bit.

Alaska has two kinds of swans, Trumpeter and Tundra.  These here are Tundra.  They're difficult to tell apart, since the largest difference between the two is size.  However, Tundra swans frequently - but not always (see, hard to tell apart!) - have a yellow spot in between their eyes and their bill.  And as you can see in this shot, the yellow spot is quite visible.  Tundra swans they are!

Moosetastic!

As we drove home on my mom's last night in Alaska, we were overwhelmed with a plethora of moose.  Four moose, yes, four! were haunting the road to my house.  One young bull and three cows, including this incredibly interesting one.  She's got a tag in the right ear and a radio collar.  Beyond that, her coloration is interesting as well.  It's hard to see in this shot, but she's got a white ruff of fur on the top of her neck, and there's scarring on both sides.  Imagine the stories she could tell!

Alaska Adventures

My mom came up to visit this weekend, to see me play in the ASO concert.  She doesn't leave until early Wednesday, so we spent a lot of time outside seeing the sights.  Today we were at ERNC again.  I love the way the mountains reflect in the water.

This female Hairy Woodpecker was hanging out right in front of us on the trail.  There were actually a few.  I was surprised at how big these birds are!

About halfway along the Loop, we found this moose in the woods.  She just stared at us and did not move at all, not even when we started walking again.  Weird.

This swan is actually one of the Potter's Marsh swans we saw yesterday, but there's one at ERNC, too!

Later in the day we drove down the Seward Highway to sheep mountain.  There were two yearling Dall Sheep, one napping and this one that was hopping around a bit.

Eagle River Nature Center

On a trip to the ERNC, I found yet another of my mated pair of eagles.  The first caught my eye as he was winging away.  As I pulled over to debate following him, I found his mate sitting just above my head!

The moment I got out of the car, I found this Downy Woodpecker just in front of me.  I started to track him as he flittered from tree to tree, but a magpie distracted me.

See how green his tail is shining in this light?  I've never seen it look like that.  Usually it gets a blueish cast!

The chickadees and common redpolls were all over the bird feeders.  I loved this shot!

Moosen

The moose have been at this poor tree almost constantly over the past week, stripping the bark in an effort to hold out until green things start growing again. There were actually three here, but I couldn't get all three in the same shot. If my moose-judging is up to par, we've got a female on the left, a male on the right, and the third is a yearling bull, complete with baby antler-nubs. Maybe our local female, last year's calf and... maybe the previous years? Or perhaps I'm stretching things a bit.

BBA #21 - Pain a l'ancienne

I am in love. Add this one to my favorites list from this challenge! The best part? This bread is easy to make!

On the first day, the ingredients are combined. This is not an enriched dough - all there is is flour, salt, yeast, and ice-cold water. These are stirred for several minutes (not kneaded) and then refrigerated overnight.

The next day, the dough must warm for a bit to finish rising. Once it has doubled, though, you simply flour it and turn it out gently, patting it into a rough rectangle. The rectangle is carefully sliced into six, and the baguettes are baked three at a time on the bread stone.

Even best, this is a forgiving bread. I smooshed and stretched and dropped baguettes all over the place, but it didn't matter! This bread is intended to look rustic.

Inside, the crumb has wonderful holes, but the best part is the cool, creamy texture of it. I've never tasted anything like that before, much less anything that came out of my oven!

This is a hit!

BBA #20 - Multi-grain Bread Extraordinare

Last weekend's bread was this multi-grain bread. This bread incorporated a soaker, which is a technique we've been using from the get-go in this challenge. We were given much more leeway in what grains to use in the soaker, though. I ended up going with a mix of polenta and quinoa.

I've not done much work with grains before, and it was a bit of an effort to get everything incorporated into the dough (the rice was particularly irritating). My hands and arms were definitely sore by the time I gave up on kneading and called it a day.

The bread rose nicely and baked to a nice golden-brown. I didn't get to eat much of it, since I took it all into work, but I did use it for my tuna salad. Quite tasty, and perhaps a little better for me than regular bread. I'm still not a huge fan of sandwich loaves though. Perhaps next time I'll use the dough to make rolls.