Spring Break (2013)

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Mark Zeiger

Ours has been a somewhat unusual spring. After a mild winter, early spring turned cold. Looking back to previous years, marker after marker seems late: the birch sap hasn’t risen to tapping point yet; we haven’t seen any mosquitoes; many of the plants that usually bud out have shown no growth as yet. If it weren’t for increased activity out in Lynn Canal, spring would still seem far away.

This changed March 30th. The cold snap ebbed, giving way to rain and warmer temperatures. More significantly, the air began to smell differently. Continue reading →

Posted in Seasons & Celebrations, Weather, Tides & Geography | Tagged | 2 Comments

Minke in March

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Mark Zeiger

Yesterday, I’d just returned to the cabin with a load of firewood. I took it out to dry on our “Power Point,” the ridge of rock that houses our wind generator and solar panels.

The still air carried sound from the far shore of Lynn Canal, where the sea lions held forth, as they do every day on their rowdy haul out. Then I heard a whale surface and blow.

That’s always exciting here—as often as it happens, we never grow tired of it. This one, however, was different. The exhalation sounded like a humpback whale, but the dorsal fin that appeared was sharper and higher.

I’d spotted a minke whale.

minke whale

That tiny, blurry speck is pretty exciting evidence that a minke whale has returned to our neighborhood (Photo: Mark Zeiger).

Continue reading →

Posted in Local Wildlife | Tagged , | 2 Comments