Readers’ wildlife photos

This is our last full wildlife contribution though I have some singletons and doubletons that I can combine. Please send in your good photos. Thanks.

Today we have some additional photos of Alaska taken by ecologist Susan Harrison. (This is the last of a set of four.) Her captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Alaska, part 4:  Anchorage and surrounding area

This post is the last from my June 2025 bird and wildlife trip to Alaska.   Between excursions northwest to Nome, north to Utqiagvik, and south to the Kenai Peninsula, we stayed in Anchorage as it’s the hub of all within-Alaska travel.

We visited Hatcher Pass near the towns of Palmer and Wasilla (remember Sarah Palin??).  The pass lies above elevational treeline in a panorama of tundra and jagged peaks.  We hiked to the pass and scrambled up a scree pile to find the White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura).   While looking for this uncommon bird we saw other alpine-arctic denizens, the Collared Pika (Ochotona collaris) and Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata).

Hatcher Pass:

White-tailed Ptarmigan:

Collared Pika:

Hoary Marmot:

We also saw the common yet mysterious phenomenon of patterned ground found in the far north.  The best-accepted explanation is that when subsurface freezing causes ground uplift, large rocks become concentrated in the centers of uplifted patches, while finer materials accumulate around the edges.  The finer materials hold more water and thus undergo more extreme freezing and thawing, making plants unable to colonize them.  Millenia of freeze-thaw cycles turn these patches into arrays such as the ones in these photos.

Patterned ground at Hatcher Pass:

At a fish hatchery in Anchorage, we had closeup views of Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus), Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser), and other piscivores jockeying for position at the hatchery’s outlet.

Harlequin Ducks snorkeling for fish and doing a pair-bonding display:

Common Merganser showing its toothy predatory beak:

In the fine system of parks and trails around Anchorage, we saw many other birds and some mammals.

Red-necked Grebe in breeding plumage (Podiceps grisigena):

Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) posing calmly on a park signpost:

Short-billed Gull (Larus brachyrhynchus) guarding its nest:

Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis) baby trying to reach its parents as they stroll on a railroad track:

Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), carrying nest material and showing its paddle-shaped tail:

Moose (Alces alces) mother and calves, standing between me and where I needed to go to depart for the airport, a perilous situation due to their deadly kicking defenses: