Invasion at Creamer's Field

Normally an early winter view of the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field looks pretty peaceful.

However, Saturday some critters from the last Ice Age invaded the field in front of the barns.

We didn't make it over on Saturday, but they were still hanging around on Monday when Sydney and I stopped to visit.  Fortunately for us they were all friendly!

If we would have seen them during the Ice Age, those big cats wouldn't have been so friendly, but would have been on the hunt for that Steppe Bison and the baby Woolly Mammoth and perhaps even the Sandhill Crane. 

The visitors at Creamer's were created for the Creepy Critters program "Massive Cats of Ancient Alaska" that was held for the Halloween program at Creamer's Field on Saturday.

At the end of the last Ice Age, they wouldn't have been dealing with the snow, though.  Interior Alaska was a vast grassland while most of the rest of the northern part of North America was buried in ice.  Camels, woolly mammoths, and saber-toothed cats roamed the land and shared this ice-free grassland with fox, lynx, and early people just 12,000 years ago.  Below is a view of the animals who lived there then from an information board at Creamer's Field.

Ice Age animals visited Creamer's Field for a Halloween event in 2012 also.  You can see them HERE.  My son-in-law Johnnie helped build those critters, and one of the mammoths made its way to his house.  The mammoth now resides on their lawn, and is pictured below in August 2013, along with my granddaughter Lyra.

I'm linking up with The Barn Collective #5

at Amy's Rose Street Reflections.

Storing Blueberries For Winter

Grizzly Bears, Denali National Park, September 15, 2014

I'm linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

A Trip Back in Time

Old Sturbridge Village, October 23, 2011

Old Sturbridge Village is in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and is an 1830s New England Living History Museum.  It's a fascinating place to visit!

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report

This is also my entry for

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 82

with Index #1313.

This week's number is 13, but I cheated a little bit.  When I searched for Image 13, this photo that was taken on October 23, three years ago today, popped up.  It was a good match for Good Fences too, and the date made it the perfect choice.

Red Barn in Washington

For a change of pace, I'm going back to April when we were visiting in the Pacific Northwest.  If you exit the freeway at Woodland, Washington, you can see some beautiful farm country.  We drove up into the hills to visit some friends, and this beautiful red barn sits along the roadside.  

The afternoon before I took a shot of the same barn going the other way.

I'm linking up with Amy at

The Barn Collective #4.

Woodpeckers and a Bike Eating Tree

We've been seeing a lot of woodpeckers at our feeders.  They don't stay long, but because of the loud cheep that announces their presence I'm alerted to their arrival and can grab my camera.  This male Hairy Woodpecker seemed to be enjoying the late afternoon sun shining on his back this afternoon.

A female Hairy Woodpecker was at the feeders earlier in the month.  Even without the bright red patch she's a flashy bird too.

I'm linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

My entry for Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 81 is Index #6661,

taken October 7, 2012, on Vashon Island in Washington State.

Woodpeckers spend a lot of time eating in trees, but this is a case of a tree doing the eating.  The bike is embedded in the tree and has been a legend on Vashon Island for some time, with many different explanations of how the bike got there.  The real story appears to be that the bike was abandoned by a boy in 1954, but it likely was repositioned a time or two to get it into the position it's now in.  It was featured in a children's book "Red Ranger Came Calling" written by Berkeley Breathed, a former resident of Vashon.  Sadly, vandals removed several pieces of the bike this past summer, but over the years this has happened before and pieces have been replaced.  Many photos show the bike with handlebars, which were not there at the time of these photos.  A local bike shop owner is on the lookout for pieces to replace what was taken.  

That's my son and his daughter in the photos in the collage above.  And, just for fun, and because legends always need to be embellished a bit, that's what I did in the shot below. 

Muskox at the Muskox Farm

Last week I posted photos from the Muskox Farm and focused on the Caribou.  The Muskox were not cooperative on that visit, choosing instead to stay back in the woods.  I did get a shot of one of this year's calves through the fence. 

Here you can see some of the Muskox lounging back in the trees.


I did do better last year on a visit on August 23, 2013.  I posted these photos last fall, but to give you a better shot of the Muskox thought I would repeat them here.


Because it was a rainy day, I added some enhancement to the photos in the collage below to bring out the definition a bit.


The old log barn that still sits on the property is used to store lichen for the Caribou and Reindeer.  Click HERE for more posts on the Muskox Farm.

I am linking up with The Barn Collective

and with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

The Fox Went A-Hunting

We've been spotting a Red Fox in our yard several times this last week.  Thursday afternoon was bright sun, and he was out hunting again. The Fox's favorite delicacy here in Alaska is the Vole, which we seem to have a plentiful supply of in our yard.  A Fox never stays still for very long, so you have to be quick or all you'll get is the flash of that big bushy tail.

I am linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

And something just a little different for

Gaelyn's Foto Friday Fun 80

Index No. 6387

a critter that I photographed back in June,

a pretty Hummingbird Moth in my flowers.

There's quite a contrast in my backyard in the summer and winter!

Farm Fencing

At the end of August we took in the tour at the Muskox Farm, more formally known as the Large Animal Research Station.  Like most farms it has lots of fences, although the animals are a bit different.  The Farm is maintained by the University of Alaska as a research and educational facility, and has Muskoxen, Reindeer, and Caribou.

A few Muskoxen are visible in the collage above in the lower left photo and as blurs in the background in the upper left photo, but the rest of the photos are of Caribou.

Willow branches are offered in order to get the animals to come up to the fence and show off for the tourists.

Their very favorite treat, though, is lichen.  

I'm linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Different Views of Creamer's Barns

Last week I posted photos of the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge at different times of the year.  Those photos were all taken from the front viewing field and are the most common photos that you see of the barns.  However, walking around the barns gives you many different viewpoints.  I've posted a few of the photos or ones very similar before, but thought a walk around was worth doing again.  If we take the trail to the right of the barns, from left to right, we see the farmhouse, the creamery building, the large Iowa-type barn built in 1938 in the back, the smaller Iowa-type barn built in 1950 in the front, and to the right the original log barn built around 1914.  The dairy ceased operation in 1966. 

 July 29, 2013

Zooming in, we see the six cupolas on the barns, all lined up in a row.

July 29, 2013 

If we walk around the barns and back on the Farm Road Trail, we can get a view of the barns from a little further out.

September 27, 2013

If we take the Seasonal Wetland Trail, we come around the back of the barns and around to the other side.

 July 29, 2013

If we keep walking we'll get a view of the face of the larger of the Iowa barns.

August 26, 2013

We can look up and see a closeup view of one of the cupolas.  The two large barns were designed by the Louden Machinery Company of Iowa.

August 26, 2013

On around to the front is a view of the side of the large barn.

August 12, 2013

That brings us back around to the front of the barns.  This photo was taken October 18th of last year.  Usually we would have snow on the ground at that point, but last year the snow held off until the night of Halloween.  A different story this year, and, yes, we do have snow on the ground now and have since Saturday.

October 18, 2013

I am linking up with Amy at Rose Street Reflections for

The Barn Collective #2.