Posts Near Mountain Village Map Timeline

Tribal member from St. Mary's, Alaska noticed this on her when she went back inside her home. Turns out it is an elm sawfly, Cimbex americana.

Two brothers, one dead and one experiencing hypothermia, were found about two miles from Pilot Station after their snowmachine became stuck in heavy snow during a storm.

Black insect never seen by a Yupiit of Andreafski Tribal member at his home in St. Mary's.

Nobody I have asked has seen any plant like this. I touched it soon after the picture and it turned into a maroon colored powder.

This eye catching insect is the adult stonefly.

Two villages along the Lower Yukon River have begun evacuating their most vulnerable residents from a tundra fire.The fire late Thursday was burning less than eight miles from St Mary’s and nearby Pitkas Point, and wind continues spreading the flames closer to the villages with a combined population of over 700 people. Yute Commuter Service is sending all its planes to St. Mary’s to evacuate residents, and Grant Aviation is prepared to assist.

“It’s been hot, it’s been dry, and it’s been windy. And those winds gusts of 20 miles per hour, it’s kind of funneled through the Andreafsky River drainage,” said Beth Ipsen. Federal entities sent in more firefighters this week, and some residents are thinking about preparing their go-bags.

The ride downriver had been good. But by evening on the way back, it started to get bumpy.“There was lots of dark spots, lots of water,” said Nikiefer. Then suddenly, the ice turned needley. The snowmachine stopped, and then started to sink. They jumped off and started to swim.

Tribal member of St. Mary's finds the larva of a predaceous diving beetle.

The Alaska Division of Forestry said the wildfire that is burning land near the village of Pilot Point in Southwest Alaska has grown to about 500 acres, but the village is safe from any immediate danger.

Slimy sculpins (Cottus cognatus) are small, nocturnal, bottom-dwelling fish that lack a swim bladder to help them stay bouyant in the water. Their size and habitat allow them to easily avoid fishing gear designed for salmon.

Seeing pollen in rainwater is unusual.

Grasshoppers aren't common around Saint Mary's, but may become abundant during years with warm temperatures and ample vegetation for food.

During the summer of 2019, warm water temperatures lowered the amount of dissolved oxygen in rivers and caused salmon across the state, including Mountain Village, to die before they were able to spawn.

Salmon are dying along the Andreafsky River and Lower Yukon River before spawning out. Water surface temperatures have been unusually warm, at one point reaching 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) caught with a spinal curvature, which may be related to many different factors including genetics, infectious disease, trauma, neoplasm, diet, or changes in the environment.

Two sturgeon were caught in the Yukon River, farther upriver than has been previously reported.

Tumor found in King Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Single dead moose found in water, with injury on one side of its abdomen

The cold and wet hunters built a fire to keep warm until Alaska Army National Guard rescuers arrived hours later.

Multiple storms and warm weather in St. Mary's.

As Alaska warms and permafrost thaws, the chemistry of the Yukon River's water is transforming chemically, new research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows.

Inside of a couch shipping box.

Plants

Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) Filled with Pus

Dump and hill fire

Early Blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum)

Large Old World Swallowtail Butterfly

Brown bear (Ursus arctos) caught in village.

Early Rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum) Sprout

Moose (Alces alces) near village

Early river break-up and low water

Identification pending.

The bird was flying and just dropped dead.

Nice looking whitefish, but had a bulged out eyeball on one side of head.

11-01-14 Unseasonably warm - Pitkas Point, Alaska, USA

A photo of a black unknown insect taken in late July.

1-27-14 Where is the snow - St. Mary's Alaska, USA

8-11-13 Long horned beetle - Pitkas Point, Alaska, USA

7-21-13 Tiger moth - St. Mary's, Alaska, USA

It's not common to see animals of any kind, including moose, in the community of Pitkas Point.

4-21-13 Unseasonable chum salmon - St. Mary's, Alaska, USA

St. Marys residents concerned about possible interactions

1-17-13 Winter brown bear - St Marys, Alaska, USA

11-21-12 Air pockets in river ice - St. Marys, Alaska, USA

First time seeing a sucker fish in the Lower Yukon River.

The East Fork Fire in Western Alaska is the state's largest at the moment, estimated at more than 150,000 acres Thursday, and it's burning in a region where, just a couple decades ago, large fires would not have been expected.

By Saturday, the East Fork fire had grown to just over 108,000 acres but triggered no mandatory evacuations.

The City of St. Mary’s and its two tribes, the Yupiit of Andreakfsiy and the Algaaciq Tribe, held a community meeting on June 9. There, resident Geraldine Beans said that community leaders chose an optional evacuation for elders and people who are considered vulnerable. Other residents will have to wait. The fire is the largest in the history of the Lower Yukon valley. It’s been burning for a week and a half, since May 31, and has grown to about 50,000 acres.