Nearly all emperors winter in the Aleutian Islands, on the western and south side of the Alaska Peninsula, and on Kodiak Island. However, sightings have occurred as far south as California and even Hawaii.

Sunshine is abundant this time of year, but cooler temperatures this week have slowed the melting of a well above normal snowpack in Fairbanks. That’s affecting migratory bird’s arrival at a local refuge.

Location:  Two locations in the same Hillside neighborhood:  1st Location:  Metz Court, 2nd Location:  Park Hills Drive – Anchorage,

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A pair of rare, presumably mating, Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) were spotted in Spruce Grove, Alberta CAD.

Norther pintails observered early in the Mat-Su Valley near the Glenn Highway-Parks Highway overpass.

A big emphasis in the last few years has been updating and adding to the list of species known to occur in the Yukon. This past year, a whopping 1,973 species of plants, insects and animals have been added.

On a recent hike, I heard a volley of high-pitched screams coming from a thick stand of small spruces just beside the trail. They sounded very much like the cries of a red-tailed hawk, but that bird would be highly improbable in such a place and at this time of year (February). Surely it was a Steller’s jay, which is well-known to mimic redtails and some other birds as well.

"A decade after the “Save the Rainforest” movement captured the world’s imagination, Cargill and other food giants are pushing deeper into the wilderness."

"I learned from a community member that they haven't seen these type of birds here within town, they usually see them on the islands that surround our cove. With the warming temps. people have noticed more and more different types of birds showing up in our community."

No sea ice; hunters say it should not be like this today.

A robin was sighted in southcentral Alaska; an early arrival.

Unknown bird sighted on the Alaskan Peninsula.