The April 7th show featured a conversation with Laura Kaltenstein, which was originally recorded an aired in late April 2023. We spoke about where birds nest around Sitka, some of the nests we’ve noticed over the years, and how we found them.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The March 24th show featured a conversation with Lauren Bell, research director at the Sitka Sound Science Center. We spoke about her transition from graduate student to her current role, goals and challenges of working on research which is motivated and connected to the communities where it occurs, and some of the projects the Sitka Sound Science Center is actively working on around the region.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The March 10th show featured a conversation with Jon Shaw, a bryologist at Duke University whose research is currently focused on Sphagnum (peat mosses). This conversation was originally recorded and aired in the summer of 2018 when he was making a short visit to Sitka. We spoke about what makes Sphagnum mosses unique, and the role they play in carbon cycling. Jon also shared about some of the work being done to try and understand what might happen with Sphagnum as the climate shifts.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The February 25th show featured a conversation with Adam Haberski, who has been studying a group of rove beetles present on sky islands in the southern Appalachian Mountains. We spoke about rove beetles (Staphylinidae), how what he’s learned about the evolution of the group he has studied might inform similar studies on beetles in Southeast Alaska, and more generally about documenting beetles and other arthropods around Sitka.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The February 11th show featured a conversation with Barth Hamburg, retired landscape architect who is responsible for the design of many trails throughout Southeast Alaska. We spoke about some of these trails and the challenges Southeast Alaska presents to building and maintaining trails. This conversation was recorded and originally aired in December 2022.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The January 28th show featured a conversation with Matt Wilson, aquarist at the Sitka Sound Science Center. We spoke about the life cycles and jellyfish and challenges with keeping and rearing them, as well as more generally about the art and science of encouraging and maintaining healthy diversity within an aquarium setting.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The January 14th show featured a conversation with glaciologist Joanna Young, who studies the effects of retreating glaciers on watersheds downstream. Originally recorded and aired in October 2022, we spoke about glaciers, and her work with Girls on Ice Alaska.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The December 31st show featured a conversation with Paul Norwood and Brooke Schafer. The Sitka Nature Show ended the year as it began. Paul and Brooke shared about some of their experiences from the last year, including learning to scuba dive, and further travels and explorations around Southeast Alaska.

The Anatomy of a Wolf Den Site: A Field Report

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The December 17th show featured a conversation with Bill Foster, who passed away in November. Bill was a guest several times during the early years of my show, and the conversation featured in this show is one I recorded with him in 2014. As was often the case in my conversations with him, we wandered a bit but inevitably came around to birds, birding, and birders. Bill also was an enthusiastic supporter and user of Sitka trails, and we spent the last part of the conversation talking about our experiences on the trails around Sitka.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The December 2nd show featured a conversation with Jen Cedarleaf and Kitty LaBounty, we talked the Christmas Bird Count in Sitka (present and past), and more generally about birds and birding.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The November 19th show featured a conversation with David Jadhon. He was in town to search for nudibranchs, and we spoke about his burgeoning interest in marine invertebrates, as well as his experiences working as a research assistant on Middleton Island studying the Black-legged Kittiwakes that nest there.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The November 5th show featured a conversation with Zach LaPerriere. As it often seems to, our conversation started with wood, trees, and craftsmanship, and wandered from there.

Zach mentioned the Sitka Violin project, which is underway.

You can learn more about it and follow the progress on the Sitka Violin Facebook group set up by Marcel LaPerriere

The luthier commissioned to build the violin is posting on his youtube channel, where you can see the work in progress.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The October 22nd show featured a conversation with Richard Carstensen, originally recorded and aired in spring of 2021. We spoke about what he’s learned observing mountain goats on the slopes above where he lives, and the surprise of finding very tall trees on steep mountain slopes. \

You can see more of what Richard’s been working on at Richard Carstensen’s JuneauNature Site

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The October 7th show featured a conversation with Scotty Gabara, originally recorded an aired November 2022. We spoke about a project he is involved with which is looking at the effects of glacial runoff on shoreline and nearshore marine ecosystems We also discussed his interests in natural history, diving, and underwater nature photography.

See Scott’s photos and learn more about his work

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The September 24th show featured a conversation with Connor Goff, we talked about Sitka bird, birding in Sitka, around Alaska and beyond.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The September 10th show featured a conversation with Matt Muir. We spoke about how iNaturalist, and the community of enthusiasts it’s drawn togehter,
has inspired, motivated, and otherwise supported our naturalist journey. Matt also spoke about his current big year efforts, and the people he’s met and naturalized with along the way.

Matt’s big year journal on iNaturalist

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The August 27th show featured a conversation with Kitty LaBounty. We spoke about mushrooming, fall colors, learning about plants through gardening (including using native plants), visiting national parks, and more.

Links to things mentioned in the show:
Subpar Parks
Alaska Native Plant Society

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The August 13th show featured a conversation with Starling Birch, videographer and mountain adventurer. We talked about the pleasure and pain of adventuring into the mountains. We also considered the motivations that drive us to put ourselves in often unpleasant and potentially regretful circumstances when exploring the challenging landscape that surrounds us in Sitka.

Be sure to check out Starling Birch’s Youtube Channel for many short videos documenting some of his adventures around Baranof Island and beyond.

Starling Birch on Instagram

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The July 30th show featured a conversation with Derek Sikes, curator of insects at the Museum of the North and Professor of entomology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. We spoke about bug camps, collecting, more generally about terrestrial arthropods in Alaska, and some particular questions of current interest.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

A low level marine layer moved in overnight and slowly lifted through the morning, before burning off completely late in the morning. Clear skies through the afternoon and into the evening, though smoke haze was apparent. The official high reached 70F again.

The main street downtown is blocked off on days that cruise ships are bringing a potentional of 5000 or more visitors to Sitka

Yesterday’s official high of 73F tied the record for the date (originally set in 1994 – I would have been in Sitka at the time, but I have no idea what I was doing that day).

After getting my radio show done this morning as the marine layer was breaking up, I went to the park to check for moths.

Today had enough tourists for Lincoln Street to be closed. There were plenty of people at the park as well. I didn’t stay long.

The Gray Catbird nest was quiet when I stopped by, but the adults are still around. I’m beginning to wonder if the young haven’t survived, but if so, I don’t know why the parents would still be hanging around the nest.

This afternoon I headed out for what I thought would be a relatively short outing.

It’s been over 10 years since I last visited the cliffs at the base of Verstovia a little ways up Indian River valley. Until today, I had never visited them in the summer (a fact I hadn’t really thought about previously).

I crossed the river not far up the trail. With the dry month we’ve had, water levels were low and the crossing was easy.

The synthetic materials used to bind things together last much longer than the wood. Alder in particular is not at all rot resistent. Much of the structural supports were alder. I was interested to see the peeled alder bark (I believe used as part of the roofing, but perhaps also for walls) has held up as well or better than the poles.

I found a collapsed shelter. I was impressed by the bark work that had been done for the roof (though I don’t know how effective it was in practice).

It appears at least one bear was compelled to chew on this section of log. I'm curious if there was more than one, and how long it was worked at (i.e., did one bear sit there and chew for an extended period, or did one or more bears visit multiple times with just a bit of gnawing each time?)

Walking through a muskeg I hadn’t visited in years, I noticed signs of recent bear activities. Given how close it is, it might be a convenient location to place a trail cam?

Fresh blazes made to mark boundaries of national forest land

It looked like earlier this summer a Forest Service crew went through doing boundary work. Multiple trees were blazed, and one dead one near a blazed tree was cut down. It looked like bears had been chewing on one of the sections of the cut tree.

A Cedar Waxwing that flew up to a tree was a bit surprising to me. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen one away from development. [Update: on a subsequent visit to Beaver Lake, I remembered I had seen them up there earlier his year]

If I wasn't already sure that I was on a bear trail, the foot prints confirmed it

I followed a bear trail out. In hindsight it was not the best route as I ended up spending more time in scrubby forest than I would have liked. Even so the trail wasn’t difficult to follow. What finally put me off of it was the sounds of a large animal moving through the bushes not far away. The vegetation was thick enough that I couldn’t see what it might be. From the sounds of it a deer or bear.

I noticed some of the shrubs appeared to be pushed over. I think it was done by bear or human. It seemed like a lot of effort for humans, but perhaps the surveyors had to thrash around a bit in places. I'm not sure why a bear might have done it, but I wouldn't put it past them

I took that as motivation to cut more directly up to larger forest where I could see better.

I missed the spruce grove. It was probably lower down the valley (but I think not too far).

I remembered that on previous trip(s?) I had missed the cliffs, when I passed below them and didn’t notice them above.

Had I not been favoring further up the slope and really trying to make sure I didn’t miss them, it would have been easy to miss them again today. There was much more obscuring vegetation than on previous visits (which had always been in the winter or very early spring).

On this trip I visited more of the cliff band than I think I have previously.

I was curious about where my brother and I had previously tried picking our way up through the cliffs. I remembered a >ledge we had gone around on, but couldn’t quite remember how we got to the ledge. (It’s been nearly 20 years, plenty of time to have memory fade. Plus we were there in icy conditions – so things looked different.)

Not so obvious among the ferns, but there is a deer trail going along at the base of this cliff

A deer trail that kept quite close to the base of the cliff was not something I expected. In parts there is probably good eating, so I imagine that’s part of the reason they go there.

I poked around especially looking at bryophytes growing under the abundant maidenhair ferns.

Ptychostomum pseudotriquetrum, a new moss for me

I took pictures of many things, some I recognized, others I think will be new for me.

Rhizomnium magnifoliumm

Rhizomnium magnifolium was especially lush in places.

I found some Fissidens, will try to determine if it’s the usual species (Fissidens adianthoides), or one of the other ones.

As it was starting to get late, and I had made a pass by most everything I was comfortable getting to, I started back.

I followed a trail back down. It took me by the resistant volcanic ash water feature I’ve previously seen.

I visited a clearing I don’t have memories of being in before. I’m pretty sure I specifically made an effort to visit each of the clearings, so I think my memory of it just faded.

A reasonably nice bear trail took me to the river, where I crossed and hopped back on Indian River trail.

Back at the car, I curious about the sun. It before sunset, but I wasn’t seeing shadows.

Chain link and barbed wire to keep people out of the airport tarmac

A layer of smoke made it easier to see some of the sun spots facing our way

I considered stopping at the bridge to take pictures, but there was not much foreground of interest in the direction of the sun. Sea Mart was my next though, though in hindsight I probably should have just skipped the airport and gone to Sea Mart to start with.

Later this evening the moon was yellow and Not very high in the sky. It should more or less follow a path the sun takes in winter near solstice, but it seems like the sun is usually a bit higher. I will have to try and remember to check if the weather cooperates next December/January.

I didn’t do a great job of labeling collections in the field, so it might be a challenge to associate them with photos/observations. I didn’t have time to work on them this evening, so will try to set aside some time tomorrow while memories are still relatively fresh.

My iNaturalist Observations for Today

The July 16th show featured a conversation with Matt Bracken. We spoke about his time in Southeast Alaska as the research he’s worked on, including growing up in Petersburg, and returning each summer over the past decade to continue studies investigating marine biodiversity, especially in the intertidal zones.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The July 2nd show featured a conversation with Rich McCLear. A long-time Sitka resident, in recent years Rich has taken to going for a daily walk with a camera. We spoke about his history with Sitka, and how the regular walks and the intention to take pictures has impact his experience and perspective of the places he visits.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The June 18th show featured a conversation with Britta Jensen. Originally recorded and aired last fall, in this conversation we spoke about efforts to better understand the eruptive of the Mt. Edgecumbe volcanic field by studying the tephra/ash deposits in the area.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The June 4th show featured a conversation with Ian Hewson. We spoke how the results of a study he and colleagues did looking at a virus associated with giant Pacific sea cucumbers (Apostichopus californicus), as well as more broadly about viruses in the environment, and the investigation leading to the discovery of the cause of a massive die off of a species of sea urchin the Caribbean.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.

The May 21st show featured a conversation with Andy Szabo, Liah McPherson, and Dana Bloch. This conversation was originally slated to air in early April shortly after I recorded it, but due to technical issues it did not air at that time, so I re-recorded my opening and used this conversation for this week’s show.

Andy is director of the Alaska Whale Foundation. Liah and Dana are graduate students studying whales. They were in town working on a project to measure body condition of Humpback Whales that gathered in Sitka Sound to feed on herring. They use a drone to get imagery of the whales from above and can use this to model the whale’s size and compare changes to individual whales over time.

If you have questions or observations you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment here or on the page I’ve set up for that purpose.