One of the best pay offs

To living here in Alaska is all the wildlife we get to see. People from the Lesser 48 (sorry guys ;)) just don't have these opportunites.

The day started off with mixed foggy areas and low lying scud. If it weren't for the bright yellow and gold birch leaves, it surely would have been a gloomy day. We headed out early, north on the Parks Highway for a bit of an exploratory drive. We were blessed to see the following:

A mated pair of swans-
and their three cygnets from this year, not completely white as yet.
Numerous wild ducks and honestly about all I could tell is that there were three different kinds (I think?)
Eagles-one immature bird and an adult, who had lunch of some type in its beak.
A spruce hen-and I think I saw a few more moving in the brush, but this one was on the gravel road.
And of course ravens and camp robbers, that's a given.

On the way home this evening, we stumbled across a lost pheasant too, who had a gaggle (?) of camp robbers after it, as it scurried along the road in front of us. No doubt lost from someone's place, there was no way to catch it up with just the two of us-poor thing.

When you add in the cow and calf pairs of moose we've seen lately, and the fox I saw three mornings ago just a couple blocks from home-you could say, there is still wildlife to seen, here just an hours' drive out of Anchorage.

It's just grand, really it is. To see moose, bear, and other tracks right on your own property.....to see wild swans, ducks, geese, eagles and all the rest.

The capper of the day was heading over to give a neighbor a hand with butchering chickens, haha Sure got a lot left to do and I am probably going to be at that bright and early tomorrow as well.

Yep, the day was for the birds!