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A Birder’s Guide to U.S. Federal Public Lands

10,000 Birds

The federal government owns about 46% of the land in these states but only about 4% of the other states (excluding Alaska). There is one gigantic outlier: Alaska. The federal government owns roughly 223 million acres in Alaska, about 61% of the state. In terms of federal land, Alaska truly stands apart. million acres).

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What is the State Bird of Alaska?

10,000 Birds

In 1955 – before Alaska was a state – the Territory’s leaders in charge of drafting a constitution allowed schoolchildren to choose what would eventually become the state bird. The Willow Ptarmigan was officially designated in 1960, when Alaska entered the union.

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North from Alaska: The Surfbirds return to Mexico

10,000 Birds

It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was writing about the Surfbirds, and the long trip to their Alaska breeding grounds. Well, they are back. This last week we took a trip over to the Pacific side of the Baja to see who had arrived back from their summer up north.

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Best Bird of the Weekend (First of September 2021)

10,000 Birds

I spent the last week in Alaska chasing all kinds of excitement but finding fewer birds than I’d hoped. From Creamer’s Field to the University of Alaska campus, these big, gregarious birds bugle their presence proudly as they pass through town. Millions of birds around the world are making moves. Will you move with them?

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Best Bird of the Weekend (Fourth of August 2021)

10,000 Birds

Mike absconded from New York the day I returned and despite missing his connecting flight he is safely in Alaska right now. (At Sadly, it seems that Alaska lacks the internet or phone service, as I have not heard from him about what his Best Bird of the Weekend was. So that will be my Best Bird of the Weekend. At least, I hope he is.)

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Wolf Killng Begins in Alaska

Critter News

The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game hopes to kill up to 328 wolves in order to protect caribou calves. The LA Times Greenspace blog has the story.

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Musk Oxen Keep Dying at University of Alaska Research Station

Critter News

The death toll for musk oxen at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Large Animal Research Station rose to nine after a school veterinarian euthanized two older bulls that never recovered from a suspected trace mineral deficiency that caused the deaths of seven other animals in September and October.

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