Hiking Flattop Peak, Alaska

On the last day of Vilis’s and my five-day visit to Alaska in May, we rented a car and drove east through Anchorage’s sprawling suburbs to Chugach State Park (saw a moose browsing on shrub...

Cruising Alaska’s Prince William Sound

In May, Vilis and I spent five days in southeastern Alaska, based in Anchorage. On our fourth day, we bussed 100 kilometres south from Anchorage through mountainous Chugach National Forest to the port...

Spring Birding in Anchorage, Alaska

In late May, Vilis and I spent six days based in Anchorage, on Alaska’s southwest coast. As our jet approached the city, gaps in cloud revealed range after range of snow-capped peaks and snow-st...

Swinging a Beak Like a Pickaxe: Pileated Woodpecker

Kek-kek-kek! The pileated woodpecker’s loud, sharp call rings out in our northern Nova Scotia forests year-round. I always feel a thrill when I spot a pileated lurching its way around a tree tru...