Rick and Jen's Blog: April 2015

Monday, April 27, 2015

Other Random Photos

More Random Photos

We see lots of waterfowl all winter, but the spring has brought much more bird activity ashore.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Fox Sparrow (we think)

Dark-eyed Junco

Pacific Wren

Bird Watcher

There has been a solitary sea otter just outside the bay for the last couple of years. The good news is that the sea otters are expanding their territory and population. The bad news is that they eat a lot of crab!

Easter Performance

Waiting for a treat after the Easter Performance!

Now--this is a treat!

Taking the lights down.

Another Birthday celebration (Happy Birthday to Me!)

Like the song says, "I get better lookin' each day!"

Rufus Hummingbird--I think he's glad the feeder is out!

Choirboys

One last herring.....

Just hanging out on the dock.

Belted Kingfisher (female)

Sailboat Bob Birthday Bash!

Sailboat Bob made a speed run over to the bay from Sitka in the not too distant past with a load of birthday revelers. We had a great weekend hiking, kayaking, and hot springing in the rain!

Happy Birthday Mo!

Imported chefs preparing a breakfast feast. (Gala party hats required)

Here's Blain's plate--I guess we should have made enough for everybody!

Good thing we fed them before the crowd turned on us!

After breakfast, the paddlers headed out to the falls.

Celebrating after a successful descent!

Deck Dancers Gone Wild! (don't worry--we were still able to use the coffee filters)

Eat your heart out, Madonna!

A good time was had by all, including our neighbors, with the Birthday Girl heading up the congo line.

Abbe's Birthday

The birthday decorations have been getting a lot of use this spring. Jen's friend Abbe flew in from Seattle to spend some time with us while we celebrated her birthday.

Abbe flew in to our gala dock on a nice sunny day.

Wow--a birthday treat (that Abbe baked for us)!

Kayaking

It was a perfect, calm day for kayaking!

Kayaking at Baranof Falls

While Abbe was here, we took a skiff ride across Chatham Strait to visit our friends Dave and Anke in Murder Cove.

Dave and Anke alternate winters with us caretaking the Baranof Lodge and in the other year, they caretake at Tyee--the old cannery and whaling station site on the southern tip of Admiralty Island.

Looking at some historical photos from the whaling station.

More history!

The final resting spot for a bald eagle.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Are Minks Trainable?

We have a couple of minks that live close to the lodge. Although some people told us that you can't train a wild mink, we had a lot of time on our hands this winter, so thought we'd give it a shot. The large one we named Marvin. The other one we worry about because she has mange and it seems to be getting worse. Her name is Marge the Mangy Mink.

Marvin down on the dock. We were told they wouldn't fetch, but we found it depends on what you throw for them.

It works fine with crab legs.

Madge is a little slower, but she's fetching this turkey bone.

Marvin having fun fetching a turkey leg.

He'll fetch a turkey breastbone as well.

We've trained Madge to clean the Barbeque and take the old salmon skins to the compost.

Random Spring Photos

Here is a random mix of photos from the last couple months.

We've had more cloud cover this winter and it seems we haven't seen the moon as much as we usually do. We did get up early one morning to try to see the recent lunar eclipse, but it was too low on the horizon for us to see (we were blocked by the mountains we have to the west). Jen did manage to get a couple nice moon shots...

This Coast Guard cutter anchored overnight in front of the lodge.

It was obvious when they started up their main engines!

Boardwalk Contemplation

We have a healthy population of sunflower stars around our dock. A lot of starfish on the west coast (including Alaska) have an epidemic starfish wasting disease that is wiping a lot of them out, but no sign of it here in the bay yet.