First Snow in Bettles

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I looked out the window and saw snow on the tree branches. I quickly looked out the other window and saw snow on our steps. The first snow in Bettles! The snow lasted until about noon.

Over the past week, the temperature has been dropping. Our first freezing temperature came two nights ago--which seems later than normal. 

Most of the leaves are gone from the trees, except for a few tenacious clusters. I'm enjoying this because I can see the birds chirping away in the trees. I've been noticing a flock of pine grosbeaks eating the buds on the trees. I've seen them in several spots around town so I'm not sure if there is more than one flock.

Two days ago, I witnessed two gray jays mobbing a northern hawk owl. At first I saw the gray jays dive bombing a bird flying, then I realized that bird wasn't a gray jay or raven. Luckily, the bird landed on a spruce tree close to the road and I realized it was an owl. The gray jays kept diving at it until it moved two more times. The last time must have been far enough away since the gray jays didn't follow it.

Interestingly, it was late afternoon/early evening and the owl was out in the daylight. I'm not sure if it was hunting or the gray jays awoke it from its slumber. Either way I was excited to see the owl, my first northern hawk owl.

Winter is around the corner

Technically it is still summer until September 23, the autumn equinox. But above the Arctic Circle, autumn is well under way with winter weather close behind.

Fall color started around a month ago and just passed its peak. First the small brush and grasses started turning yellow and red. Then the willows began turning yellow and then the aspen. Most of the smaller shrubs and willows have lost their leaves, but a few of the aspen are just beginning to turn.

Termination dust (the first snow) blanketed the tops of the peaks in the southern Brooks Range yesterday. The northern part of the range was buried in a several inches of snow last week.

Another sign that winter is coming is the snowshoe hare. Yesterday one darted across the road in front of me and I couldn't miss its snow white feet--already changing into its winter wardrobe. Before long we will have snow in Bettles and the hare will blend right in. Winter is just around the corner.

Northern Lights

Ryan woke me up this morning to look at the northern lights--I didn't even mind it was 3:30 a.m. I've been looking forward to seeing the northern lights again. A look out the north window revealed a band of white moving across the sky. To get a better look, I bundled up, headed outside and up the ladder on to our trailer's roof. At tree top level, I had an excellent view of the northern lights moving across the night sky. The lights went from a band to a wavy curtain across the sky several times. When the lights faded in one part of the sky, they began in another. The whitish-green lights almost look like a cloud bank at times.

I only stayed out for a half hour, since it was windy. I enjoyed the time on the roof immensely. I haven't seen the northern lights for a few years. And I hadn't seen the stars for months and enjoyed finding the constellations again. I think I even saw Venus and Mars.

The sky wasn't completely dark at 4 a.m.. A faint amount of twilight silhouetted the trees and mountains to the north.  We are losing seven and a half minutes of daylight a day, so the nights are quickly becoming longer. With the shorter days, I am enjoying the sunrises and sunsets again without having to lose any sleep--except for watching the northern lights.