Thursday, April 24, 2014

200 hundred eggs, 1 swan, and a bunny on a bicycle

first thing is first. This next week is going to require some extra caffeine.  check.  don't worry I didn't share with Zelda.

Next on the to do list...pick up ducklings.
check.

Every year we raise mallard ducklings at the center.  When it is time they fly off with the other wild mallards and join the migration.

Zelda was very curious what the strange sounds coming from the box were.
For our easter event we placed them in the gift store so visitors could see them at 1 week old.

Jeremy and Linda- (gift store) were posing with these ducklings.

Ok so on Easter sunday we held one of our biggest events of the year.  We had all been preparing for weeks getting ready for the big day.

Starting early in the morning we each set up our stations.  Kayla and Teal are posing at the craft station.  The crafts included egg dying and making some bunny ears to wear as a pin on your shirt.

The egg dying craft required that we hard boil 200 eggs!  We figured better over prepare than not.  Plus; when you have a fox, brown bear, black bear, and lynx that enjoy eggs there is never going to be any eggs wasted.

Now onto the other type of eggs we had to prepare.  Of course we had to have an easter egg hunt!  Sarah and kara were hiding the eggs.  don't worry; the easter bunny helped hide them too.

We stuffed about 1,000 easter eggs!

They look like they are having so much fun.....I think they were just mad that they couldn't find the eggs themselves.

Thug life on easter.


We also took advantage of the beautiful weather we were having by adding the hayride.

We were also showing off our new neon hoodies that we started selling in the gift store.  We also thought that they would be good uniforms to wear on easter.  With hundreds of people it would be easy to spot us.

Everyone agreed....it was easy to spot us!


Funny photo.  How could we resist?











Time for the show to begin!  We started the event with a couple of stories.  Kelly, our education director, also had some of her chickens to show off.
We then followed this with our annual easter puppet show.  


We even had a special guest arrive.  The Easter Bunny!  He even stayed and enjoyed the puppet show.


Next up; the Easter bunny hopped all the kids down to the egg hunt area where they all found the hidden eggs.

I think the Easter bunny loved posing for the camera.




Eggs aren't just for the children on Easter.  At the center, many of the animals enjoy easter.  Some of these animals include the lynx.  We set aside 4 raw, yet dyed, eggs for the two lynx.

Teal was cracking the first egg in the photo on the right.

This photo was taken just before we had an unexpected visitor join us.










This crow was paying no attention to the 2 lynx that were very intensely staring him down.

I was afraid we were going to watch mother nature in action in the middle of a lot of kids!

Luckily, the crow got smart and ski-daddled.






Finally the lynx showed some interest in the raw eggs.  I think the vinegar that we used to dye the eggs were not their favorite.

I will make note not to use vinegar next year.









We even had the lovely Kat join us and grill hotdogs for all the visitors.


Kara was on porcupine duty.  This year we decided to let snickers run around on the observation deck once we blocked the entrance off with hay bales.  I think he enjoyed being able to move around.




So after egg dying, bunny hopping, candy eating, puppet skits, story telling, hay rides, chickens flapping, and egg hunting; Easter was a success!

With Easter; we also know animals are going to be arriving soon.

The first signs of spring is when the birds are returning.  Some of the first returnees include swans.


A few days before easter Doug Lindstrand noticed a young swan on the side of the highway unable to fly.  Kayla, Teal, and I went out to observe the swan.  We decided that it was in an unsafe area and therefore captured it.  Now anyone that has worked with swans know that if it takes about 10 minutes to chase and capture a swan in a large open field.....it must be injured, tired, or sick.

I called Bird Treatment and Learning Center in anchorage and alerted them I was on my way.

Basically we believe the swan may have just been tired from migration and simply needed rest.

So after 3 days of rest we released him back into the wild.
In the below photo the 4 girls: Sarah, Kara, Teal, and Kayla were walking the kennel to the edge of the pond for release.




I snapped this photo of moose scat nearby just because I am a nerd and was excited to see a sign of wild moose in the area.  ok back to the swan.....



Doug lindstrand was also there to capture the release on photo.  I wanted to get a photo of him at work.

I am sure Doug has thousands of photos of people in action but not many of himself at work.


These next 2 photos show how talented Doug is at photography.  You can clearly tell the difference between his photos and mine.


The swan is back in the wild and hopefully enjoying the company of other swans at this very moment.

Time for another pup photo!  Zelda has surpassed the kennel in the truck.  she has now climed the passenger seat.  

We also explored the creek that runs through gird wood for the first time.



Good night lower 48.....although it doesn't look like night as much these days.  It is already staying lighter out later and later.





Tuesday, April 1, 2014

"Zelda"



I have had one awesome week!  First off, my mom arrived late friday night on the 7th and I couldn't wait to see her!  Someone else also couldn't wait to see her....Jade, our red fox!  My mom was here last summer just a few months after we received Jade and added him to the AWCC family.  He was very excited to get some chicken from her as a snack.


 We still hand feed Jade daily in order to keep him familiar with us and to remain calm when it comes to food.



Every time my mom visits we also go to our favorite place for dinner.....or dessert...or both!  Jack Sprat is a delicious place to eat that is just a few minutes walking distance from my condo.

As you can probably tell we decided to have dessert on one of my mom's last nights to visit.  We like to split their bread pudding.  I had a cappacino while my mom had a huge hot chocolate!









   We also went for a daily stroll in the lovely moose meadows.......
 Well the fun had to end sometime and it was back to work :(



These 2 hard working gals were riding around all day putting up panels for something.  I don't really know what project they were doing but I am sure it was a tough one knowing them.

The snow is almost gone and I am ready for summer!





Speaking of summer; our brown bears are out of hibernation and have been getting daily feedings at 4pm.  the crowds really have been getting larger and larger each week.  it gets me excited for the summer time crowds.  After months of not seeing many tourists I am ready for th daily brown bear feeding programs to start again.
We went out to the feeding in my truck and Doug Lindstrand happend to catch the photo opportunity.  He also snapped the photo from above.


Well if you know me by now you may have heard that I have a new addition in my life.  When my mom was visiting we were on the prowl for a dog for me.  After going to the anchorage pound, and an adoption clinic I found the perfect match for me.  

We drove out to the palmer/Wasilla dog pound just to look.  Nothing really caught my eye until.....a woman that worked there mentioned that she had a puppy just become available for adoption.  Like most people that look at a puppy needing a home I couldn't leave without her.  

so here she is: meet "ZELDA"


Our second day together my mom and I went to Turnagain pass.  


Zelda likes to hangout in the ticket booth at work with her Aunt Kara. 



yesterday (3/31) Zelda and I went to Seward to just go somewhere on our day off.  It so happens that they were in need of some movie extras for a search and rescue scene.  Zelda and I made our first movie debuts as search and rescue person/dog.  I can't believe they let me have my puppy on set all day!  I even met cary Elwes (princess bride actor).  It was an awesome day off!

Zelda say "goodnight lower 48"
-Erin and Z