Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mary Ann Poll’s Journey to Becoming a Published Author

Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

Three weeks ago, I introduced you to Mary Ann Poll when she generously shared a post about her character Kat’s Thanksgiving in the small town of Ravens Cove, Alaska. This week, Mary Ann has written a guest post for my blog about her journey to becoming a published author. Mary Ann writes Christian-based, supernatural thrillers. I’ve read Ravens Cove, and it is a thrilling ride. I’ll let Mary Ann explain her books to you.

My Journey to Becoming a Published Author
by Mary Ann Poll

There is one thing to be said for coincidences. There aren’t any. And, before you think I’m crazy or just ‘narrow-minded’ consider the following story of how I became a published author.

A day came when I was confronted with an indisputable fact: My eternal soul lives in nothing more than crockery. That day came in May 1998.

I awoke for another day of work. Hands reaching toward the ceiling in that wonderful morning stretch were stopped instantly by sharp, tear-producing pain. As the initial pain subsided, I downed a pain reliever and was at my desk by 9 am. The pain returned with a vengeance by noon. At 1 pm I found myself in the emergency room. A disc had herniated in my neck, and I faced surgery with a long recovery.

This small writing is from a piece I wrote several years ago when I was asked to describe how I became an author. As they say, “The Lord works in mysterious ways.” Indeed, He does. Because if a disc in my neck had not herniated, if I had not read 100 books in ninety days because I could do nothing else while I healed, and if I had not listened to a good friend who suggested I write a novel, I would not be writing this article today.

My first book in what is now the Iconoclast series took many more years before it saw the black and white of printing. That journey was full of trips down other paths – going back to work time and again to make the almighty dollar and avoid the emotions and mental weariness that writing took. I took courses, joined online chat groups and talked about writing until I was blue in the face. In the end, I accepted the idea of writing was not going to go away. That was the day I sat down to write a book. It took twelve years to summon the courage and face the passion that would not leave, no matter what I did.

In all of the trips down other pathways, one helped me. I found out about National Novel Writing Month from a contact I made on a Christian writers forum. This is a yearly event where over 300,000 writers come together and grind out a novel in 30 days. I had tried everything else, so what was there to lose? So, I committed to the project. Low and behold, Ravens Cove was born.

Once written, then I was faced with the frightening and somewhat overwhelming question every writer has: “What now?” My answer for several months was, “nothing!” This was when I first discovered that writing a book is akin to giving birth. I wasn’t putting my ‘baby’ out into the world for criticism and rejection.

So, I let the book sit in the dark for several months. It stayed in the rawest of formats, and I think I was actually in denial that I had written an entire novel. I didn’t have (or make) the time to edit it because I had no clue where to go and who to trust with my ‘baby.’

My husband read the prologue and told me it was great. Of course, he did. He wanted dinner and to sleep in his own bed – what else would he have said? I knew he meant it. I also knew he loved me, so I dismissed his compliment.

It just so happened that my father-in-law came to visit the summer after I wrote Ravens Cove. He asked if I might allow him to read it. His reading it was not such a frightening thought, and, to be honest, I really wanted his opinion. And, I trusted his view because he has a Ph.D. in education and had published works of his own. He also happened to be the most avid reader I had ever met. So, I thought if anyone could

I gave him the book. He and my husband left that weekend for our RV in Anchor Point. He read it there. He came back and told me he really liked it. He said he had read authors he thought should have never been published. And, he thought mine should be.

My husband, with the I-told-you-so-look, agreed. Then, he took it a step further and emailed links to several publishers and publishing houses with information on what it took to get the book to press. And, here’s where Providence is again disguised as coincidence. One of those names was Publication Consultants.

I debated sending out query letters to the ‘big houses.’ I heard stories of books that were tied up for months, even a year or more, by those ‘big houses’ that had initially accepted the author’s work and then left them hanging forever. I debated the self-publishing houses and again read and heard of the horror stories of authors that were taken financially to the point it wasn’t worthwhile to pursue marketing their books. With all this, I decided I wanted to be able to look a publisher in the eye. So, I met with Evan Swensen of Publication Consultants.

Before I did, I reviewed the website and the different contracts available to an author. They all seemed above board and fair. I reviewed what authors had said about them, and it sounded good. So, I called.

Evan reviewed the first few pages of what was to be Ravens Cove. There were some problems but he told me the story was good and he would publish it-after I took it to an editor to fix the ‘boulders’-his word for problems. The rest is history. Since 2010, I have been privileged to call Publication Consultants my publishing house.

Publication Consultants was and still is invaluable to this me. They have taught, and are still teaching me, the ins and outs of the road to becoming a successful author. There have been numerous mountains to climb and valleys to traverse. They have stuck with me throughout the process and have opened doors that self-publishing could not. Without Evan Swensen and his staff, I would not have reached the goal of becoming a published author.

As I stated when I began this article, there are no coincidences. Each occurrence that seemed so small in and of their selves led me to Publication Consultants and the adventure of being a published author. To date, the journey continues. The entire Iconoclast Thriller series is complete. And, when ready and God willing, the next book will be published with the assistance of Publication Consultants.

Thank you, Mary Ann, for sharing your incredible journey with us. In my experience, writing a novel is the easiest part of the “author” process. The true work begins with editing, followed by publishing, and finally, the never-ending, tedious job of promotion. Mary Ann and I work very hard to promote our books, and we both belong to a promotional group called Author Masterminds. Our group is opening a reading club, and soon, I will invite you to join us. In the meantime, check out Mary Ann and her books. If you would like to know more about Mary Ann’s journey to becoming a published author, watch her webinar. At the end of the webinar, you will be able to download one of her books for free!

By the way, Mary Ann’s books would make perfect Christmas presents!

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

Author Rich Ritter is the New Voice of the American West

Uncategorized, , , , ,

Rich Ritter is another friend and author in my Author Masterminds group. Rich writes edgy historical fiction and many consider him the new voice of the American West. I don’t need to add anything else to hook you on Rich’s writing. Read this post, and I guarantee you will be an instant fan, clambering to buy all his books. _____________________________________________________________________

Rich Ritter: My Journey to Becoming an Author

Although I resented it at the time, I must now thank my eighth-grade English teacher for two excruciating months of lessons on the arcane subject of sentence diagramming. She aroused a latent desire to write, which eventually blossomed in high school when I was mistakenly chosen—along with two other students—to represent the school in a district-wide writing competition. The contest did not go well because the teacher in charge of our team loathed my uniquely-chaotic prose and forced me to write in the dreary style he preferred. Stunned by failure, but mostly due to a five-year diversion to study architecture, I did not submit my first short story for publication until the year after college. I would offer proof of this significant event, but I have since misplaced the rejection letter from the Atlantic Monthly.

I wrote extensively during the next twenty-five years, producing many important works of literature including A Proposal for Professional Services for the Dzantik’I Heeni Middle School, The West Douglas Planning Study, and Technical Specifications for the New Juneau Police Station, to name a few notable works. I did not rediscover fiction—although my competitors might argue this point—until the age of 49. My wife and I adopted our sons in 1983 and 1985, which eventually led to family upheaval and the attendance at four multiday sleep-depravation seminars. During the second seminar, the facilitator challenged us to commit to a “big bodacious goal.” This goal theoretically represented our true purpose in life. When I awoke the next morning, I foolishly scribbled on the little piece of paper next to the hotel phone that I would write a novel. However, I may have overdone the exercise because when we each announced our goals at the seminar the woman sitting next to me promised to take a multi-vitamin every day for a year.

I commenced within the week. Five long years later, I self-published Toil Under the Sun, a novel of the Korean War and an adopted son who does not believe he is worthy of love. Although I spent countless hours researching (even learning to operate and shoot an M-1 Garand without cutting off my thumb), much of my inspiration derived from my father, who served as a First Lieutenant with the U.S. Army in Korea, and my oldest son, who served as a sergeant with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq. My younger son provided source material as well, in his own way. When book sales did not go well, I embarked on a six-month effort to find a literary agent. I wrote numerous query letters, sent numerous emails, made numerous phone calls, and produced only one glimmer of interest from a New York agent who was on a desperate search for “Chic Lit approximately 80,000 words long.” When I told her that Toil Under the Sun clocked in at 133,000 words, our conversation quickly ended.

Undaunted, I decided to plunge into my next project: a novel of the west set in Silver City, Idaho during the late 1800s. Concerned about the effort required to produce Toil Under the Sun, my wife suggested I take a break and write something “smaller and funner,” possibly set in Juneau during the time of the great gold mines. I followed her counsel, and one year later completed the manuscript for Heart of Abigail: A Lyric Novella of Juneau, Douglas and Treadwell. At 28,000 words though, my writing speed had not increased. Unsatisfied with the previous self-publishing and literary agent results, I began fishing around for a publisher in Alaska by reading the “published by” information on book covers at local bookstores. I eventually found an interested publisher in Homer, but I declined after the editor told me that she would “…bleed all over my manuscript, but I can’t start until next spring.” A bit discouraged, I found myself wandering down the book aisle (after browsing the food carts) at the local Costco. A very handsome paperback caught my eye, and when I looked on the back I noted “Publication Consultants” in Anchorage. I called the owner, a man of integrity named Evan Swensen, and Heart of Abigail was published four months later.

Having satisfied my wife’s desire for something “smaller and funner,” I embarked on Nor Things to Come: A Novel of the American West. Another five years and more than 268,000 words later, I submitted the manuscript to Evan. He reviewed my work, then called me on the phone to let me know that no one would pay for a book this big from an unknown author. My wife stepped in once again to propose a solution. She suggested I publish the book as a trilogy because the story was already organized in three parts. Evan declared the idea “brilliant” and prompted me the get to work right away. I originally assumed very little effort would be required, but four months and five revisions later I submitted The Perilous Journey Begins, the first book of Nor Things to Come: A Trilogy of the American West. The second book, Gathering of the Clans, followed in six months. I do not yet have a title for the third book, but I know something interesting will eventually pop into my head—or maybe my wife will suggest a title: she has come through before when I needed help.

___________________________________________________________________________

Thank you, Rich! I think it always pays to listen to your wife! Be sure to check out Rich’s books, and while you are at it, you might want to buy two copies of each book because they would make great Christmas presents! You can find Rich’s books at Author Masterminds, Amazon, and other online booksellers.

___________________________________________________________________________

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries.  Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

 

Bald Eagle Nest Building

Bald Eagle, Kodiak Wildlife, Uncategorized, , ,

Spring is a time for nest building; whether it’s a new nest made from twigs or a hollow spot in a rock needing only a fresh supply of moss for padding, birds know they must prepare their homes for the eggs and chicks that will soon follow.

Our weather is slowly warming here on Kodiak Island. Most days we creep into the forties, but then we drop back into the low thirties at night. I see a few sprouts popping through the ground, but mostly, it still looks like winter here.

Animals are the one, true indication spring is right around the corner. I hear whales exhaling in the pass near our lodge, signaling they are following the krill and small fish into the bay. In turn, the krill and fish are here to feed on the phytoplankton which blooms as the water warms. Yesterday, kittiwakes arrived in a big swarm to repopulate the rookery in front of our lodge. Puffins and arctic terns should be here soon.

The surest promise of spring, though, is the circling eagles high in the sky as they perform their mating ballet. Soon, they will begin repairing their homes as they prepare for their young to be born.

Bald eagles build the largest nest of any North American bird. The nest may be as large as 8 ft. (2.44 m) across and weigh one ton (907 kg). An eagle pair often uses and adds to the same nest every year, causing the nest to grow over time.

Bald eagles build their nests in large trees near the water. In Alaska, nests are usually found along saltwater shorelines or rivers, and in many parts of Alaska, eagles nest in old-growth timber. On Kodiak Island, eagles prefer to nest in black cottonwood trees, but in areas where black cottonwoods are not available, nests can be found on rocky cliffs or at the bases of alder trees on cliffs along the coast.

The nest is usually built in the crotch of the last set of branches one-third to one-quarter of the way down from the top of the tree. Eagles tend to nest in trees with sparse foliage near the edge of a habitat, so they can fly to and from the nest without having to navigate through a canopy of trees.

The nests are built of sticks, and each year the eagle pair adds new branches and other vegetation to the nest to cover over food remains, feathers, and other debris left from the previous year. Branches and twigs are placed on the edge of the nest, while softer vegetation such as leaves, grass, and moss are placed in the center. An eagle pair continues to add branches, moss, and grass to the nest all summer until the chicks are nearly grown. Researchers believe the reason for this may simply be to keep the nest cleaner. Waste, rotting fish, and even the bodies of chicks that have died in the nest are not tossed out of the nest but are buried by moss, grass, and other greenery. It is important to keep the nest clean, so parasites don’t infest the chicks.

An eagle pair usually uses a nest until either the eagles die or something happens to the nest or the tree holding the nest. Mates may build two, three, or even four nests in their breeding territory, and scientists are unsure what the purpose is for these multiple nests.

The average distance between occupied nests is usually 1 to 2 miles (1.6 – 3.2 km), but nest sites are often closer to each other in areas where food is plentiful. A 2007 nesting and productivity study on the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge identified 1141 nests with 439 (38%) of those nests active. This was down from a 55% occupancy rate found in a 2002 study. Of the 439 active nests in 2007, 208 of the nests (48%) were successful in producing young. The researchers suspected the harsh spring weather in 2006 and 2007 might have contributed to the reduction of nesting effort.

Nesting and breeding bald eagles are territorial and defend their nests from other animals, including other eagles. Adults spend much of the day perched in prominent trees near the nest, perhaps to make themselves more visible to intruders. A resident eagle will warn an approaching eagle with a loud call consisting of grunts followed by a high-pitched screech. Sometimes the resident eagle quietly escorts an intruder out of the area, but occasionally, one of the two birds will attack the other, resulting in a display known as cart-wheeling, where one eagle descends on the other eagle, and the other bird rolls onto its back while both eagles grasp talons. The two birds then tumble toward the ground, separating just before they crash.

I welcome the birds back after a long winter. They are often noisy neighbors, but their cries herald birth, life, and spring!

___________________________________________________________________________

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

Kodiak Bear Research

Kodiak Bear, Kodiak Wildlife, Uncategorized, , , ,

Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge are responsible for most of the research on Kodiak bears, and much of this research has concentrated on denning behaviors and home ranges of Kodiak bears, with an emphasis on management applications. Today, the Kodiak Brown Bear Trust funds a portion of bear research. The trust was established in 1981 to compensate for potential impacts on Kodiak bears by the construction and operation of the Terror Lake Hydroelectric Project. The trust funds bear research, management, habitat protection, and educational outreach projects. The Kodiak Brown Bear Trust relies on tax-deductible contributions to carry out its mission. If you would like to support Kodiak bear research and habitat protection, please visit www.kodiakbrownbeartrust.org to learn more about the trust and how you can donate.

In 1896, C.H. Merriam visited Kodiak and confirmed reports that Kodiak bears were the largest bears in the world. He named the species in honor of Russian naturalist Dr. A. Th. Von Middendorff. Merriam divided the North American brown and grizzly bears into eighty-six forms based on slight variations in size, fur color, and skull shape. Scientists now know physical differences in these categories can occur within populations and even within family groups. Today, all North American brown bears, grizzlies, and Eurasian brown bears are grouped into the single species Ursus arctos. Kodiak bears are classified Ursus arctos middendorfi, and all other brown and grizzly bears are listed as Ursus arctos horribilis.

The first scientific studies of Kodiak bears were simple hunting and collecting trips to document their size. In the early 1900’s, research was concerned with determining how many cattle and salmon bears were killing and eating. A study by W.K. Clark in 1955 showed although bears are very effective at catching salmon in a stream, they catch few unspawned salmon, making their impact on the salmon run much less than originally believed. 

As the Kodiak bear became a valued trophy for big game hunters, the focus of the research shifted to learning more about the physiology and behavior patterns of bears. Biologists refined techniques for capturing and marking bears and began to use radio telemetry to track the movements of specific bears. This jump in technology provided biologists with information on home ranges, densities, gender and age ratios, and litter sizes.

Most of the early research on Kodiak bears was conducted on the south end of Kodiak Island, but in 1982, construction began on the Terror Lake Hydroelectric Project on the north end of the island, and funds were made available to study if this project would affect bears in the vicinity of the proposed dam. Biologists were surprised when studies on the bears near Terror Lake showed bears in this area had different denning behaviors and preferences than did bears on the south end of the island, indicating that Kodiak bears have adapted well to the slightly different habitats on opposite ends of the island.

In the 1970’s, a study investigated Kodiak brown bear use of alpine habitat during the summer months and preferred plant foods of bears, while a study published by Victor Barnes in 1990 examined the influence of salmon availability on the movements of brown bears.  A 1994 study by Barnes investigated the impact deer hunters have on Kodiak bears, and a 2006 paper by Barnes discussed his study on the impact of bear viewers and photographers at O’Malley River on Kodiak Island. This study showed that while a regimented bear-viewing program impacted bears less than a non-regimented program, bears were still affected much more by a regimented bear-viewing program than they were when the area was closed to public use. I think the important lesson to learn from this study is that any time you step into the bears’ habitat, you are impacting them to some degree.

Next week, I will tell you about recent research on Kodiak bears. As always, thank you for visiting my blog.

__________________________________________________________________________

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

Happy Thanksgiving

Uncategorized,

Happy Thanksgiving to my U. S. viewers, and thank you to everyone who reads my weekly blog. I think it’s great we have a holiday dedicated to reflecting on what is truly important to us and reminding us of all we have.

I’ve had a tough year, but instead of leaving me less thankful, this year has made me more thankful for all I have now and for all I’ve been blessed with in my life. Last year, my oldest brother died, and this year my other brother died, leaving me with no parents or siblings. The thought of being the last of my childhood family has knocked the wind out of me. Family memories from my childhood belong only to me now, and they are a burden that weighs heavily on me. I can no longer e-mail my brother and say, “Hey, remember the Thanksgiving when. . . ?

Holidays can be sad when a loved one has recently died, but I’m trying to focus on the good, and I have many wonderful people in my life for which I am very thankful. This year, in particular, I am taking stock of my loved ones.

I have also had a rough year health-wise, but I am slowly recovering, and I made it through our busy season, so now I can rest. My illness has made me think about people who are disabled with no hope of recovery, and my heart goes out to them. Not being able physically to do what you want is tough, and I am thankful I will recover my strength within a few months.

Writing brings me joy and gets my creative juices flowing, but lately, I have been too tired to write. Our lodge is now closed for the year, though, and I am looking forward to again tackling my writing projects. I’ve started my next novel and hope to edit my wildlife book and get it ready to publish.

Working on my author platform is necessary if I ever want to make a living as an author, but I have put little effort into promotion lately. I plan to spend a great deal of time working on my author platform over the next several weeks.

Life in the wilderness can be hard. We must do everything ourselves. We can’t call a mechanic if something breaks or hire a crew to build a new cabin. It’s up to my husband and me to do these jobs, and sometimes I yearn for an easier life. Then, I look around me at the beauty of the ocean and the mountains, and I pinch myself. I am the luckiest person in the world to live in such a beautiful place, and I am very thankful. Where else could I look out the window and see a beautiful fox sitting in the backyard?

I am thankful for all of you who have read my books, my mystery newsletters, and my blog posts. The number of people who visit my website each day has slowly increased over time, and the number of subscribers to my newsletter continues to grow. Whenever I receive a notice saying someone new has signed up for my newsletter, I cheer. I value each of my subscribers, and I work hard to write interesting newsletters for them each month.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect, and I only need to watch the news to realize how fortunate I am to live in a country where freedom is a right, not a dream.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

Sockeye (Red) Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Uncategorized, , , , , ,

Sockeye salmon also called red salmon and sometimes blueback salmon, are larger than pink salmon but average smaller in size than other Pacific Salmon species. Sockeyes measure between 18 and 31 inches (45.7-78.7 cm) in length and weigh between 4 to 15 pounds (1.8-6.8 kg). In their marine phase, sockeyes have iridescent silver sides, a white belly, and a metallic green-blue back. Due to this marine coloration, sockeyes are sometimes called blueback salmon. While they can have fine, black speckles on their backs, they lack the large spots found on other species of Pacific Salmon. The flesh of a sockeye in the marine phase is bright orange and firm. This beautiful, firm flesh with its rich flavor makes sockeyes highly prized and a culinary favorite.

When sockeyes return to their natal streams to spawn, their bodies turn bright red, and their heads become green. They are called red salmon because of this spawning coloration. In addition to changing color when they return to spawn, males develop a humped back, and hooked jaws called a kype. Breeding females are paler in color than males.

Unlike pinks, chums, and cohos that can spawn close to the mouths of small streams, sockeye salmon usually spawn in large, complex river/lake systems. Most sockeyes spawn either in streams connected to lakes or along the lakeshore in areas of upwelling. Because a sockeye requires unimpeded access to a lake to complete its life cycle, it is susceptible to habitat manipulation or degradation. Not only man but also beavers can alter a river system by building dams, effectively blocking a river or stream and denying salmon access to the lake.

The natural range for sockeyes is from the Klamath River in California and Oregon north to Point Hope in Alaska. In the western Pacific, sockeyes range from the Anadyr River in Siberia south to Hokkaido, Japan. Sockeyes are most numerous in the Fraser River system in British Columbia and the Bristol Bay system, including the Kvichak, Naknek, Ugashik, Egegik, and Nushagak rivers. Some populations of sockeyes do not migrate to the ocean but spend their entire lives in freshwater. These landlocked salmon are called kokanee salmon. Kokanees are found from Siberia to Japan on the Asian side of the Pacific and In North America from the Kenai Peninsula to the Deschutes River in Oregon. Kokanees have been widely introduced to lakes in the U.S., including the Great Lakes.

In Alaska, sockeye salmon return from the ocean to spawn from July to October. Like other Pacific Salmon species, sockeyes spawn in the streams where they were born. Some sockeyes spawn in streams not connected to lakes and others spawn near the lakeshore, but most spawn in streams attached to a lake. A female digs a nest in the stream bottom by giving several, powerful strokes of her tail. Once she finishes digging the nest, she rests while a dominant male courts her by nudging her side with his snout and then coming to rest beside her and quivering. The female then drops into the nest, and the male follows, stopping beside her. Both fish arch their bodies, open their mouths and quiver, releasing their eggs and sperm. Other males may also enter the nest and release sperm. The female will continue to dig nests until she has deposited all her eggs. She usually digs three to five nests over the course of three to five days, and she may breed with several dominant males. A female deposits between 500 to 1,000 eggs in a nest and lays a total of 2,500 to 4,300 eggs. A male sockeye may breed with several females, and both male and female sockeyes die within a few weeks after spawning.

Sockeye eggs hatch in the winter, and the young alevins remain in the gravel, gaining nutrition from their yolk sacs until spring when they emerge into the stream. At this stage of their lives, the young sockeyes are called fry and have dark, short, oval parr marks on their sides. Fry move out of the stream and into the lake where they spend one to three years in fresh water, feeding on zooplankton and small crustaceans. As they prepare to leave the lake, sockeyes lose their parr marks and turn silvery. They are now called smolts. Smolts weight only a few ounces when they enter the ocean, but they begin to grow quickly, mostly feeding on plankton, insects, and small crustaceans. A sockeye’s beautiful orange flesh comes from eating plankton and krill in the ocean.

Sockeyes spend one to four years in the ocean where they travel nearly continuously, covering as many as 2300 miles (3700 km) in one year. As it begins the return trip to its spawning stream, a mature sockeye swims even faster, covering 28 to 35 miles (45-56 km) per day during its last two months at sea. Sockeyes are prey for nearly every animal they encounter that is bigger than they are, and they are a valuable species for commercial fishermen.

________________________________________________________________________

Next week, I will cover the commercial and sport fishery for sockeyes as well as the status of sockeye populations and threats to their survival, including the controversial proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

I would love to hear your opinions and ideas about the Pebble Mine as well as about anything else related to salmon conservation or any of my other posts.

My novel, The Fisherman’s Daughter, is now available for sale at Amazon and other online booksellers, as well as on my page at www.authormasterminds.com

As always, thank you for reading my blog, and if you would like to receive my free, monthly newsletter on murder in Alaska, sign up on the following form.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

 

 

Water Hemlock and Poison Hemlock

Uncategorized
Water Hemlock

Botanists consider water hemlock the most poisonous plant in North America. Just a bite of the root will kill a human.

Both water and poison hemlock grow in Alaska, and both are deadly poisonous. Both species inhabit wet areas such as marshes, streams, and moist meadows. Water hemlock grows to a height of two to six feet, and poison hemlock reaches three to eight feet in height. Water hemlock has alternate, compound, oval leaflets with saw-toothed margins. The leaves of poison hemlock are lance-shaped with saw-toothed edges. Both species have small, lacy, white flowers arranged in umbrella-like clusters. The stems of the plants are hollow. The roots are tuberous and chambered and contain a yellow, oily, foul-smelling liquid.

Water Hemlock

The yellow, oily substance found in the roots is circutoxin, and it is present in all parts of the plant. When ingested, circutoxin depresses the respiratory system. Symptoms begin to appear within 15 minutes to an hour after ingestion and include salivation followed by diarrhea, severe stomach distress, and convulsions. Without treatment, death occurs within eight hours of ingestion, and even if a person survives hemlock poisoning, she may suffer permanent damage to her central nervous system.

Hemlock poisonings in children are often caused when kids use the hollow stem of the plant to make whistles or use the stems as pea shooters. Adults are sometimes poisoned when they mistake the roots of hemlock as wild parsnip or add the leaves of the deadly plant to a pot herb mixture. Poisoning has also occurred when campers have mistaken the leaves of water hemlock as some sort of wild marijuana and have smoked them. Livestock can be poisoned by hemlock when grazing the plants or drinking water near where the plants grow. A poisoned animal may die in as little as fifteen minutes.

Poison Hemlock

In Maine, on October 5th, 1992, a 23-year old man and his 39-year old brother were foraging for wild ginseng, when the younger man collected several plants growing in a swampy area and took three bites from the root of one of the plants. His older brother took one bite of the same root. Within 30 minutes, the younger man began to vomit and suffer convulsions. It took 30 minutes for the brothers to walk out of the woods and call for help. Emergency personnel arrived within 15 minutes, and by that time, the younger brother was unresponsive and cyanotic with profuse salivation and intermittent seizures. He was rushed to the hospital, but despite medical intervention, he died three hours after ingesting the root. The older brother appeared normal when he reached the emergency room, but he began to have seizures and suffer delirium two hours after eating the root. He was eventually stabilized and survived the poisoning.

The suicide of Socrates in 399 BC is the most famous case of hemlock poisoning. Socrates was accused and found guilty of “refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state” and for “corrupting the youth.” He was sentenced to death and ordered to drink a cup of poison hemlock. Socrates was his own executioner. According to the story, Socrates cheerfully drank the poison, and surrounded by his students; he paced the room while he lectured to them. When he could no longer stand, he sat and soon died.

Nature is beautiful but sometimes deadly. Most of us don’t walk around the woods picking and nibbling on plant roots, but it is surprising to learn some plants are not even safe to touch. Here on Kodiak, I try not to touch cow parsnip or nettles because the first will cause a burn on my skin and the second will cause instant pain followed by hours of tingling, but I remind myself I could die from touching monkshood or hemlock. The toxicity of monkshood and hemlock make them wonderful weapons for a mystery writer.

Speaking of murder, sign up below for my free, monthly newsletter about true crime and murder in Alaska.

Mystery Newsletter

Sign Up for my free, monthly Mystery Newsletter about true crime in Alaska.

Bald Eagle Body and Feathers

Uncategorized, , , ,

Female bald eagles are slightly larger than males. Males range in body length from 30 to 34 inches (76.2 to 86.4 cm), while females measure 35 to 37 inches (89 to 94 cm). The wingspan of a male stretches from 72 to 85 inches (182.9 to 215.9 cm), while a female’s wingspan ranges from 79 to 90 inches (200.7 to 228.6 cm). Bald eagles weigh between 8 and 14 lbs. (3.6 to 6.4 kgs.).

The skeleton of a bald eagle weighs 0.5 lbs (250 to 350 grams), which is only 5 to 6% of the total weight of the bird. The bones are extremely light, because they are hollow, and the feathers weigh twice as much as the bones.

The bald eagle’s average body temperature is 106°F (41°C). They don’t sweat, so they cool themselves in other ways, such as panting, holding their wings away from their bodies, and perching in the shade. In cold weather, an eagle’s skin is protected by feathers which are lined with down. Their feet consist mainly of tendon and are cold-resistant, and little blood flows to the bill, which is mostly nonliving material.

The beak, talons, and feathers of an eagle are made of keratin, the same material as in our fingernails and hair. Because of this, the beak and talons continuously grow and are worn down through usage. An eagle’s beak can be used as a weapon and is sharp enough to slice skin, but is also delicate enough to groom a mate’s feathers and feed a chick. The talons are important for defense and hunting.

An eagle’s call is a high-pitched, whining scream that is broken into a series of notes. They don’t have vocal cords, so sound is produced in a bony chamber called the syrinx, located where the trachea divides before the lungs. Scientists have differentiated four different calls. Eagles are most vocal when they are threatened, annoyed, or mating.

When eagles first fledge, they are mostly brown, except under the wings, which are mostly white. As immature eagles grow, their body coloration changes and they molt and replace feathers each summer. As juveniles mature, their feathers become a mottled brown and white. By three-and-one-half years, the head and tail are nearly all white, and by four-and-one-half, immature eagles are nearly indistinguishable from adults.

Bald eagles have 7000 feathers. Feathers protect them from both heat and cold and offer a barrier to snow and rain. They have several layers of feathers that tightly overlap and provide a solid covering. It is because of this coat of feathers that eagles can spend winters in extremely cold climates. Depending on the ambient temperature, an eagle can rotate its feathers to reduce or increase their insulating effect. They puff up their feathers for a variety of reasons, including preening, to insulate themselves from cold temperatures, to make themselves appear larger when threatened, and when they are sick.

Feathers are of course also necessary for flight and for gliding and soaring. Like the bones, the feathers are hollow and lightweight, but they are structurally very strong. The primaries, the large feathers along the tips of the wings, provide lift and are the main controls for flight. An eagle twists these feathers to brake, turn, and maneuver. The tail feathers are also important for flying, maneuvering, and landing and for stabilizing an eagle when it dives toward prey.

Sign up now for my free monthly Mystery letter.  The next edition will be mailed out on February 15th.

 

 

 

 

 

Black Oystercatcher as an Indicator Species

Uncategorized, , , ,

Last week, I wrote about the biology and habits of the black oystercatcher, and I mentioned until recently, this species has not received much attention from biologists. In the past few years, though, researchers have realized the overall health and dynamics of oystercatcher populations can tell us a great deal about the health of the organisms that live within the intertidal zone. The black oystercatcher has been called a keystone species, but I think it would be more accurate to call it an indicator species. A keystone species is a species whose presence and role within an ecosystem has a disproportionate effect on other organisms within the system, while an indicator species is a species whose presence, absence, or relative well-being in a given environment is a sign of the overall health of its ecosystem. The well-being of black oystercatchers is thought to be an indicator of the overall health of the intertidal community along the North Pacific shoreline. Tlingit shamans identified with black oystercatchers and believed that just as shamans inhabit both the human and spirit world, oystercatchers live in the border world between land and water. As a tribute to these special birds, shamans often depicted oystercatchers on their rattles.

As the Tlingits noted, black oystercatchers live in a narrow band of habitat and are dependent on the intertidal area to breed, nest and feed, making them vulnerable to both natural and human disturbances. Monitoring black oystercatcher population trends and movements can better help us understand the health of this intertidal zone. In 2004, the International Black Oystercatcher Working Group was formed. This group includes federal and state agencies from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia. The group’s focus is to learn more about black oystercatchers. In addition to understanding world and local population sizes, researchers hope to learn more about the life cycle of the black oystercatcher. They want to pinpoint natural and manmade threats to oystercatchers and to employ methods to minimize these threats. Understanding black oystercatchers will not only help safeguard these birds but could be key in protecting the intertidal community of organisms and the wide variety of animals that depend on this community for food.

Predation is the major cause of mortality for black oystercatcher eggs and chicks. In Alaska, predators include eagles, ravens, crows, Glaucous-winged gulls, foxes, bears, river otters, wolverines, marten, and mink. Because they live so low in the tidal zone, black oystercatchers are susceptible to flooding, especially in Alaska, where most nests are on low, sloping beaches. Flooding may be caused by natural causes such as extreme high tides, storm surges, or tsunamis or by manmade causes such as boat wakes. Since black oystercatcher nests are on the ground, they are also susceptible to disturbance by humans walking along the beach and stepping on the nests or disturbing the nesting birds.

Black oystercatchers are vulnerable to shoreline contamination, especially from oil spills. The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska had a major impact on oystercatchers. Twenty percent of the oystercatchers in the area of the spill were killed immediately, and those that were not immediately killed had to either eat oil-contaminated prey or starve. Now, biologists know the short-term impacts of the oil spill on oystercatchers were only part of the story. Current research shows oystercatchers are still suffering from the physiological effects of feeding on oil-contaminated prey.

We need to learn a great deal more about the biology and habits of the black oystercatcher. Once we understand them, they can help us gauge the health of the intertidal zone from California to British Columbia and Alaska.

If you haven’t already signed up for my Mystery Newsletter, be sure to do that here.  My February newsletter is about people who have mysteriously gone missing in Alaska.

Puffin Biology

Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,
Tufted Puffin
Tufted Puffin

Last week, I posted about the two species of puffins we see in Alaska. These are the horned puffin (Fratercula corniculata) and the tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata).  This week I’ll describe puffin nesting behavior and other facts about these interesting birds.

 On Kodiak, puffins arrive at their breeding colonies in May. Breeding colonies are usually on cliffs along the shoreline or on small islands. The steep nesting areas not only help protect puffins from predators but provide a good take-off perch for these heavy birds with small wings. Horned and tufted puffins may nest in the same colony, and they sometimes also share nesting grounds with other alcids, and with glaucous gulls, glaucous-winged gulls, kittiwakes, and cormorants.

Puffins are monogamous and form pair bonds that last many years. Courtship takes place soon after they arrive at their breeding grounds. Mates sit on the water, and the male lifts his bill straight up while opening and closing his mouth and jerking his head. The female hunches over close to the water while keeping her head and neck close to her body. Then, the two birds face each other, waggle their heads and repeatedly touch bills while opening and closing their mouths.

Horned Puffin
Horned Puffin

Puffins nest underground. They have sharp claws on the toes of their webbed feet that they use to scratch out deep burrows, measuring three to four feet (1 m), into the steep hillside. At rocky sites with little soil, puffins nest in rock crevices or on cliff faces. Puffins may line their nests with grass, twigs, feathers, or even manmade materials. Mates often use the same nest year after year and may lengthen the nest each season. A female lays only a single whitish-colored egg, and the male and female take turns incubating the egg for 42 to 47 days. The parents put all their energy into this one offspring, and because of this, the success rate is high for a puffin chick to survive until it fledges. In a study, biologists determined 65% of the tufted chicks and 60% of the horned chicks in the study group survived until they left the nest.]

The chick hatches in July or early August. At birth, it is covered with down and its eyes are open. Parents take turns booding the chick until it can maintain a body temperature of 103.1⁰ F (39.5⁰ C); this usually takes six days. The chick remains in the burrow for the next 45 to 55 days, while the parents take turns watching and feeding it. The parents feed the nestling by catching small fish in their bills and dropping them on the ground in the nest or near the entrance of the burrow. When it is weaned, the chick leaves the nest between dusk and dawn to avoid predators. It cannot fly well at this point, so it either walks or flutters to the ocean where it remains. The parents do not accompany the chick, but they also leave the nest around this time. Young puffins head to the open ocean and remain there through their first summer. When they are two-years-old, they visit the colony during the summer. They are old enough to breed when they are three, but they are not certain to breed until they are four-years-old.

Not much is known about the lifespan of Pacific puffins, but they are believed to live 15 to 20 years in the wild. Tufted puffins have been known to live 25 years in captivity, while an Atlantic puffin survived 39 years in captivity.

Tufted Puffin
Tufted Puffin

With its heavy body, short wings, and webbed feet, a puffin is built more for swimming than for flying. A tufted puffin is the size of a crow but weighs twice as much and has short stubby wings. It must beat its wings 400 times per minute just to stay aloft. Not only is it difficult for a puffin to take off from the water and gain altitude, but it lacks maneuverability in the air, and crash landings and mid-air collisions between puffins are not uncommon. When a puffin takes off from the water, it usually remains close to the surface for a ways and may even hit the water with its wings and bounce off the waves to gain altitude. When flying, a puffin uses its feet to change direction. A puffin is much more graceful in the water, and when swimming, it uses its wings for propulsion and its feet for steering. On land, puffins walk in an upright position, using their claws to cling to slippery rocks and rough terrain.

Fights between puffins are common and occur when one puffin perceives another is invading its territory. The resident puffin threatens the intruder with an open bill that exposes its brightly colored mouth lining. It also shakes its head, jerks its head upward and back, and rocks its body from side to side.

Puffins feed in small flocks and can dive as deep as 262.4 ft. (80 m) to catch their prey. They feed on lipid-rich fish such as sand lance, capelin, and herring, and they also eat euphausiids (krill). When catching fish to take back to the nest, a puffin can carry a large number of fish crosswise in its bill with the heads and tails dangling from the sides of its mouth. It can hold several fish in its mouth and continue to catch more fish without losing any of them due to spines on its tongue and on the roof of its mouth that act as hooks to hold onto the prey.

Horned Puffin
Horned Puffin

Surveys in Prince William Sound suggest the horned puffin population in that area declined 79% from 1972 to 1998. Biologists believe this decline in numbers is due to major changes in the food base as a result of global warming.  This fall, the bodies of 217 dead tufted puffins have been recovered on St. Paul Islands in the Pribilofs, and biologists have determined that the puffins starved to death. Their deaths, like the earlier deaths of horned puffins in Prince William Sound, were blamed on a shortage of food linked to higher-than-normal ocean temperatures in the Bering Sea.  Biologists believe thousands of tufted puffins may die in this region this winter.

Puffins need a predator-free nesting area and an abundance of food. They are subject to predation by foxes, river otters, rats, eagles and other birds of prey. Ravens may attack nesting chicks. When traveling from the winter feeding area to their nesting grounds, puffins fly in large groups in a pattern that resembles a wheel, making it difficult for an eagle to attack an individual bird. Puffins are susceptible to oil pollution. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, 162 dead horned puffins and 570 dead tufted puffins were retrieved from the oiled waters, but biologists believe several thousand puffins were killed by the spill. Puffins are also often caught as bycatch by gillnet and driftnet fisheries.