July 24th:
no miles: Arctic Valley!
(Rob) Today was a day of hiking and wildlife photography. We traveled to two different destinations to take flower pictures. One was a wetland bog in the middle of Anchorage. The other was a high alpine pass where arctic plants dwell.
Bog
environments are very unique. Often the plants here are specially adapted
to grow where the oxygen levels are low because their roots are submerged
in the water. In addition to that the soil is often low in Nitrogen. A
special plant we found that is adapted to this unique low Nitrogen habitat
is the Sundew plant. Its related to the venus flytrap
and is a carnivorous plant. It has lots of sticky hairs all over it. Th
is
sticky hairs will trap insects. We actually found a small ant being gobbled
up by this sticky mass. AMAZING!
The Arctic Valley near Anchorage is a high alpine slope
that contains many flowers we had not yet recorded. Also on the slope
are small holes that act as dens for ground squirrels. Its not common
to see these intelligent creatures, but it is very common to hear their
warning calls. I tried for an hour to film one coming out of its hole.
yet, he must have known something was up as he didn't come out.
