Tetlin Wildlife Refuge
Tetlin Wildlife Refuge
Nestled on the Northern edge of Kluane, just across the border in Alaska, is a vaste landscape remarkable for its bogs, lakes and streams. This land is an important flyway for migratory birds and home to many species of amphibians, mammals, butterflies, mushrooms and, of course, plants.
Northern Blue
Fritillery Butterfly
The Athabaskan people, the Native Americans of the region, herald the importance of these species by capturing their likeness in beautiful bead work sewn onto rawhide.
arnica beadwork
Moose Beadwork
In the refuge, Steve and I walked down to a small lake, and paddled a row boat, provided by the Refuge for free, to get a bit closer to the inhabitants. We saw a mother green teal and her three chicks, as well as a pair of trumpeter swans. Trumpeter swans will not share a lake with other swans, so each lake will only have a single pair.
Trumpeter Beadwork
Trumpeter Swans on Hidden Lake
The next morning, I rose early to the plaintive calls of arctic loons, who migrate from the ocean to rear their young. You have to get up early to witness the sun soften the sky and water with pink! I was up at 4:00 am, still on New Mexico time.
Wetland at Sunrise