Photos by Robin Song

Natural Observations writer, host and producer Robin Song enjoys skiing and snowshoeing in the sunshine of early spring. Audio is 8:15.     Text follows.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

After a long, deep-snow winter, we’re being rewarded with a lovely spring. Day after day of sunshine and mild temperatures. Long hours of daylight and the songs of courting birds in the forest. The sunrise, which shone in through the cabin’s south window each morning during the winter, now shines in through the east window. (more…)

The pine marten, also known as the American marten…this weasel, not often seen, is an attractive animal by any name. Host and producer Robin Song tells us about her sighting, and more about its lifestyle.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

photo by Robin Song

On this locally produced segment of KTNA’s Earth and Beyond program, host Robin Song describes her encounter with river otters on a nearby lake. Audio is 6:20.  Text is below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

By Robin Song–On August 25th, my puppy Lyra’s first birthday, I was in a canoe on Fish Lake, in a light rainfall. The dark water was like silky glass. (more…)

Host and photographer Robin Song describes a couple visitors to the puddles, and makes other observations on the summer season, as it winds down into fall. Audio runs 6 min 16 sec.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Photos by Robin Song

Earth and Beyond host Robin Song had some questions about birds’ eggs, and shares what she learned.  Audio runs 7 min 18 sec. Text is below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Eggs, by Robin Song                   Aug.4, 2011

In mid-July I paddled Lyra across one of the Number Lakes to hike through the forest on the north side and go have a look at the other lakes. (more…)

Host and nature writer Robin Song spots a surf scoter on Fish Lake, and tells us more about this tundra nesting sea duck, locally seen occasionally in the spring and fall. This locally produced Earth and Beyond program originally aired August 8, 2010.  Audio runs 5 min 20 sec

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Surf scoter, photo by Robin Song

The nesting swallows leave, and other species become quiet as they tend their fledged young, the fireweed blooms move up the stalk, and other signs and stories of mid-summer in the Susitna Valley. The writer and host of this Earth and Beyond program is Robin Song. Text follows.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Photos by Robin Song

July is a busy, interesting month, in the Talkeetna area. Fledgling birds are following their parents, learning how to obtain food and avoid predators. The wildflowers which bloomed last month are going to seed and new varieties of wildflowers are replacing them. (more…)

A solstice hike into the alpine setting in the Reed Lakes area off the Hatcher Pass road was rewarding for its wildflowers, scenery, birds and wildlife not seen at lower elevations. Host and writer of this week’s Earth and Beyond program is Robin Song. Audio is 7 min 45 sec. The text follows.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Photos by Robin Song

Last year I spent the Summer Solstice hiking up a mountainside on the west side of Hatcher Pass. I had lost my Australian Shepherd, SnowAngel, in late March, and this was the first time I had gone camping and hiking without a dog by my side. It was splendid country, but a bittersweet hike, for me.

This Solstice I had almost ten-month-old Lyra along with me. This was her first camping and hiking trip and I had decided to explore the east side of Hatcher Pass. A friend had recommended the trail to Reed Lakes, a place I hadn’t been, before.

(more…)

Photos by Robin Song

In this locally produced Earth and Beyond program, writer and host Robin Song describes the animal and bird activity in May, and tells what happens when she finds a little warbler in a pond. Audio is about seven minutes. Text is below.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

As summer begins to unfold, I can state that, in my opinion, it was a very nice spring. May became sunny and warm, with even a few hot days, towards the end. (more…)