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Rusty Blackbird Spring Migration Blitz

SeldoviaGal | April 7, 2014 | 0 Comments

by David Tessler

We need your help! We are encouraging Alaskans throughout the state to look for and report Rusty Blackbirds whenever and wherever they see them through the Spring migration. We are researching the disastrous decline of this species, and are coordinating a continental effort to record observations throughout their migration to track migratory patterns and dates.

What: Report migrating Rusty Blackbirds!
Where: Statewide outside.
When: April 12-May 31.

The Rusty Blackbird has declined by 90–98% since 1966, and continues to decline by a rate of 5%–12% per year. The causes of decline aren’t well understood, so researchers are scrambling to find out more. Please help! All you have to do is look for Rusty Blackbirds and report your observations online in eBird or on a written data sheet. If you go out looking but don’t see any, that’s important to report also. For information go to ak.audubon.org/rusty-blackbird-spring-migration-blitz or call 907-267-2332.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

David F. Tessler
Regional Wildlife Biologist, Wildlife Diversity Program
Alaska Department of Fish and Game
Division of Wildlife Conservation
333 Raspberry Road
Anchorage, Alaska 99518
Phone: (907) 267-2332
Fax: (907) 267-2433
Email: david.tessler@alaska.gov

Web: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifediversity.staff

A Seldovia, Alaska Miracle is Published!

SeldoviaGal | April 1, 2014 | 0 Comments

by Jenny Chissus

I received this inspiring and uplifting book in the mail from the publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles Happen as it features a story about one of our very own – Peggy Cloninger!

“Miracles happen every day – you just have to look around you to see them and be open to accepting them. These powerful stories will give you hope, deepen your faith, and brighten even the darkest day.” – Shelby Janner, publicist with Chicken Soup for the Soul

Living in Alaska, we often confront scary, and potentially life threatening situations, and many times we are saved from the disaster that seemed inevitable, and live to tell about it. Here, in Peggy’s story “Freeze”, you can read about her miracle in Seldovia!

Gazette: How totally great to be featured in a top selling series? How did your story get selected for the book?

Peggy: A lady from the church we attend here in Nampa, Idaho is a Christian writer (C. Ellen Watts) and she heard about my miracle in the freezer. She approached me and asked if she could write the story and send it in to Guideposts to see if they would publish it. I was happy to share my story so we met and she asked me to tell her the whole story. Several months went by and she did not hear back from Guideposts, but a representative from Chicken Soup for the Soul contacted her because they wanted to publish the story. They paid her for writing the story, but published it under my name since it was my story.

Gazette: Have you ever been published before?

Peggy: Yes, I wrote a couple poems about living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and they were published in the local newspaper there called The Mining Journal.

Gazette: Your story was great and brought tears to my eyes! Is there anything more you wanted to say about that experience?

Peggy: The story brings tears to my eyes every time I tell it too, because it reminds me of the mercy and love of God.

Gazette: With almost 30 years of fishing experience in big waters, with big fish in Alaska – does Dave have a story that should have been included in this book?

Peggy: Dave has many fishing stories and says that every day he made it home after being in high seas, bad weather, and scary situations was a miracle.

Gazette: Anything else you would like to say about this book?

Peggy: The Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles Happen book is full of inspiring stories that prove that miracles happen and God is not dead.