Friends Feel Less And Less Like Friends

A Thick-billed Murre wings its way past Buldir Island's Spike Camp.

And so much for that.  Elections.  Depending on how you look at it, they can mark the opportunity for real change, or simply for some more blackening of the heart.  This was a heart-blackening election without a doubt.  California won't have to deal with four years of Whitman (although I doubt anybody is genuinely excited by Jerry Brown), and Prop 23 went down in flames.  But Prop 26 passed, 19 failed, and Prop E went down too. Republicans didnt gain much ground in the state, but they generally dominated things throughout the country.  Great.  Do people not remember why the country is in the mess its in in the first place????  No.  Of course not.  And I know why.

The face of misery: a Horned Puffin stranded in a wetland. 

People are idiots.  That's my answer.  It makes a lot of sense, doesnt it?  They have no memories.  None.  Their memories get rewritten with every 24-hour news cycle.  And now we have the bloody Tea Party on our hands.....ostensibly, politics look like a pretty bleak realm for a while. Its enough to make you feel like a puffin caught in a mud-puddle.  Jesus....not that Democrats are my knights in shining armor (I'm registered Green)....but I think you know what I'm saying.

Itchy. A juvenile Lapland Longspur.

Right.  Enough with the grim prophesies of doom.  They get to you after a while.  As you can see, there's still plenty more Alaska pictures to churn out.  I havent taken a bird picture in about 2 months, and I'm completely ok with that.  

A pair of banded Red-legged Kittiwakes throwing down some squeaky courtship activities.

Did I mention my devotion to Red-legged Kittiwakes?  Fantastic birds.  Between their huge, wide-set eyes and oddly shaped heads, they look like they have migrated to earth from somewhere else in the solar system.  And those legs!  Crimson.  Love 'em.