Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Spring has sprung, indeed. Hundreds of ducks and geese are headed up the Chilkat River to their breeding grounds. Hundreds of pine siskins and... Full story

There have been several recent sightings of “charismatic megafauna,” the name some give to the big, exciting mammals we all love to see.  On... Full story

So far, 2013 has been an unusual year for wildlife. Some of the players are missing and others are acting like it is spring in February. Annie...

This seems like a quiet time of year for wildlife viewing. Many of the summer animals have gone elsewhere or hibernated. There’s still quite a bit...

It’s eagle month. November is the time when we see the greatest number of eagles visiting the Chilkat Valley. And there can be some surprising...

By Pam Randles Noble Anderson saw four sea otters swimming in Portage Cove. Usually we see river otters in our waters foraging for starry flounder...

Tom Ganner, Don Chase and Jedediah Blum-Evits have noticed black-billed magpies along Haines Highway at 10 Mile and 22 Mile. Are they moving back int...

The worst of their hatch has passed, but have you ever wondered what good are mosquitoes? They do fit into the food webs. Many fish, birds, bats,...

Summers, even cold ones, are an active time for animals in the northern hemisphere. It is the time most of them reproduce. For some mammals, it’s...

By Pam Randles Despite the record snowfall, spring has arrived on time as measured by the arrival of bird and mammal species and emergence of...

By Pam Randles Birds are arriving for spring. Pigeon guillemots and surf scoters have come from the open ocean to breed. The guillemots, with their...

We have heard the words “winter storm warning” a great deal this winter. NOAA says that means a storm that “could pose a threat to life and prop...

Someone vandalized the school weather station over the weekend. The station was broken to splinters; thermometers broken and leads pulled out; rain...

Takshanuk Watershed Council counted 1,264 birds from the ground Oct. 24, the highest number tallied this season. That puts the size of this...

It’s fall. Leaves are beginning to turn. Nights are getting colder. Conventional wisdom says we won’t get snow until Halloween. The firewe...

It is high summer now. Many young birds have fledged and are bulking up for the trip south. Berries and fruits are appearing on the plants. Fish runs...

The fish are running, the birds are singing, and it isn’t raining. Between April and June of this year we have only had 3 inches of rainfall....

May’s migrations were especially interesting this year. The cow moose and two calves moved from the school have been seen and appear healthy....

Seals, sea lions, and whales are chasing fish at the mouths of our rivers. Dozens of birds surround us – some residents, some summer migrants, a...

March came in like a lion, cold and windy. Pipes froze and hydrants burst. According to the National Weather Service, our March weather is highly...