The days have been flying by up here at the station. Between taking over my friend Matt's insect collection responsibilities and continuing to help with the bird project, I have barely had time to catch my breath! I apologize for the long pause in updates, and to make up for it I will include some extra photos (and a video) in this post. Enjoy!
Remember my friend the ptarmigan? This is one that made a home near the boardwalk at one of our sites. I took this video because I wanted y'all to hear the ridiculous noise they make!
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| This is a female ptarmigan. She used to be white, but like many arctic animals changed her colors, or 'molted' to blend in with the summer scenery. The male (in video) will eventually change his plumage too. |
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| This is a fox that hangs out around camp. One night, I was leaving the dining hall and he was moseying along just a few yards in front of me without a care in the world. We named him Gordon. His coat also changes with the tundra. |
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| This is a ground squirrel that likes to sunbathe behind our lab. They are called 'sik-siks' by the natives because of the intense sound they make when approached. They keep a close eye on Gordon when he arrives at camp. |
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| An owl we saw on the way to work one morning. (thats alot of w's) |
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| This is a male Lapland Longspur. It is one of the species being studied for our project. They nest on the ground in the open tundra. |
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| This is a Yellow Warbler that flew into one of our mist nets. He is not part of our study, but definitely one of my favorite species. We use these very fine nets along with audio playback of their songs to catch the birds. We need to catch them because we are measuring their hormone levels in response to 'stressful' situations. |
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| This is a White Crowned Sparrow who is about to donate a blood sample. The procedure is very similar to human blood donation, and quite harmless to the birds. When a bird flies into the mist net, a sample must be taken within three minutes to read the 'base level' of the stress-response hormone. The bird is then placed in a cloth bag (very humanely) and allowed to sit for 30 additional minutes, until a second blood sample is taken to read the response hormone level. This helps us learn about what the birds do to survive in the case of a storm event or other stress-inducing stimuli. |
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| Here's another kind of bird we see quite often, especially this time of the summer. Lots of busy scientists needing to access remote locations! Still waiting my turn... |
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| So that storm event I was talking about? Yeah, this was taken on June 13! Who says it doesn't snow in the summer time? Fortunately for us, this white-out only lasted for about 12 hours, but these are the kinds of things that wildlife have to deal with at any given moment up here. |
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| I wonder how many people have built a snowman in June... |
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| This is probably why my Dad doesn't want to ride his motorcycle to Alaska. |
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| But this is why he should! Nothing like the open road. |
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| Talk about variable weather- it can be thunder storming one place and a beautiful day right next to it! |
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| Sometimes there's just a little sprinkle here or there. |
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| And sometimes, it all comes together in just the right way. |
