Arctic Expedition Diary: Day 3

Today was a busy day and the morning started off with a visit to the shooting range in order for me to get used to handling a shotgun and firing live ammunition. Prior to this Rick gave me a very detailed safety briefing on Bear encounters. If we are to encounter any Bears they will be Brown Bears. It was at this point the I began to understand the risks involved and the relevance of both the briefing and the practice today.

Whilst here at the range there were other people present as we arrived and between rounds of ammunition being fired I could hear Sandhill Cranes calling in the distance but didn't get to see any.

Being honest I don't actually wish to see any bears on this trip as much as I would like to see them in the wild I don't wish to get caught in an unsafe situation. As for firearms, well I have never been a fan them I have my reasons which I won't go in to here but I just don't like the pain and devastation they cause. I am only doing this as a safety precaution and as a mandatory request for expedition purposes.

After the shooting range we had to go on to a Culture awareness meeting in the afternoon and then it was back at Anchorage airport for our flight to Kotzebue. During this flight we crossed over and passed in to the Arctic Circle as per the video below.

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I have never seen the sea frozen like this before and it appears very powerful.

I have seen documentaries on TV and photos in books like these here in this posting but to actually see for myself and take my own photos is something else.

This is a view I have wanted to witness for myself for a long time and exactly how I imagined the Arctic Tundra to look like from above (impressive isn't it)Arrival at Kotzebue airport, west Alaska.

The first birds present on arrival here were Red Necked Phalaroes and Semi Palmated Sandpipers seen before disembarking the plane. Glaucous Gulls flew over the lagoon near the bunk house and watching Tree Swallows feeding over packs of ice is surreal. An Arctic Warbler flitted around some sparse vegetation and American Robins sang from Telegraph poles nearby.

These photos were taken just prior to midnight hence the strange light, Tree Swallows were present and some were singing from various perches nearby.

Semi Palmated Sandpipers were all over the place and this bird was singing from a disused tyre in the front of a natives garden.

Red Necked Phalaropes were present in good numbers on every pool in the town.

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Arctic Expedition Diary: Day 2

Today began with myself being taken to the office where I spent the the morning. It is a very nice building and the offices are all rather smart. Everywhere I looked on the walls there are great pictures and posters of Alaska Sea and Shorebirds with Maps and trays full of informative papers etc. I spent the morning going through colour ring codes and photocopying safety plans for Bear encounters for our expedition . Early Afternoon I was advised that there was a few pairs of Lesser Yellow Legs nesting on the outskirts of Anchorage Town and it was time to try and trap the adult birds for banding and installing Geolocators .

It is not everyday you get to have this view ! This was my first time to visit a Taiga Forest and with the backdrop of the mountains it was now starting to feel like a real wilderness. Even though there was 2 small boggy lakes within the marsh it was rather dry and reminded me somewhat of heathland.

As well as 2 pairs of Lesser Yellow Legs the above area produced 1 pair of Solitary Sandpipers, 1 Wilson's Snipe (drumming overhead) American Robin, Belted Kingfisher and a Bald Eagle over head.

1 of 4 Lesser Yellow Legs within the area and really nice to actually see them in their true nesting habitat.

1 of the 2 Lesser Yellow Legs that were trapped via mist nets and then processed by being weighed, measured, blood and feather samples taken and then colour banded/ringed and having a geolocator installed. As you can see by the photo's the combination of colour codes is: Upper left leg: red colour band/ring over yellow colour band/ring & Lower left leg standard metal band/ring. The Upper right leg: Has a Geolocator installed on to a Green Flag over a grey colour band/ring with the lower right leg left blank.

At one point as I sat there holding one of the Lesser Yellow Legs prior to release and I had a pair of Solitary Sandpipers flying around calling over head close by, with Wilson's Snipe drumming over head, American Robins flying around nearby and a Bald Eagle drifted lazily overhead all within the backdrop of the spectacular mountain scenery with some snow cover still present on some of the ridges (A very nice moment indeed).

After this it was back to the office and on to the storage area to do a quick re-check on equipment and then on to the local store where we had to purchase food and other supplies that then had to be packed for transportation via Cargo plane to our next destination of the Eskimo Town of Kotzebue in the Seward Peninsular West Alaska.