Woke up today to the sound of Dunlin holding territory close to the tent. At breakfast HRG said that she had heard Bristle Thighed Curlew and was pleased when she read the note I left for her about the bird last night. After breakfast I went to the area to the west of camp. The day is rather cold and bleak and it feels as if the Tundra has many moods and today it felt very hostile and uninviting almost as if it didn't want me present today. The strong Persistent wind goes right through me, the sky is grey and totally clouded over. I walk a long way and end up directly opposite where the mountain range ends. As I scan along the way several Red Necked Phalaropes are on the nearby pools, Sandhill Cranes are ever present and a single Horned Lark was a surprise. The terrain has gone from soft boggy & damp to dry and hard almost heath like. There are 3 American Golden Plovers present as well as 2 Grey Plovers on this Typical of Tundra Plover habitat. I find the first Red Necked Phalarope nest but the day is difficult. I head to the edge of the Lagoon where I decide to sit and have lunch. The ice is starting to melt now and there are several Glaucous Gulls present with a few Mew Gulls flying through briefly on the open water which was completely frozen over just the other night as this is where the Bear ran across.
There were 3 Mew Gulls present on the Lagoon but they didn't hang around.
I have to pass the Arctic Skua nest on route back to camp and the female dive bombs me throughout the area. I find it quite funny as the other adult, the male carries out a distraction activity as he calls and walks along the ground dragging a wing as if it is damaged with the female continuing to swoop low over my head.
This is what all the fuss is about, 2 eggs in what appears to be the shallowest of nest scrapes I have seen.
I arrive back at Camp early evening and I enjoy the warmth of the Arctic Oven tent, we are fortunate to have a gas heater and so we use this. After dinner and the daily paper work I decide to call it a night at around midnight. The weather remains cold, grey and windy throughout but the clouds are starting to part and so I look forward to hopefully a warmer day tomorrow. I have now got in to a routine of laying in my sleeping bag and writing up my notes from the day in to my journal and looking through the days photos of which I delete more than I keep. I fall asleep to sound of the wind buffeting against the tent and I don't mind when I have warmed up in my sleeping bag.(I think the photos provide a good indication of the weather today)
