Hottest Place in Canada

PS.  Inuvik was officially the hottest place in Canada on June 23rd at 31 degrees!  Top of the world and top of the temperature charts!

Meanwhile a week later it's about 4 degrees and raining.

EPIC ADVENTURES!

First and foremost, I have created a new album for our amazing roadtrip down to Eagle Plains and back... Eagle Plains Road Trip

I know it's been a while since I've written, and I'm dangerously close to reaching that point where there is simply too much to tell, so I write nothing at all!  I fell as though I could fill a book with everything we've been up to, but I'll give you the highlights.

So..

Last Thursday, a couple of the other guys staying in the rowhouse, Dave and Adam, invited us along for a drive down to Eagle Plains.  Michelle and I had already been scheming on how to get ourselves down the Dempster before our time was up.  And though we didn't make it all the way down (Eagle Plains is just about half way), it was an amazing experience!  I think Michelle and I were both getting a little stir crazy, a little restless from the day to day routine and the opportunity to go for a drive was just what we needed.

There are two ferry crossings down the road.  The first crosses the Mackenzie at Tsiigehtchic and the second ferry crosses the Peel River near Fort McPherson.  The first ferry crossing takes about 10 minutes, while the second takes about 2 minutes.  The driver on the Mackenzie crossing is actually from Richmond, BC, and was quite the character.  He loved his job and let Michelle drive the ferry on the way back!  The ferry was also home to a 'gulp' of cliff swallows, there little mud nests plastered across the rafters.  They dove all around the ferry as it cruised back and forth.  Very cool!  That also makes 45 bird species on my list!

We crossed the Yukon/Northwest Territories, snapping a hundred photos, before heading up through the Richardson Mountains.  I can't begin to describe the beauty of the landscape or how it changed so subtly from the golden colours of the soft, rolling peaks of the mountains to the blacks and greens of the black spruce valleys.  I was so content to sit in the backseat, listening to tunes, chatting, gazing out the window on and on, snapping pictures around every corner, over every hill.  It was amazing.

Nearer to Eagle Plains, we were waved over by a Swiss couple that had gotten a flat on their trailer home.  They spoke with Michelle in German, as they were more comfortable with that than with English.  The woman was asking for a ride into Eagle Plains, were there is a service station, so that she could get someone to come back with her to help them change their tire.  Apparantly she refused to let her husband do it himself.  Anyways, we all arrived safe and sound in Eagle Plains, which consist of a hotel and a service station... the only built structures for miles and miles.  We ate lunch at the restaurant and had a shot in the wacky bar next door called 'The Claw' (the drink that is, not the bar).  It's a mystery shot that lets you keep the shot glass afterwards.  I'm pretty sure it was a mix of Bailey's and whiskey, and I quite liked it in my coffee.  We strolled around the area a little, taking in view.

It was getting on to early evening, so we headed on our way, only to here the car beeping at us that our tire pressure was dropping rapidly, not 5 minutes away from Eagle Plains!  We tried driving back, but had to stop after a few minutes as the tire was flat as a pancake.  We amused ourselves trying to figure out how the handle for the jack worked and managed to drive back to the service shop on our dinky little spare tire.  The guy there was great.  I think he said we were his 15th flat tire that day!  Apparently they use shale as gravel on parts of the highway due to lack of other gravel... meaning you're driving over razor sharp shale pieces shaped like bullets!  Which is exactly what he pulled out of our tire and what Dave kept as a souvenir.  We watched and chatted and swatted at mosquitos as he patched up our tire.  We were all quite intrigued with the process having never seen it done before.  Anyways, we were sent on our way as he closed down the door to his shop.  Take Two!

It wasn't long after that we really realized what time it was.  We weren't going to make the Mackenzie ferry crossing before it closed!  Having that thought hanging over us for the drive back put a bit of a damper on things, but stopping at the Arctic Circle helped lift our spirits!  The mosquitos were relentless and we laughed our asses off trying to get a few pictures without being eaten alive!  Very amusing.  We also stopped at Glacier Creek to fill up our water bottles, where the mosquitos were even worse!  I almost couldn't grasp what was going on, they were just everywhere!  I've never seen that many mosquitos over my whole life time combined!  We all earned ourselves a few more bites before we were on our way again, blood streaked and frazzled!

We made the first ferry crossing and asked a guy on the boat if he knew of a place we could stay in Fort McPherson.  We were afraid the hotel would be much too expensive and probably full.  He said he knew someone that had a sort of bed and breakfast.  He lived in the little red house as you pulled into town with two white vans out front.  'Can't miss it' he said.  And we didn't, but it was after midnight by the time we got there (how did we not realize the flaw of our timing sooner?!).  We didn't want to go knocking on his door, so we thought we'd try the hotel first.  There was no one around and we asked some of the local kids hanging outside the Co-Op if they knew if there was anyone from the hotel around that we could talk to.  They told us to go find a nail and ask it.... very helpful.  We did fun into one of the hotel guests as he came out for a smoke... said the hotel was full but he had heard about the bed and breakfast.  He thought it might be taken for the night, but that we should go knock anyway.  As we were talking a man pulled up in his truck... just so happened to be Ernest who had the BnB!  Of all people.. we couldn't believe it.  At first he said he didn't have any room, in a very raspy worn voice.  You could tell he had trouble speaking.  But he changed his mind and said 'Follow me'.  I was beginning to read the plot of some horror film in the events of this night.  He took us back to the little red house and checked in with his wife.  Apparently the people that had been staying in the BnB had left that day and we were welcome to use it for the night.  "How much is it going to be?" we asked.  "Let me help you out," he said.  He came out with bags of blankets, pillows, toilet paper, coffee and a coffee maker.. everything we could ever ask for! And drove us over to the little guesthouse.  The place was very empty, and we had to pull in some mattresses from the storage unit out back.  But it was better than a cold, cramped night in the car!  I passed out on my mattress immediately, as we were up early the next morning to make the ferry and head back to Inuvik to get in a day's worth of work.  But while we sat in the living room in shock, we couldn't help the feeling that this was the point where the people watching the movie are shouting at them to turn back!  I was sure something lived up above the creepy attic door.  But the morning came, and we were all alive.  We drank some coffee out of styrofoam cups (probably saved my life at that point I was so tired) and made our way back to the Dempster.

On the way back, we saw something on the road and stopped just in time to see a lynx run off to the side.  As we got closer, we realized that it had just lain down in the grass and willows at the roadside and we could still see it there staring right back at us.  I can't believe that such beautiful creatures live up here!  It seemed so exotic.  We were later told that it's rare to see a lynx on the highway, and there are even some locals who haven't seen one before!  Needless to say, by the time Michelle and I were back in our place in Inuvik, we were bouncing from the amazingness of our adventure and how unexpected it all was.

There's still more to say of what's happened since then, but I'm on my way out to go to the old time dance performance in town.  This week is the national Truth and Reconciliation event here in Inuvik.  There are people from all over to share stories, enjoy big feasts and live performances!  Got to run, but more later!

Slow Morning, Busy Week!

I woke up to the sound of rain outside my window, knowing I don't have anywhere to be today, anything to do.  The only thing on the agenda is to make banana carrot raisin muffins to use up some of produce that have seen better days!  In the meantime, I cracked my window open to hear the rain a better and went back to bed for a few minutes.

Last night, we had thunderstorms and lightning, with rain pouring down and whipping against the windows while the trees rocked in a frenzy.  It was all very dramatic... but we got to sit down at the table to a nice spaghetti bolognese and let the storm run it's course.  We had another thunderstorm earlier this week.. after the Canucks lost in the final game.  Of course, nothing like the drama experienced in the city, which I can only say is a complete tragedy, but we had very picturesque dark clouds swirling over us in strange patterns (see my pictures!), opening up to thunder, lighting, and rain.

This week has been a busy and productive one in terms of Warbler work.  We had a banding blitz one day and caught and banded 11 birds and on two consecutive days we found 10-12 nests.. each day!  Our maps of our study sites are becoming more and more clustered with little numbers that mark our nests and it's been a bit difficult to keep track of them all these past few days with about 26 new ones in 3 days!  No chicks yet.. the nests that looked as though the could have hatched this week seem to have abandoned their nests and rebuilt nearby to start the process again.  Not sure why... it must take a tremendous amount of energy to lay 5 eggs, so it must be something significant that forces them to abandon and start over, committing double the amount of energy to produce their young.  Anyways, our next potential hatch date could be as soon as Monday!  Which would be amazing.. we'll see!

And so we're half way through our field season already!  It's incredible.. it still feels as though we're getting started.  I know we still have a lot of work ahead of us and only a month left!

Anyways, I think it's time for breakfast!

Updated Bird List.. 44 Species!

American Tree Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-winged Crossbill, Gray Jay (Whiskey Jack), Hoary Redpoll, Blackpoll Warbler, Northern Water Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Robin, Raven, Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, American Widgeon, Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup, Old Squaw, Harlequin Duck, Green-winged Teel, Lesser Yellow Legs, Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, Pacific Loon, Tundra Swan, Snow Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Bonnaparte's Gull, Mew Gull, Arctic Tern, King Fisher, Northern Flicker, Rusty Blackbird, Rock Ptarmigan, Sharp-tailed Grouse

Plus:

Common Redpoll, Merlin, Bank Swallow

PS. Photos...

Again, this month's new photos are going to be posted on this month's picasa page...  Inuvik June

Quiet Days Along the Lagoons

It's that time of week again.. our day off!  Michelle and I both managed to sleep in until 11am.. complete luxury!  I wasted no time filling the place with the smell of brewing coffee, bacon, and pancakes, and now that we've finished our morning/afternoon feast, we're ready to go back to bed!  Rough life...

This week has been slow.  Although there's plenty of work to be done, temperatures have been far below their annual average, lingering around 1 degree all week.  Most days start off feeling like -3, warming up to about 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  Lately it's been going the other way, warming up over night and into the mornings and cooling off in the afternoons.  Anyway, the point is, it's been a little chilly for our little yellow birds!  The willows around the lagoons have fallen eerily silent.  We do as much as we can in the warmest hours of the day, but it's difficult.  For instance, most of the males have found females and have established their territories.  Now, the females should be building their nests, but it's too cold.  They just forage to get enough energy to sit out the cold.  It'll be interesting to see how they respond to this abnormally cold spell.  They're on a strict timeline before they fly south again, and they're running out of time.  Will they spend more energy providing for themselves, or will they commit themselves to reproducing even if it's too energetically costly?  Will they lay fewer eggs?  Will they stay longer?  We shall see..

In other news, Michelle and I have signed up with our friend's team to participate in the Relay for Life up here!  It's happening on June 25, on which our team will be walking around the track in front of the elementary school from 7pm to 7am with many other teams in an attempt to raise awareness and funding for the Canadian Cancer Society.  Our team is doing luncheon's/bake sales each week to try and fundraise, but if you're interested in supporting me and my team, you can always make a small donation online too!  Donate.  We baked cookies the other night to pitch in, filling the house with the small of sugar.  It seems the whole town is participating in the event and so there are bake sales and silent auctions all over the place!  I'm incredibly susceptible to bake sales and as a result, our kitchen now has a few plates of various pastries and loaves... :)

We also gave a presentation at the college the other day.  It's part of our agreement in working up here that we have to engage the community in what we're doing, which I think is a great idea!  We talked to the class of students studying Environment and Natural Resources about Michelle's research and what it actually takes to implement a project like this... they seemed interested in the topic and had plenty of good questions for us.  We've offered that any of them can come out with us to see what we're doing if they like, but I don't know if any of them will take that extra step.  We'll see.. it would be fun to bring some other people out with us and show them what we're doing.  Maybe the fact that it's around the sewage lagoons puts them off?  Who knows..

Today, we're going to wrap up yesterday's data entry, as we spent last night down at the bar watching the hockey game!  I have to say, seeing footage of Vancouver makes me homesick... I would love to be there for just a day to get a taste of the madness that has consumed the city!  Running around the sea of blue downtown with my friends.. celebrating with my family... but as it is I'll be screaming and shouting in my Canuck shirt up here in the north.  Anyways, after data entry, we're going to head out for a walk around Boot Lake, which I'm sure will be terribly muddy but which I'm looking forward to none the less!  Despite the amount of walking we do each day around our study site, I'm feeling grossly sedentary lately and could use a bit of exercise over and above the day to day routine!  After that we'll probably stroll over to the library and take out a movie for us to watch tonight!

And so, life is good!  Looking forward to things warming up again!

Happy Inuvialuit Day!

It's been 27 years today since the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA) was signed.  At that time, it was the first comprehensive land claim agreement made north of the 60th parallel and only the second in the entire country.  The goals of the IFA are to 1) Preserve Inuvialuit cultural identity and values within a changing northern society.  2) Enable Inuvialuit to be equal and meaningful participants in the northern and national economy and society.  And 3) Protect and preserve the Arctic wildlife, environment, and biological productivity.  (Information taken from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation website).

On Friday, the town celebrate Inuvialuit Day with a huge feast, including muskox burgers, muskox meatballs, fish patties, rabbit stew, salads, traditional donuts, home-made cranberry sauce (every family has their own secret cranberry sauce recipe!) and many many other delicious things!  I think the last time I ate that much was my farewell dinner at home!  It was fantastic, and there were so many people out to celebrate!  Looking around you, you could really see the cultural diversity that has settled into this far corner of Canada!  We even got to enjoy a performance by the drum and dance group, clad in traditional clothing, chanting and dancing to the beat of their drums.  Very cool!  Check out some of the pictures and video clips!   Inuvik June Photos  Also note that I've started a new photo album (this album) for the month of June as the last one was getting a bit big!  Also, check out my snow melt time series photos to see just how fast the snow melted!  Snow Melt Time Series

Today is our day off and we had a luxurious lie in before cooking up a big eggs/bacon/hashbrowns breakfast!  It's a gorgeous day outside.. might go for a hike later.

A Quiet Cold Spell

It's 2:30 in the afternoon, there are flurries outside, it's 0 degrees, although it feels like -5.  Yesterday was worse.. it had been pouring rain, then got up to about 15 degrees, after which it continued to pour, the wind lashing the rain against our windows.  It turned to hail around 11pm, then huge snow flakes and -6 degrees around midnight!  A drop of 20 degrees in a few hours!  The cold has lingered through to today, bringing flurries in between flashes of sun.  The cold makes things a little more difficult for us.  The warblers disappear the moment the first snow flake falls, becoming completely silent.  Although we scour their territories, it's difficult to find much.  So things are a bit slow, which is fine by me.  Things are going to get busier and we'll have a few long days ahead.

We ventured over to Shivers last night, the bar in the Mackenzie Hotel to catch the first game of the Stanley Cup Final!  The bar was a bit busier than the last time we were there... there was a group of women sitting at the table next to us making all sorts of gasps and gripping their seats throughout the game, crying "Jeepers!" and "Get it outta there!".  Dining out is a bit above our budget up here so we'll be that annoying table that sits there the whole game with one or two beers for the next few games!

Sunday turned out to be a great day!  I got to catch up with a few people on Skype while sitting at the kitchen table with my orange juice, which made my day!  It was a hot and sunny outside, so I wandered through town in the afternoon, just observing.  When I got back, Kevin called and was going out to walk the dogs, so I grabbed my bag and headed out with him.  We went up to the "UFO Landing pad" as it's locally known, which has views over many of the surrounding lakes.  We also drove down the Dempster a ways in search of wildlife, but didn't see much besides the birds dashing through the willows along the side of the road.  Next time!

That night, David had made a delicious Dahl curry and Tandoori chicken for dinner, and there was even a chocolate cake for dessert!  They'd even gone to the trouble of getting candles, but we didn't have any  matches! We somehow managed to light the candle with a piece of paper and the stove and they sang me Happy Birthday!  It was a great end to the day!

Over the next few days I received my birthday packages, and I feel completely spoiled!  There's even a bit of chocolate cake left in the fridge.

This afternoon we're going to head back out into the cold and see if the birds are any more active than this morning.  In the meantime, I've seen a few new birds to add to my list!  I'm not sure where I got up to, but today I saw Arctic Turns diving over the lagoons, as well as a pair of Long-Tailed Ducks and a pair of Northern Shovelers.  Yesterday, we saw a pair of semipalmated plovers, as well as two Lesser Yellow Legs getting it on.. I guess they know how to stay warm!

That's it for now.. check out the new pictures!