Friday, 20 May 2011
Much to see...
Looking mighty fine in my waders...
Fox! Not the best picture.. but evidence none the less!
This is the view out of my window at 12:01am this morning! The street cleaner was doing his rounds and the sun was still up!
Fox tracks and bones..
Savannah Sparrow singing
View across the melting Mackenzie
Our newly built bridge!
I Like Birds
The spring thaw has almost been and gone this week. Monday, it was snowy and cold, today, I've got my summer pants and tank top on with our front door wide open and the sun streaming through the windows. I'm quite sure the heating in our house is off, but 20 hours of sunlight shining through the windows seams to do the trick. The flooding from the snowmelt has subsided and the dust is starting to fly from beneath the trucks.
We've just come back from our morning rounds along the river. My face is burning and my muscles ache, and it feels amazing. Each morning, we walk along the river amongst the willows, mud, and snow for about 6 hours, eyes and ears searching for the little yellow guys. No sign of them yet, but we've seen at least one new species every morning that we've been down there. Allow me to introduce you to the diversity of the north... Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Ravens, possibly Rusty Blackbirds, Bank Swallows, White-crowned Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, Wilson's Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Northern Water Thrushes, Mallards, (Greater) Scaups, Mew Gulls, Glaucus Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls, Belted Kingfishers, a Northern Flicker, some sort of Sandpiper, Tundra Swans, and Bald Eagles. And those are just the ones we think we've identified! There are probably a few more out there that we haven't gotten. We've also been sharing our trails with the foxes and have seen them a few mornings now.
Yesterday, we faced an obstacle. Our two study sites are separated by a stream that at first we could cross over the snow. With our trusty waders on, we were sure we could manage to cross, however we were forced to turn back after Michelle took an icy dip on our first crossing attempt! Turns out it's deeper than we thought! There's a way to walk around the lakes to the other side, but it adds a half hour to our routine! So, today, we were determined to cross the stream. We found a long 2x4 lying in the grass at the very far end of our study site and managed to carry it all the way back to the stream, crossing it triumphantly!
Now, it feels like a Friday afternoon. We've finished our work and our errands, it's gorgeous, there's a hockey game on tonight, and we're having a BBQ with our neighbours! We've only been here 5 days and it already feels like home. A few people stop us on the street (particularly when we're walking through town in our field gear) and ask us where we're from. We've gotten to know the people at the Institute and in the grocery store. We also met a local on the plane ride up, who we ran into again yesterday outside the post office. He invited us for dinner at his place with his wife and some of their friends, which was fantastic. Almost everything in this town is within walking distance, so we strolled over to the liquor store and picked up a bottle of wine before walking over to their house just down the road from us. We ate hare that they'd caught themselves and marinated in some sort of delicious Thai sauce, as well as quinoa salad, caribou stew, and fruit pudding! The wife used cook in restaurants in Vancouver and Nanaimo, so the food was that one step up. Their both amazing people, and so full of energy! They have a million stories to tell and are doing a lot to contribute to the community. They sent us home with a few yoghurt containers packed full of rabbit and with plans to go out paddling or goose hunting on Saturday!
We've already visited the infamous Trapper, one of the bars here in town. We went there to watch the last hockey game. It's a bit of a sad place. People just end up shouting and swearing at each other across the room with raspy voices, without really saying much else, but talking non-stop about one thing that happened to them that day.. saying it over and over in different ways. This town has some really interesting people, people doing good things, people with stories to tell, but it's sad to see the others that just seem bored and resigned to their bottle.
Tomorrow is my day off, and I'm looking forward to more adventures!
We've just come back from our morning rounds along the river. My face is burning and my muscles ache, and it feels amazing. Each morning, we walk along the river amongst the willows, mud, and snow for about 6 hours, eyes and ears searching for the little yellow guys. No sign of them yet, but we've seen at least one new species every morning that we've been down there. Allow me to introduce you to the diversity of the north... Dark-eyed Juncos, American Robins, Ravens, possibly Rusty Blackbirds, Bank Swallows, White-crowned Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, Wilson's Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Northern Water Thrushes, Mallards, (Greater) Scaups, Mew Gulls, Glaucus Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls, Belted Kingfishers, a Northern Flicker, some sort of Sandpiper, Tundra Swans, and Bald Eagles. And those are just the ones we think we've identified! There are probably a few more out there that we haven't gotten. We've also been sharing our trails with the foxes and have seen them a few mornings now.
Yesterday, we faced an obstacle. Our two study sites are separated by a stream that at first we could cross over the snow. With our trusty waders on, we were sure we could manage to cross, however we were forced to turn back after Michelle took an icy dip on our first crossing attempt! Turns out it's deeper than we thought! There's a way to walk around the lakes to the other side, but it adds a half hour to our routine! So, today, we were determined to cross the stream. We found a long 2x4 lying in the grass at the very far end of our study site and managed to carry it all the way back to the stream, crossing it triumphantly!
Now, it feels like a Friday afternoon. We've finished our work and our errands, it's gorgeous, there's a hockey game on tonight, and we're having a BBQ with our neighbours! We've only been here 5 days and it already feels like home. A few people stop us on the street (particularly when we're walking through town in our field gear) and ask us where we're from. We've gotten to know the people at the Institute and in the grocery store. We also met a local on the plane ride up, who we ran into again yesterday outside the post office. He invited us for dinner at his place with his wife and some of their friends, which was fantastic. Almost everything in this town is within walking distance, so we strolled over to the liquor store and picked up a bottle of wine before walking over to their house just down the road from us. We ate hare that they'd caught themselves and marinated in some sort of delicious Thai sauce, as well as quinoa salad, caribou stew, and fruit pudding! The wife used cook in restaurants in Vancouver and Nanaimo, so the food was that one step up. Their both amazing people, and so full of energy! They have a million stories to tell and are doing a lot to contribute to the community. They sent us home with a few yoghurt containers packed full of rabbit and with plans to go out paddling or goose hunting on Saturday!
We've already visited the infamous Trapper, one of the bars here in town. We went there to watch the last hockey game. It's a bit of a sad place. People just end up shouting and swearing at each other across the room with raspy voices, without really saying much else, but talking non-stop about one thing that happened to them that day.. saying it over and over in different ways. This town has some really interesting people, people doing good things, people with stories to tell, but it's sad to see the others that just seem bored and resigned to their bottle.
Tomorrow is my day off, and I'm looking forward to more adventures!
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Working Down by The Riverside
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Ravens
Although the day is coming to an end as far as my energy levels go, the sun is still shining and the ravens are still flying overhead. Their ancient dialect seems to follow you wherever you walk in this place. The locals have come to call them crows; they're so abundant.
It was cold when we stepped outside around 7am this morning. The previous afternoon had been so hot that I wasn't really expecting it. I later made a note to myself: thicker socks, gators, and gloves definitely necessary for morning walks along the river. Our two sites consist of a trail through dense willow and alder species between the sewage lagoons and the Mackenzie River. With everything buried under snow and ice, we are still spared from the insects and odours that are sure to come. During the course of the morning, we saw a number of birds skittering through the shrubs or soaring over the river, many of which we couldn't identify for sure, but for which we have our educated guesses. Besides the ravens on every side, we saw ducks, geese, northern water thrushes, gulls, a few predatory birds, possibly savannah sparrows, and a couple bank swallows. No yellow warblers as of yet.
The afternoon was spent organizing some of our field gear, as well as getting books from the library, cooking in our great little kitchen, and watching CBC news over dinner (one of three channels on our TV!)
The snow is melting fast here and is almost completely gone from the sidewalks and street sides where it was only yesterday! It's been quite warm this afternoon, and many of the locals are dressed for summer! I would be too after 8 months of winter...
It was cold when we stepped outside around 7am this morning. The previous afternoon had been so hot that I wasn't really expecting it. I later made a note to myself: thicker socks, gators, and gloves definitely necessary for morning walks along the river. Our two sites consist of a trail through dense willow and alder species between the sewage lagoons and the Mackenzie River. With everything buried under snow and ice, we are still spared from the insects and odours that are sure to come. During the course of the morning, we saw a number of birds skittering through the shrubs or soaring over the river, many of which we couldn't identify for sure, but for which we have our educated guesses. Besides the ravens on every side, we saw ducks, geese, northern water thrushes, gulls, a few predatory birds, possibly savannah sparrows, and a couple bank swallows. No yellow warblers as of yet.
The afternoon was spent organizing some of our field gear, as well as getting books from the library, cooking in our great little kitchen, and watching CBC news over dinner (one of three channels on our TV!)
The snow is melting fast here and is almost completely gone from the sidewalks and street sides where it was only yesterday! It's been quite warm this afternoon, and many of the locals are dressed for summer! I would be too after 8 months of winter...
Monday, 16 May 2011
Inuvik.. Day 1
Kitchen
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