Arctic Project Week 1

Arctic Project Week 2

Arctic Project Week 3

Arctic Project Week 4

Arctic Project Week 5

Background on Shorebirds

Heading south across the Brooks Range with the Refuge pilot on the way to Fairbanks

The vast Yukon flats, which are reminiscent of the prairie potholes, are a critical waterfowl production area

Finally heading north again, we stop for gas at Arctic Village, home of the Gwich'in people, who have been very active in protecting the Refuge, and it's Porcupine Caribou herd, on which they depend for food.

6/9/03 - 6/13/03 - When Roger returns to Kavik on June 3rd, he encounters more coastal fog between us and our destination on the Canning River Delta, so we can't make the flight in to camp. His flight schedule has him returning to Fairbanks because the weather looks no better for tomorrow, so he offers to take us back with him. We jump at this unexpected opportunity to fly over the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, as well as Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge. So our second week starts with heading south again, rather than north where our destination lies. After four days at the Kavik airstrip, Thai food in Fairbanks sounds like a welcome change. Our crossing of the Brooks Range takes us up the Canning River Valley, the Marsh Fork and Chandalar River valley, and then across the entire Yukon River Flats, which we had never seen before. We will never forget the enormous and beautiful wild landscape, so different from anything in the lower 48. Arriving around 8 pm in Fairbanks our friends Dave and Angela graciously accommodate our sudden unplanned appearance (some of you may remember Angela from her work at Manomet in Kathy Parson's Program). The brief visit to Fairbanks also gives us time to troubleshoot the satellite phone, which isn'tworking properly, and turns out to make these postings possible, so you never know how adversity will become opportunity.

Here is our "airstrip" in the Refuge, a frozen lake about half a mile from our campsite.

Planes can land on the lakes while they are froxen solid, but have to be careful during this period where they may be starting to melt.

Human dogsled power gets our gear from the lake to our camp site. You can see the train of sleds in the distance slowly approaching the gear pile.

Our return north the next day, June 4th, takes us to Arctic Village, the home of the Gwich'in people, where we stop briefly to get gas before crossing the Brooks Range again. This time the fog reaches all the way to Kavik, but Roger finds an open path along the Canning River, and suddenly we've arrived at last! Our "airstrip" is a frozen lake, and the plane is specially equipped with skis that can be lowered for an ice landing. Once on the ground, we start shuttling our gear from the lake to our camp, about a half mile away. A day as a human dogsled gives us more appreciation for the strength of those huskies. After setting up our camp the next day (June 5th), complete with a solar powered electric bear fence, we are finally established in the Arctic Refuge! The fog lifts unexpectedly and the wind drops off, giving us a rare early day of crystal clear skies. To the north we have a 120 degree view of the Arctic Ocean pack ice; to the east and south we have a 90 degree view of the Sadlerochit Mountains and higher peaks of the Brooks Range behind; the rest is a tundra landscape 60% covered with snow and ice, but teeming with shorebirds, waterfowl, and other Arctic residents. We've seen few mammals, but did see fox and ground squirrel at Kavik, seal and lemmings on the Canning River Delta, and the first few caribou arriving on the calving grounds here by the ocean.

A solar electric fence must be set up to discourage bears from helping themselves to our dinner. The ground is still frozen solid, so this requires making holes for each post with a chisel and hammer.

The view south from our camp, we're finally established in the Refuge!

June 6th, our first day in the field is spent setting up plots. The weather is typical Arctic again just above freezing, drizzle and fog, and hard blowing wind. Gamely we seek out the landscape features on our maps that are hidden below snow and ice, which can be pretty challenging in a largely flat landscape. Where the snow has melted, flooding obscures the boundaries of ponds, lakes, and wetlands. When we find the plot locations, we put pin flags around the borders, as far as is possible in permafrost and gusting winds. Thus our 2003 field season is officially underway. Now we will monitor the birds activity to determine when laying is underway, which will determine the start of our field work on these plots. When shorebirds begin to nest, they lay an egg a day for four days. Our goal is to begin surveying our plots on the third day of laying for the earliest arriving birds, which we think will be in a couple days. For the 16 days from then, we will work 10 -12 hours per day on these plots to find all the shorebird nests and document their fate. Like the birds, we will be out there no matter what the weather conditions are, or what our own health and energy reserves may be! So we know that these next couple days are our best chance to get caught up and rested up for the big push ahead.

Warm clothing is needed all the time due to cold and wind.

Our first day setting out plots. The snow will eventually melt, and leave high quality nesting areas for shorebirds.