My assistant Liz looking forward to flying out to field camp.
American Golden Plover in front of our camp.
We spent the first week observing the behavior of King Eiders to determine how much they forage.
Me during behavioral observations in early June. Leisurely sitting around in early June isn't the norm in northern Alaska...but 2008 was a hot summer.
King Eider female and male
Liz chilling out in front of our big tent on a sunny and warm day in early June
After a week of observations we captured King Eiders with mistnets in shallow ponds
My local assistant Jeremiah holding a male King Eider with our camp in the background.
Male King Eider
Me taking a Long-tailed Duck (bycatch) out of the net.
Successfully banded female King Eider
After banding and feather sampling we released the birds where we caught them.
Snow ultimate frisbee!! June was so hot that diving into the remaining snow patches was a great relief. (I'm the guy with the shirt though)
One of many great bird pictures I took through my new scope (Stilt Sandpiper). For more pictures check http://picasaweb.google.com/steffen.oppel/BirdsOfNorthAlaska
Our study area is shorebird paradise, here a Semipalmated Sandpiper (left) and a Long-billed Dowitcher (right)
Sabine's Gulls fishing over a lake
A caribou on its way North. They disappeared for 3 weeks as they could not deal with the mosquitoes.
Caribou crossing a lake
Jeremiah ready for nest searching with fashionable footwear.
Liz searching for King Eider nests in a marsh
Me finding a King Eider nest. The female is still on the nest when I'm only a meter away.
King Eider nest with 5 eggs.
Long-tailed Jaeger on nest
Long-tailed Jaeger attack. We spent a lot of time near jaeger nests as King Eiders prefer to nest near them.
Sumy gets too close to a Parasitic Jaeger nest
Searching nests near nesting gulls and jaegers comes at a cost: Sumy covered in gull shit
Me and my swarm: once the bugs came out in full force nest searching wasn't much fun anymore
Nest searching takes a heavy toll on the footwear
Sumy looking around for King Eiders with a satellite transmitter
King Eider on a nest. Like many others, this nest failed when the pond surrounding the nest island dried up.
Catching a King Eider on a nest - a mistnet is simply laid over the incubating bird (the shiny spot on the tundra).
After capturing an eider on the nest the net is usually a mess and needs to be sorted out.
This is not the Australian desert, it is indeed Arctic Alaska: dried up pond in late June.
One of many dried out ponds this summer. The little island on the left with the yellow flower had an eider nest - but the fox was able to walk over the dry mud and steal the eggs.
The culprit - a Red Fox at its den basking in the sun. The foxes raised 6 young and depredated most of our eider nests.
Little fox playing in the sun - these 6 puppies needed to be fed to grow quickly.
Young ground squirrel - alternative food for foxes after there were no more eggs left to steal.
Female King Eiders hang out after a failed breeding season
One of only 6 successfully hatched King Eider nests - the eggshell membranes are left behind.
My tent on one of those days when the air did not move and the lake was a mirror.
Want some of my mosquitoes?
Waiting on a particularly hot day - feet in the river, face in the wet sand. Temperature exceeded 36 C on that and other days.
It was so warm that southerly butterflies like this Swallowtail were a common sight.
My assistants Liz (left) and Sumy (right) on a leisurely hike to Teshekpuk Lake. Yes, there were a few mosquitoes around on that day too...
Refreshing backflip into the cold Kealok river
Sumy and Liz enjoying the relative safety (from bugs) of our Weatherport tent
Frisbee in protective bug clothes in the water - there was no escape from mosquitoes anywhere!
Our neighbor camp - a shorebird crew from the Wildlife Conservation Society
Sumy inspired by a surf movie we watched with our camp neighbors
Me enjoying a cooler day on the water
Herd of caribou passing the Wildlife Conservation Society camp. Caribou returned in mid-July after some substantial rain had killed many mosquitoes.
Herd of caribou marching towards our camp
Caribou cow and calf in mid July - the big fur is falling off
Sandy bluffs along the Kealok River on a rainy day
Here our shorebird neighbours from WCS take off, missing our tent by less than 3m. We took the same plane out a day later, and the pilot was extremely helpful in taking down the weatherport tent. Guess why...
Back in Barrow we first took a refreshing dip in the Arctic Ocean. The white stuff in the back is ice.
Then the weather suddenly changed to winter.
Fresh snow covers the yard of the bunkhouse at which we stay (the ARF) after a snowstorm in late July
Sea ice pushed in to the coast by strong westerly winds in late July
Bycatch of a local subsistence fishing net in Barrow: 5 seals, 3 loons, 2 eiders
Head of a Yellow-billed Loon drowned in a fishing net
Scenic sea ice
Taking a walk along the beach
Not far from the ice edge a Polar Bear swims along the beach in Barrow
Polar Bear near beach
Sunset over the Arctic Ocean in early August
Barrow hosts the only US breeding population of Steller's Eiders - a threatened species
Steller's Eider female with brood
On August 16 we flew out to this lake where we intended to capture King Eider juveniles
We set up camp and enjoyed a week of calm late summer glory
This elaborate trap set up to catch eiders did, however, not work. Water levels were too low, and the ducks never swam even near this trap.
Our bored veterinarian Cheryl Scott waiting for us to catch ducks that she would then implant with a satellite transmitter
Our surgery tent with all sorts of trapping supplies
We eventually set up mistnets in the middle of the lake to chase King Eiders into these nets
We then rounded up a flock of eiders with kayaks and herded them towards the nets
Scott and Chris successfully capture the first two eiders
Veterinarian Cheryl Scott with the surgery table ready to go
Intubating a female King Eider for anaesthesia
Chris with a duck after surgery
We then waited until darkness fell over the lake and caught some more birds at night
We caught 9 birds at midnight, so surgery went on through the night until 9am
Female King Eider 2 hrs after being implanted with a satellite transmitter
Caribou running along the shoreline
Caribou eating mud
Valerie stands next to the neatly packed cache of gear left behind for future years
The trapping crew 2008 - Valerie, Liz, Cheryl, Chris, Scott, and me
The Search and Rescue helicopter picked us up to fly us back to Barrow
Returning to Barrow - the end of the 2008 King Eider field season
