Monday, June 20, 2011

Beautiful Birds of the High Arctic

I have an adventurous side, which prompted me to spend two summers above the Arctic Circle in Alaska working as a geologist. It was an unforgettable experience. We lived in a bush camp, and rode around in helicopters all over the place. As an avid birdwatcher I had some great times:

--Seeing all three species of Jaegers in one day
--Spotting a Bluethroat while waiting for a helicopter to pick me up
--Finding a nesting pair of Gyrfalcons
--Seeing and identifying a Bar-tailed Godwit
--Nesting seabirds on cliffs on the Arctic Ocean (Chukchi Sea)
--Long-tailed Jaegers and Whimbrels on a regular basis
--A flock of beautiful Snow Buntings in breeding plumage
-- Abundant Lapland Longspurs in breeding plumage

The wildlife was also incredible: a wolverine, beautiful Arctic Foxes, grizzlies, and the Caribou migration wherein I watched the herd pass by me 25-30 abreast for two hours.

In memory of this experience here are pictures, and a spectacular Gyrfalcon video, of some of the beautiful birds (and a mesmerizing wolverine photo) of the high Arctic...

 


Gyrfalcon (Falco Rusticolus) in its White Phase




Gyrfalcon (Falco Rusticolus) in its White Phase


Sartore, Joel


Buy This Allposters.com



Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax Nivalis, Manitoba, Canada




Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax Nivalis, Manitoba, Canada


Morris, Arthur


Buy This Allposters.com


Parasitic Jaeger, Stercorarius Parasiticus, Flying over and Guarding its Nest




Parasitic Jaeger, Stercorarius Parasiticus, Flying over and Guarding its Nest


Cornell, John


Buy This Allposters.com



Bar-Tailed Godwit (Limosa Lapponica) on the Alaskan Tundra, USA




Bar-Tailed Godwit (Limosa Lapponica) on the Alaskan Tundra, USA


Maslowski, Steve


Buy This Allposters.com



Male Lapland Longspur on the Tundra (Calcarius Lapponicus), Alaska, USA




Male Lapland Longspur on the Tundra (Calcarius Lapponicus), Alaska, USA


Maslowski, Steve


Buy This Allposters.com




Portrait of a Snowy Owl
Portrait of a Snowy Owl
Fogstock Llc
Buy This Allposters.com





A Portrait of a Wolverine




A Portrait of a Wolverine


Nicklen, Paul


Buy This Allposters.com









Arctic Wings: Birds of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [With CD] From Mountaineers Books

This is a celebration in word and image of the birds who return each year to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to nest - and how they link every point on the globe. 200 colour photos from award-wining nature photographers, Subhankar Banerjee, Steven Kazlowski and Arthur Morris are included. Essays by noted writers, biologists and conservationists, including David Allen Sibley, Debble Miller and former US president Jimmy Carter are provided. It offers life histories of individual bird species from every major group, including shorebirds, songbirds and raptors plus dramatic stories of migration and strategies for survival. It also includes an audio CD of Arctic bird songs.



*************

No comments:

Post a Comment

Featured Post

Citizen Scientist - Reporting Leg Flags

My brother was recently in Florida and had occasion to photograph a shorebird in winter plumage that he could not immediately identify. Whil...