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Old slides
While looking for an elusive slide of Andean Condor for the last post, I came across a box of slides from the Arctic Cruise I led in 2000, and scanned some to share. Bylot Island through the late night fog. Iceberg off Pond Inlet at the same time. Iceberg, Bylot Island and Cotton Grass. Although …
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Whither the Condor?
This past week saw the death of California Condor #286, another blow to the Condor recovery program. I've never seen a California Condor in the wild, and truth be told those in the wild currently aren't truly wild, helped along by us. I have, however, seen Andean Condor in the wild, and my life is…
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Alone with my shadow
Its the Fishing Derby Weekend (known to the rest of Canada as Victoria Day Weekend or the May Long Weekend), which is a big big highlight in Arctic Bay's year. Its been amazing to watch the bustle as the town busies itself in preparation for emptying out. By this time tomorrow the vast majority of…
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Migration
… has begun. Glaucous Gulls arrived this past week. And now I get to play one of my favourite games – "Find the Iceland Gull". I decided that they've yet to arrive.
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Inching closer
We took a drive out to the new airport today and its good to see the work on the airport terminal coming along. Perhaps by the end of the summer flights will be coming into Arctic Bay instead of a half an hour away at the airport that was built in a cloud. The plane…
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Isn’t that always the way
I borrow a friends good telephoto lens to 1) check it out before I decide to buy one myself and 2) try and get some sharper pictures of the Gyrfalcons. Head out to the aerie and what do I see?
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One Snowbunting does not a Spring make…
…nor does one fine day. But the Gyrfalcons back on the nest? I'll take that as a sign of Spring and a very fine day, thank you very much. In some ways it has been a bit of an unusual year for birds thus far. In mid January a Gyrfalcon was seen in town, and…
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A trip to Cowboy Land (Part 2)
A little farther on from where I got stuck, the walls of the gorge get significantly lower and it becomes more like a stream bed. About half way along this you turn out and head up the gentle slope of the mountain, making for a slight notch at the top. The rather nondescript notch is…
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A trip to Cowboy Land
Although it isn't a landform that most people associate with the Arctic, the area around Arctic Bay has a number of "badlands" around. Spots filled with hoodoos and other wildly eroded rock. Probably the most accessible here is a spot that is known locally as Cowboy Canyon, or alternatively Cowboy Land (I prefer Canyon). Sunday…
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Spindrift
While yesterday was a very nice day, Saturday was a little cooler, and windier. Here are a couple of pictures from the Victor Bay area on Saturday, showing some spindrift and low clouds off the mountains.
