The House & other Arctic musings

Placemarker

I'm back from an abbreviated camping trip with Travis, and apparently my calender is full for much of the day or the next three.  Here's a photo from the trip to hold your interest (?) until later.

Ice flowers

It seems, these days, that photos have taken over my blog. There are things to write about, its just easier this way right now, and it feels like everywhere I look I see a photo opportunity. So for something completely different I give you, flowers and the iceberg. Well, okay, perhaps not "different" but... like it or not it is what you're getting.

Botonizing

This past winter my friend Larry, who is behind the amazing writing of the blog botonizing, asked if I had seen a particular flower up here. Larry is a Botony professor out west, and I had to contact him, now that we are into wildflower season, for a reminder about what plant he was interested in.

Turns out he was wanting to find out about Mertensia maritima, Sea Lungwort or Oysterleaf, a plant I'd never seen. But I also didn't spend a lot of time looking for plants in the right habitat, which is essentially the shoreline of the ocean.

Today, Travis and Hilary and I went for a walk along a stretch of beach near the iceberg's new location. And we had success.  I have to admit that it was Travis that found the plant, I had walked right by it, my attention on some River Beauty that was starting to bloom. I love spending time outside with my sharp eyed son.

So here is a photo of some Oysterleaf (apparently so named because of a strong fishy taste to it), the colours of the photo seem a little deeper than the actual plant, but that might just be my monitor. Although one of my guide books states "This flower is a photographer's nightmare, as it "fluoresces", causing a shift in colour".

Detail.

Another thing my sharp eyed son saw were two Crane Flies, locked in an (ahem) embrace.

And you know I'm unable to be that close to an iceberg without taking a photo.

Breaking up is...

...easy to do, and a little bumpy and a little early this year. Not much, about a week.  Over the last couple of days it was obvious that breakup was under way in Arctic Bay, but early this morning the wind came up out of the South East, blowing a gale. We had 25 knot winds, gusting probably up around 35 knots. So in the process the ice has all broken into floes and was pushed around the bay.

This is, by far, the most ice I've seen thrown up on shore here, and the photo doesn't really show the height of the large mounds (because of the wide angle).  Our iceberg, that had been frozen in place for the last 10 or so months is now on the move also. If this wind keeps up it may end up near town.

My children, last night

You'll have to indulge me a moment as I post some photos of Hilary and Travis. The Hilary photos are from Uluksan Point, Travis' are from Victor Bay.

Picking flowers.

Nothing says "Arctic" like a child in an amautiq, picking Arctic Poppies, with an iceberg in the background. Inuksuit be damned.

She had, moments before, just found out that flies can occasionally be found in poppy blossoms. Loud scream, followed by poppies scattered everywhere, followed by tears, followed by dad carefully picking up the flowers and ensuring no more flies resided therein. A smile from that point on was impossible.

What father's heart wouldn't be warmed by the sight of his son running out to greet him with a huge smile.

Outdoors and on a bike, if it wasn't for being forced to have his picture taken by his father there would be a huge smile on his face.

Some tents at Victor Bay.

Poppies overlooking an old qarmaq and Adam's Sound.

Wooly Lousewort

One of my favourite, funky, flowers... the Wooly Lousewort Pedicularis lanata

Just desert?

The area I live in is a part of the High Arctic Desert. Long term average precipitation is something in the neighbourhood of 9 inches per year, divided roughly half and half between rain and snow. Although it varies, the last few years have shown a big increase in our rainfall, something in the order of three times the normal yearly precipitation.

And what exactly brought this little dissertation? Thursday and Friday are my first free days in some time, and I have plans on going camping with Travis. Here is the forecast for the rest of the week...

Bad photographer. Bad!

A few days ago the sun once again showed itself briefly late in the day, about 11pm or so. As I had seen what I thought was a Red-throated Loon on a nest on an island I decided to head out that way and try my luck. Sure enough, the loon was in the same spot, so I walked down towards her, meandering my way there, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.  The loon, from when I was still quite far off, laid her head along the ground, trying to disappear from view.  The effect actually works quite well, had I not known exactly where she was I would have found it hard to distinguish her from a rock.

She stayed in this position and I made my way as close as I thought I could get and not disturb her too much, or flush her from the nest. Close was a neighbouring island in the river and I laid down prone, and tried to disappear myself and wait for her to relax and raise her head. Now when I say "island" I mean a mound of sopping wet sphagnum moss, slightly above the level of the river. I laid there for an hour, and this next photo shows as high as she lifted her head during that time.

I could wait no longer, as I had promised to pick up Leah at midnight from Victor Bay, and I stood, snapping this picture from a little higher angle. I then shifted over a little bit to try and get a photo with her head a little less obscured by grass.

That shifting proved too much and she flushed from the nest. It was not what I had wanted to do, but I fired off a couple of frames when she moved. The results, while a less than stellar photo of a loon, is one of the most interesting water pictures I've ever taken.

As I walked the half kilometre or so back to the truck, I kept turning back but she had not returned to the nest yet, so I didn't linger when this female Lapland Longspur posed for me. I returned to the truck and hightailed out of there, knowing that I had gotten too close, and wasn't being an ethical photographer. But life is filled with mistakes, and the idea is to learn from them. As I drove away she was returning to her eggs.

Flower season

... is upon us. It's timing is a little off kilter this year. I would have expected to see more flowers blooming by now, yet at the same time some seem to be finishing already, a little early.

I've grown a little frustrated by my switch over to RAW from JPG, as it has added a lot of time for me to get photos from camera to blog. I'm quite happy with the results but my Model-T desktop isn't keeping up with the demands. I suspect I ask it to do too much at the same time. But enough whining, on to some flower pictures, and that is mostly what you'll get, very little narrative. All of these flowers shots were taken at First Bridge.

Arctic Dryad - one of my favourite flowers for its subtle beauty.

Another Arctic Dryad photo, this one shows how many of these flowers are already fading.

Arctic Poppy.

Arctic Poppy are predominately yellow. On rare occasions there are white ones. First Bridge has always been a reliable place for me to find the white Arctic Poppy (same species - just a colour variant). This is one of several that we found.

This gorgeous little flower is unknown to me, I've never seen before and so far have been unable to figure what it is. With the four petals I'm wondering if it belongs in the mustard family. It was found on gravel of the shoulder of the road. The other sprays of purple flowers we found were the waning Purple Saxifrage, Moss Campion not yet peaking, and the very beginning of River Beauty (Dwarf Fireweed). If anyone knows what this is though I'd appreciate knowing.

More Arctic Dryad, two takes on the same flowers.

And just in case you haven't had your RDA of cute yet today... Puppies!

Bonus points to whoever can find Leah and Hilary in one of these photos.

Dramatic sky