“Ptarmigeddon”

I apologize ahead of time for the briefness of this post. I am exhausted and not too much has happened the past couple days…

“Ptarmigeddon”- a combination of “ptarmigan” and “Armageddon”. Ptarmigans are the Alaskan state bird… they are similar to a chicken, but with slightly better flying skills.

Photo credit to Jenny Liebig

I have seen a lot more ptarmigans than usual this year. They are absolutely EVERYWHERE in Atqasuk. They have some nests around our sites this year, so we see them a lot. Today I watched a ptarmigan land next to the site, looking very angry and making its distinctive call, which you can hear in this video: Ptarmigan Video. I thought that it was angry at two of the researchers near by, but then I saw it. The ground squirrel ran out of the plot, and the ptarmigan began chasing it away from the site! It was one of the funniest things that I have every seen. A ground squirrel awkwardly running chased by ptarmigan even more awkwardly running. I wish I had a video. Definitely one of my favorite moments out in the field.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Atqasuk. It was in the mid 60s and sunny. It amazes me how fast I acclimate to the cold. 60 degrees and I felt like I was going to melt! We woke up this morning to something different: chilly and foggy. It’s amazing how fast weather changes here in the Arctic. Here’s a picture Jenny took of some of us working in the fog this morning:

By the afternoon, it was sunny again. Then we left and came to Barrow, where it is foggy. Go figure.

That’s all for now. Going to bed early to prep for a long day tomorrow! Let’s hope for some sun. 🙂