11 July, 2002

Another nice day in the Arctic. Temps in the 50's, slightly windy and mosquitoes only buggy in low-lying places. We also didn't have much work to do, so all of us took a fairly light day and just enjoyed the surroundings.

I did start the day by checking two swan nests that have still not hatched. It looks like it should be a couple days, yet, so I'm hoping I won't miss the opportunity to see them the day they do hatch. Besides that, I wandered around a little extra and just kicked back for once. So, instead of telling you about my day in words, I will attempt to send a few pictures that show some of what is going on here. Hope you enjoy.

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This is how egg mass is found. In the baggie is a swan egg. I am using a spring scale. Swan eggs have a mass of about 300g --

Qaiyaan is in the process of eating the marrow out of this caribou leg. Qaiyaan ia a native Inupiak from Barrow, AK, helping with data collection. --

This is how we find the length and width of the eggs. I am using a sliding caliper in the photo. On average, swan eggs are around 108 mm long and 70 mm wide.

This is me (today) at a swan nest ready to take new measurements. Notice how the nest is built up and is built of dead grasses. --

The first king eider ducklings seen! --