Well, it is July. I have been here for a full month as of today. I've seen the tundra change drastically since I first arrived. From mostly snow to mostly water, to nesting birds and, now, the hatching stage. The chicks really have been hatching the past two days. I saw my first chicks yesterday, Dunlin chicks! Here is a picture.

It really amazed me the first time I heard that shorebird chicks don't stay in their nest for a prolonged period of time like passerines. The chicks hatch and within the day are out and feeding themselves. Unfortunately, most chicks don't make it due to weather, predators, ect. Today, I watched a dark morph Pomarine Jaeger gobble up some chick it found. They are open targets on the treeless tundra.

While doing a nest check today, this Dunlin chick was still trying to get out of his egg! You can see his bill in the upper left of the crack in the egg. He was even "chirping" to his parents while in there.

And here is a picture of a female Steller's Eider that we accidentally flushed from her nest while rope dragging.

I got some new information about the Vesper Sparrow I saw. Turns out to be the 2nd Alaska state record! And in Barrow! Too bad it wasn't some crazy Asian 2nd state record, but I'll take it. Also, I learned Red-necked Stint is not listed as "rare" on the Alaska bird list, so I don't need to write them up!

Today was a big day for me. No more rope dragging! I got to band birds and chicks today, including Dunlin, Semipalmated Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher. Tomorrow, and pretty much the rest of the month, will be banding. Looks like I will be in the field a lot, probably more than 8 hours each day, so I'll try to keep this updated, but I've got a cold and need sleep.

The 4th of July festival is coming up, should be awesome! Now that my camera is working fairly well, more cultural pictures to come soon.

Thanks to those of you have have stuck with me this past month. I hope you are enjoying the posts as much as I am enjoying posting. O yea, if you haven't noticed, the Rare Birds page is up and running. Check it out! Link on the main Barrow page.

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