Out & About in Utqiaġvik

Iļsaġvik College's 'yard art'

Hedwig... the Snowy Owl

It was 31 degrees when we headed out today, flakes of snow floating into the van anytime one of us was silly enough to open a window. Rich drove us toward the coast where we'd spotted the Snowy Owl yesterday. We were rolling along graveled roads when my birding mojo made an appearance. Up ahead of the van I spotted a massive white bird flying low over a snow bank.  

Hurrah! No having to tramp over muddy hillsides today! We had only to get out the van and peer through Rich's spotting scope for nice views of the spotty female Snowy.  The Snowy we spotted by the snow fencing had been white, therefore a male. Hum... we wondered... too bad the owls don't have access to Tinder for dating purposes. 

Parasitic Jaeger

We stopped to watch a Jaeger, a type of large feisty gull-of-a-sort, in flight. This photo shows the a fair bit of the coloring with the dark head and pale neck. 

The photo on the right shows pointed feathers sticking out of the middle of the tail's end. That pointy bit
IDs the bird as a Parasitic Jaeger. Jaegers, the name is German for 'Hunter', are bird bullies. They harass and  steal fish from other birds. They also occasionally give a go at catching other small birds to eat.  Proof of such, we watched the Jaeger take off after a tiny shorebird. But the shorebird was no dummy. It swerved, and swooped low, then suddenly the tiny bird, shot right between myself and one of the guys, right about our knee level. There was only a couple of feet between us so at the speed it was going I was stunned it could fly so accurately on such short notice. Meanwhile, the Jaeger didn't think it could make it though such a tight space, and by the time it swooped to the side to miss us, it's quarry, the tiny shorebird was long gone. Magnificent flying skill from the peep, and a cheap thrill for its human audience.

Midmorning, some of us needed a bathroom, so Rick drove us over to Iļsaġvik College, which serves 1st Nation students. The building, for me at least, was chock full of cool stuff to look at. 

I liked everything from its occasional bit of splashy, seal laiden wall paper.

And it's Iñupiaq Corner with loads of new words to learn and a preview of seasonal changes to look forward to.





A cool spreadsheet artfully displaying a bright future for Iļsaġvik graduates and their community.

And yeah, I was even taken with the lady's room, because I thought it was forward thinking and cool that they had freely available lady's particulars at hand. How cool is that?

Post Uni, a van of birders stopped to let us know a Polar Bear sow with 2 cubs was seen at a pile of Bowhead Whale fat that was left out on the frozen over ocean. Hopes are high that maybe we'll visit the spot and get a look at Polar Bears. 

Great suggestion, but sadly, the Mom Polar Bear wasn't there as she had to take her cubs to a Soccer game: final score - Cubs 10, Birders 0.  

The Chukchi Sea - frozen over

The lovely dinner of Bowhead Whale blubber,
awaiting the dining pleasure of Polar Bears. Yum!

Around noon we picked up our lunches at at the midtown giant store. We ate at the Inn and afterwards it was decided an afternoon siesta would do us all good. No argument from me!

I was snoozing away in  my room when Rich knocked at the door. The Van Man had popped by, telling Rich there was a treat species out there for us to discover. 

We had lunch, after which we visited the Iñupiat Cultural Center.

A full size Bowhead Whale model - commonly hunted by Utqiaġvik's 1st nation people - swims down the hall of the Center. 

Also vying for attention, a Polar Bear greeted visitors at the entryway.

UPDATE: That's as close as I got to a Polar Bear on this trip. : (