Arctic Auks

I missed posting this link earlier this summer but I encourage all of you to check it out. My good friend Dr. Nina Karnovski has conducted field research on Little Auks or Dovekies (Alle alle) for many years. This blog and website describes the research she is conducting and her latest field season studying these birds in Spitsbergen.


Photo courtesy of Arctic Auks.

I owe Nina a lot since it was because of her I was able to experience the Arctic a couple of times while working for her or her advisor on a couple of research projects.

Reading her blog and looking at the associated website brings my desire for seabirds and wild Arctic places to the surface and I can't wait to hear more stories from Nina on her latest adventure.

Penguin Knight

Nils Olav, a King Penguin at the Edinburgh Scotland zoo, has been knighted by the Norway. Norway gave the Edinburgh Zoo it's first King Penguins when the zoo opened in 1912 and since 1972, a King Penguin named Nils Olav has been the mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard. You can see a video of the current Nils Olav (the original died in 1980's) inspecting the troops here. Nils has risen through the ranks since being adopted as a lance corporal by the King's Guard after a lieutenant named Nils Egelien became interested in the zoo's penguin colony in 1962. According to the Wikipedia entry for Nils, he is the fist (and I would venture to guess, the only) penguin to hold this rank in the Norwegian Army. He even has a statue located at the guard's headquarters in Oslo.

Oceanites

The non-profit group Oceanites is in the news. The latest issue of The Antarctic Sun has a good article on the Antarctic Site Inventory work conducted by Oceanites and describes the program and the overall results of the work we have been doing.
I am in the process of working on determining if I will be able to help out with the field work this year and so far things are looking good for a return trip to The Ice.

Show

I have a few photos now showing at the ArtSpot Gallery in Glasgow, MT so if you happen to be in the area be sure to stop by.

No words necessary

The title of an actual Dept. of Interior Plan.

Nighthawk Night

This evening I sat on the front porch and watched the Common Nighthawks foraging in front of an advancing prairie thunderstorm. I watched two nighthawks work back and forth across the field in front of the house until they were joined by another pair, only to disappear as rapidly as they appeared. In the distance a loose flock of seven more Common Nighthawks were moving deliberately south.



Common Nighthawks have been less than common here this summer and in fact have been mostly absent in and around Fort Peck this year compared to most years. It was nice to see them bouncing around in the sky this evening.

Litho #4

Salvin's Big-eyed Bat (Chiroderma salvini)

By P. J. Smit from Biologia Centrali-Americana: Mammalia. E. R. Alston. London:1879-1882.