Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day 70: Barely moved
The day went by so fast, yet I barely moved. But thank you Celia and Brittany for allowing me to interview you! It was a lot of fun and brightened my day!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 69: Once in a lifetime
Last night, the Aurora Borealis:
 |
| Over a setting sun at 23:45 |
Tonight's adventure, walking out to the Ithaca at lowtide.
 |
| Our fantastic bear guard, Krista, taking it very seriously! Thanks! |
 |
| The Ithaca |
 |
| This is Caleigh and Krista: "I wonder what would happen if I squeezed it..." |
 |
| It squirts out! |
 |
| Matt karate chopping the giant kelp (we were walking on what is normally under water so there was kelp and seaweed and algae everywhere.) |
 |
| Ribbon cutting ceremony: attempt number 2 |
 |
| We mad it! |
 |
| There is a hole in the hull. Hi Celia! |
 |
| Let's all jump at the same time on a rusting out ship with holes in the floor. Great idea! |
 |
| Not what we wanted to see: A polar bear came up on the bluffs between us, out at the Ithaca, and the trucks. Luckily, it decided that it wasn't interested in us and wandered away down the beach. Thanks to Krista, who took charge, we all made it safely back to the trucks without firing a shot. |
 |
| Bright sunsets |
 |
| And neon pink skies. |
Also interviewed the other plover lover, Anne. Thanks for the great interview today!
And found three really cool articles for my research on pigments and their use on the benthic and phytoplankton communities + (unexpectedly but awesomely) a nutrient study combining the pigment analysis! How perfect is that?
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day 68: Snapshots
Today, I saw two red fox, a vole, a golden eagle, countless small fluttering birds and a wolf (too brief and far away for a picture), within the span of 20 minutes driving down Twin Lakes Road toward West Twin Lake to do the water sampling. I like being the first one in the field, the first to disturb the wildlife and the first to see it.
Today, I found some really bizarre looking algae at Coast Pond. Let's do an ink blot test. What do you see? I see green algae that has made some sort of enclosure to capture escaping gas, probably CO2, but that is just my nerdy side cracking through.
Today, I poked the abdomen of a female spider until the baby spiders crawled off so I could count how many there were for the Godwit team. I think I still have a bit of a fear, irrational but present, of spiders.
Today, I interviewed amphibian ecologist, Ben Cash. The landscape came to life with his words as only a true naturalist has the power to do.
Today, I interviewed a plover lover, Lisa - also my rocket climbing, firefly watching buddy. I wonder if the mismatch hypothesis might actually be a benefit to the species... Anne? I will ask her tomorrow. And I'm going to make you, dear and precious reader, wait a bit longer to even know what that means. Though I will give you a hint to go back to the post Research in Action.
Today, I discovered that I have a select number of days left in Churchill and that I am secretly, almost unconsciously and certainly regretfully counting them down. I am making a conscious effort to instead keep counting up.
Today, I only wish to give you a few snapshots, snacks of the stories that each hour here accumulates.
Today, I found some really bizarre looking algae at Coast Pond. Let's do an ink blot test. What do you see? I see green algae that has made some sort of enclosure to capture escaping gas, probably CO2, but that is just my nerdy side cracking through.
Today, I poked the abdomen of a female spider until the baby spiders crawled off so I could count how many there were for the Godwit team. I think I still have a bit of a fear, irrational but present, of spiders.
Today, I interviewed amphibian ecologist, Ben Cash. The landscape came to life with his words as only a true naturalist has the power to do.
Today, I interviewed a plover lover, Lisa - also my rocket climbing, firefly watching buddy. I wonder if the mismatch hypothesis might actually be a benefit to the species... Anne? I will ask her tomorrow. And I'm going to make you, dear and precious reader, wait a bit longer to even know what that means. Though I will give you a hint to go back to the post Research in Action.
Today, I discovered that I have a select number of days left in Churchill and that I am secretly, almost unconsciously and certainly regretfully counting them down. I am making a conscious effort to instead keep counting up.
Today, I only wish to give you a few snapshots, snacks of the stories that each hour here accumulates.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Day 67: Fix
A lot of fixes were had today.
Fix (n.): a compulsively sought dose of something
Fix #1: I was waiting at the train today to pick up the foxy team, otherwise known as the team that studies fox, but foxy is faster. After having spent the time to make a lunch, prepared to wait two hours like I had on Thursday for the train to come in (when I got my fix on chips!) the train pulled in right on time! 10:30. Which made it difficult for me to run the errand assigned to me by Rosalind to pick up some liquor for a long island ice tea since the liquor store opens at 11. Luckily, the foxy crew had to run a few errands in town, talking to the helicopter pilot, getting some stuff from the Northern and picking up some bottles at the liquor store as well! After having failed to get everything on Rosalind's list last week, not noticing that there was a quantity number beside the items..., I am glad that I was able to get what she wanted this time. I got her fix! It's odd though. I've never bought liquor before, I've never bought alcohol stronger than whatever is in my mouthwash. Until today. And I had never bought meat or tobacco before Rosalind asked me to last week. Maybe Churchill has changed me? Definitely new experiences!
Fix #2: This is Sarah's fix. She is a volunteer at the Centre, but always manages to sneak out with the researchers, to Krista's equipment on the fen or to the bluffs with Anne and Lisa. Today, she did the science on a soil core by removing the oligochaetes, worms, and insects from the mud. Anne will count and identify them tomorrow. What a nerdy fix! I love it!
Fix #3: This one is mine. Mine is a fix that I've found hard to satisfy up here. I was able to once, on the bluffs, the pleasure of hands against rock and straining muscles to make it to the top. Climbing, that's my "dose of something." And today I got it! On the rocket! I went biking and climbing! I don't know how Sarah and Lisa put up with me...
Getting down was the hard part... I may have... kinda... fallen.
Fix (n.): a compulsively sought dose of something
Fix #1: I was waiting at the train today to pick up the foxy team, otherwise known as the team that studies fox, but foxy is faster. After having spent the time to make a lunch, prepared to wait two hours like I had on Thursday for the train to come in (when I got my fix on chips!) the train pulled in right on time! 10:30. Which made it difficult for me to run the errand assigned to me by Rosalind to pick up some liquor for a long island ice tea since the liquor store opens at 11. Luckily, the foxy crew had to run a few errands in town, talking to the helicopter pilot, getting some stuff from the Northern and picking up some bottles at the liquor store as well! After having failed to get everything on Rosalind's list last week, not noticing that there was a quantity number beside the items..., I am glad that I was able to get what she wanted this time. I got her fix! It's odd though. I've never bought liquor before, I've never bought alcohol stronger than whatever is in my mouthwash. Until today. And I had never bought meat or tobacco before Rosalind asked me to last week. Maybe Churchill has changed me? Definitely new experiences!
Fix #2: This is Sarah's fix. She is a volunteer at the Centre, but always manages to sneak out with the researchers, to Krista's equipment on the fen or to the bluffs with Anne and Lisa. Today, she did the science on a soil core by removing the oligochaetes, worms, and insects from the mud. Anne will count and identify them tomorrow. What a nerdy fix! I love it!
Fix #3: This one is mine. Mine is a fix that I've found hard to satisfy up here. I was able to once, on the bluffs, the pleasure of hands against rock and straining muscles to make it to the top. Climbing, that's my "dose of something." And today I got it! On the rocket! I went biking and climbing! I don't know how Sarah and Lisa put up with me...
Getting down was the hard part... I may have... kinda... fallen.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Day 65: Mysterious findings
Today was a long day of waiting. I was picking up Matt and Caleigh from the train station, but the train was an hour and a half late, so being there a half hour early gave me a lot of down time to read and eat a bag of ships I picked up at the Northern (that was a bad idea). So the first unexpected thing that I found:
At the Northern, there was a book exchange shelf behind the chip aisle (hence the wandering down the chips aisle). Being a book nerd and nearing the end of the current book I'm reading, Atlas Shrugged, I perused. There was a John Grisham, a couple condensed reader editions, a book on the methods in studying behaviour, a psychology magazine, a couple kids books. I almost left with nothing really attracting my eye until....
When I was little, there were two movies that I would constantly rent from the library, Fly Away Home - the story of a girl finding Canada goose eggs, having the chicks imprint on her, rearing them and then building an airplane with her father to teach them the migration path, and Born Free. Born Free is the story of a couple in Kenya who happen to find these wild lion cubs after the parents were put down and the raising of the cubs, keeping one cub, Elsa, to adulthood when they lived with her and trained her until one day they decided to let her back into the wild and set her free, because she was born free. It's a true story, and this book was written by the woman who raised Elsa. This is one of the stories that really captured my imagination of how humans and wildlife could live side by side. I am quite excited to have found this book up here in Churchill where bears and humans come into contact so frequently. It seems to be a reflection of lions in Kenya and polar bears in Churchill. I suppose some credit of my fascination with animal behaviour can be attributed to this story as well. And if you also happen to be interested in animals communicating with people, listen to Radiolab's Animal Minds episode - which I happened to listen to while I was filtering today. (Strange how connections happen like that sometimes.)
Unexpected finding number 2: After lunch, I went with Kat to do the weekly water sampling and we came across something intriguing. When we returned, I had this elaborate plan of how to present the finding to LeeAnn, stating various theories that could have lead to the thing we saw, but Kat just blurted it out. So to follow her example, we found evidence of the landing area of an alien spaceship. It turns out that the media have been lying to us all this time, the scale they always present is way off! The ships have to be much smaller to make this:
So an acceptably alternative hypothesis is that is was made by fairies which is why it is sometimes called a fairy ring or elf ring as well. The hypothesis that everyone wants you to believe is that it is a fungus, mushrooms that grow in a ring because of the connected mycelia or connected oval genets of neighboring mushrooms. I'm sticking with aliens.
The third interesting thing: After filtering, I went back to the lab to grab the camera to download the pictures of the lakes from water sampling. As soon as I enter the lab, I see:
First, I grabbed a bucket, think that I might be able to catch him before he fled. Then I realized how unlikely that scenario was, catch a squirrel with a bucket! Kat had already tried this, throwing a bucket at the squirrel, but unsuccessful in the catch. So I gently put the bucket down and grabbed the camera that I was there to retrieve anyways. The little thing posed for me! Then ran at me, under my desk, then Kat's desk, then LeeAnn's desk, then into the classroom where I lost track of him. I just have to remind myself not to feed the wild animals. Though, interestingly, Celia had buns and cheese in a box in the lab last night left over from the Wapusk trip that had little bite marks out of it... I think we found the culprit. Until next time, little buddy.
At the Northern, there was a book exchange shelf behind the chip aisle (hence the wandering down the chips aisle). Being a book nerd and nearing the end of the current book I'm reading, Atlas Shrugged, I perused. There was a John Grisham, a couple condensed reader editions, a book on the methods in studying behaviour, a psychology magazine, a couple kids books. I almost left with nothing really attracting my eye until....
 |
| Born Free by Joy Adamson |
When I was little, there were two movies that I would constantly rent from the library, Fly Away Home - the story of a girl finding Canada goose eggs, having the chicks imprint on her, rearing them and then building an airplane with her father to teach them the migration path, and Born Free. Born Free is the story of a couple in Kenya who happen to find these wild lion cubs after the parents were put down and the raising of the cubs, keeping one cub, Elsa, to adulthood when they lived with her and trained her until one day they decided to let her back into the wild and set her free, because she was born free. It's a true story, and this book was written by the woman who raised Elsa. This is one of the stories that really captured my imagination of how humans and wildlife could live side by side. I am quite excited to have found this book up here in Churchill where bears and humans come into contact so frequently. It seems to be a reflection of lions in Kenya and polar bears in Churchill. I suppose some credit of my fascination with animal behaviour can be attributed to this story as well. And if you also happen to be interested in animals communicating with people, listen to Radiolab's Animal Minds episode - which I happened to listen to while I was filtering today. (Strange how connections happen like that sometimes.)
Unexpected finding number 2: After lunch, I went with Kat to do the weekly water sampling and we came across something intriguing. When we returned, I had this elaborate plan of how to present the finding to LeeAnn, stating various theories that could have lead to the thing we saw, but Kat just blurted it out. So to follow her example, we found evidence of the landing area of an alien spaceship. It turns out that the media have been lying to us all this time, the scale they always present is way off! The ships have to be much smaller to make this:
 |
| See the mysterious ring? What can it be? What can it be? Aliens! |
The third interesting thing: After filtering, I went back to the lab to grab the camera to download the pictures of the lakes from water sampling. As soon as I enter the lab, I see:
 |
| Remember the post about the squirrel? ... I found him! |
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Day 64: Simply keeping busy
The actual work of today consisted of plucking white dryas puffs in 40km/hr winds, measuring the earth's magnetic field, analyzing CO2 flux, and preparing buoys.
The outside of work for today was mainly yoga and reading. I don't have much to share today.
The outside of work for today was mainly yoga and reading. I don't have much to share today.
 |
| Dryas puff: Imagine carefully pulling the white stuff off and stuffing it into a plastic bag without losing it to the wind... I lost a lot to the wind. |
 | |
| Radish seeds have been planted in the bedroom. Two sprouts, after one day, have already poked out! |
 |
| After the rain and sun combination all day, we got a rainbow! |
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day 63: Day of Sound
I had the rare luxury of being able to drive by myself through the boreal forests after dropping off the Waterloo/Laurier crew at the airport. Today was the day of sound.
I listened to the radio, to the CBC broadcasts. I listened to music, and sang loudly with it. Then swhistled loudly over the weather forecast that the radio voice kept repeating. I stood in the wind and listened to the waves on the river, the waves on the beach. I baked in the sun while I read a novel. I ate an orange in the sand and cheese in the forest.
I listened to the radio, to the CBC broadcasts. I listened to music, and sang loudly with it. Then swhistled loudly over the weather forecast that the radio voice kept repeating. I stood in the wind and listened to the waves on the river, the waves on the beach. I baked in the sun while I read a novel. I ate an orange in the sand and cheese in the forest.
 |
| First stop on Goose Creek Rd was a kennel of sled dogs who perked up at the approach of my car |
 |
| Second stop: I found a new dump of twisted metal scraps |
 |
| A taxidermied fox with the fur removed, found at the dump... |
 |
| A plaque in memory and honour of the Sayisi Dene People. They were relocated by the government to these concrete houses where disease killed over 1/3 of the population from 1956 to 1973 at which point they freed themselves from the "grips of genocide." |
 |
| What's left of the foundation of a house in "Dene Village" |
 |
| Third stop: marshes |
 |
| "One of these mornings You're going to rise up singing Then you'll spread your wings And you'll take to the sky" - "Summertime" by jazz artist George Gershwin |
 |
| Adrift |
 |
| The singing tower at the weir. With the wind blowing at 40km/hr the metal sang like blowing air over a bottle top. It was beautiful. |
 |
| The end of Goose Creek Road: the Churchill River |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)