Nothing Remains Quite The Same
Barnacle Geese
I was noticing the other day how much the little barnacle goslings have changed in the time that we have been here. It is remarkable!
I took this picture of a Barnacle Goose gosling soon after we arrived.
Just yesterday! The bird in the foreground is a gosling.
I read a little more about Barnacle Geese, or in Norwegian, Hvitkinngås. The population that breeds on Svalbard migrates from Northern England. They arrive in Svalbard in late May. The next part gets really interesting. The following is from Wikipedia:
Barnacle geese frequently build their nests high on mountain cliffs; away from predators (primarily Arctic foxes and polar bears) but also away from food. Like all geese, the goslings are not fed by the adults. Instead of bringing food to the newly hatched goslings, the goslings are brought to the ground. Unable to fly, the three day old goslings jump off the cliff and fall; their small size, feathery down, and very light weight helps to protect some of them from serious injury when they hit the rocks below, but many die from the impact. Arctic foxes are attracted by the noise made by the parent geese during this time and capture many dead or injured goslings. The foxes also stalk the young as they are led by the parents to wetland feeding areas.
Awwww..so sad!
After "the fall" the survivors then swim at least 5 km across the fjord to their foraging area because the little goslings still cannot fly. And that is where we have seen them everyday. Boy, I have a new respect for these little guys!
Watching them, I noticed that I never saw either the goslings or the adults flying around....until recently. Just the other day I saw some of the adults overhead. I think they are getting read to migrate. Also the flocks have started this interesting behavior- the whole flock runs together across a wide open field. At first I wondered, "Is something chasing them?" I didn't see a fox. So I think they are running to teach the goslings how to fly. They will all be gone by early September. What a life! They are such tough birds.
Another fun fact is the origin of the name, Barnacle Goose. Legend claimed they were born of driftwood. This may be related to the fact that they were never seen in summer (because they were in the Arctic). They were supposedly developing underwater in the form of barnacles. What a magical idea. Do you ever wish that you lived in a time when innocence and naivety fostered belief in the mystical? Edgar Allen Poe laments this loss in his Sonnet to Science. I will copy below. Let me know what you think. Fantasy versus reality.
You know, all of this information just made my day. You never know what you are going to learn and discover on any given day. What a treat!
Midnight Sun
We have not seen the night since arriving in Svalbard, but I am noticing changes. The sun rose on April 20 and it will set August 23. Everything in between is one long day. We will be leaving just a few days before the sun sets, but even then it will only dip below the horizon for a short time.
The sun never gets much higher than this.
I was curious to see and experience this phenomenon and wondered during the months prior what the sun would actually do. It just goes around in a circle, never getting higher than about 28º above the horizon. It seems like the middle of the day all of the time. Until recently I started to notice a time feeling more and more like sunset. It occurs around 10 PM. The sky starts to take on the orangish pinkish hues that we associate with a very low sun angle. It was gorgeous.
The sun will soon set, literally and figuratively
So things are changing. Nothing remains quite the same.
Sunset On Our Time In Ny Alesund
As I sense these changes in the environment, our time here is also coming to a close. We all feel it coming and are taking one last hike, lingering a little longer at meals and making sure that we capture that last bit of beauty in photographs. I would be lying if I didn't say that we also are ready to take the next step. For all of us that is returning to school and routine. But there is a certain nostalgia we have about leaving this incredible place. It has been good. Very good.
Sonnet—To Science
By Edgar Allan Poe
Science! true daughter of Old Time thou art!
Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes.
Why preyest thou thus upon the poet’s heart,
Vulture, whose wings are dull realities?
How should he love thee? or how deem thee wise,
Who wouldst not leave him in his wandering
To seek for treasure in the jewelled skies,
Albeit he soared with an undaunted wing?
Hast thou not dragged Diana from her car,
And driven the Hamadryad from the wood
To seek a shelter in some happier star?
Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood,
The Elfin from the green grass, and from me
The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?
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