HAPPY FOURTH!
Jack’s Weather Report:
Today was a gorgeous day in Barrow. It was sunny all day with very little wind. A perfect day to get out and swim, go for a run, ride a bike, go for a picnic,……you name it.
Current Temp: 43 °F….the high was 44 °F
Winds: out of the north at 6 kt (7 mph)
This morning was a field day to test our sampling machine, the LI-COR 6200. It had been acting up some so we took both 6200s that we have to test to see if they were reading the same. The results were good so tomorrow will be my last diurnal shift before leaving on Friday evening and heading back to South Carolina. More on that later.
As I came out of the biocomplexity site, I noticed a very agitated golden plover near the boardwalk. Having been birding with Nathan two nights ago I decided to move back, keeping my eye on the bird to see where it would go. The hunch was that it would return to its nest and then I could get close for a look. The plan worked perfectly, the bird returned to the nest, and here is the nest I found after identifying its location.
Golden Plover Nest
While I took a look, the parent came running over making quite a fuss over my presence. Here it is faking a broken wing to try and lure me away from the nest. When that didn’t work it came over and gave me piece of its mind for being close to its eggs.
Plover faking a broken wing
I backed off quickly and left the bird, nest, and eggs alone.
After returning to BASC we headed over to Barrow for the parade held each Fourth of July. Our float was titled "Barrow Arctic Surf Club”.
BASC - Barrow Arctic Surf Club
Several people worked on the float but most of the credit goes to Jason Shone, one of the guys in my group, He really put ideas into reality.
Jason Shone drives the 4-wheeler that pulls the BASC float through the streets of Barrow.
Luckily it was relatively warm and not very windy, so I was able to show off my body to the people lining the route.
Ready for the beach, I have one foot on my surf board.
After the parade I ran in the Claire Okpeaha Memorial Marathon. It was about a 9-mile run based on my time. We ran three loops around the town, each one taking about 20 minutes to complete.
After the race I ate some caribou-on-a-stick and went back to BASC for the cookout. It has been a busy day so far and filled with lots of memories I'll certainly take home with me.