After my bear excitement last night, I found it hard to sleep. I wore a sleep blind to block out the sunlight, but I couldn't get used to birds singing all night long. There were many other new noises too. My favorite though was the ptarmagin. I will be sure to share this song in a future journal. For now, I can only describe it as sounding like a very hyper wind-up toy. The view from the front of my tent reminded me that it really is a privilege to be here.
My noisy friend the ptarmagin.
The view from the front door of my tent!
We started our day with a walk up to our field site and a quick introduction to the tundra. In the last day I've heard walking on the tundra describes as "walking on deflated basketballs," "walking on marshmallows," and my favorite "walking on wet laundry."
Amanda Koltz, fearless leader of Team Spider, pointing out a tussock (the small mounds of grass that cover the tundra).
The rest of our day was spent cleaning and unpacking our lab, and doing some odd jobs to prepare our equipment for the field.
Team Spider Headquarters - Lab Tent 7
Sawing the end off a funnel for our spider pitfall traps.
Kiki Contreras, Research Assistant, making temperature sensor shades from disposable coffee cup lids.
A fun first day of learning and working!