Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 07/13/2007 - 22:41
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Greenland Seabird Ecology

Now that you have been there since Wednesday night, what have the past two days have been like?  Are you adjusting.?  Have you gone out on the expedition and started studying the birds?  How cold is it?

Pam

Mon, 07/16/2007 - 16:52

Mary Anne Pell…

Thanks so much for the note. 
Wednesday was entirely spent in transit, until 7:30 am Thursday. Thursday I walked all over Reykjavik, and Friday morning I walked with an afternoon spent on a tour bus. We drove out of the area and saw some natural sites that I would not have had a chance to see. Saturday was another spent in transit and waiting for transit. My arrival time at Kap Hoegh field Camp was about 5 pm.

We went to see the birds today, although they can be heard from everywhere outside. Two of us spent 4 hours at an observation site today. The Little Auks are very cute! Gentle looking, you'll have to see some photos. they sound wonderful too. They are hunted by Glaucous Gulls, big white seagulls, and when the gulls soar by, huge flocks of Little Auks fly up and away. They are not often captured, but when the chicks begin to emerge from their under rock nests, I guess they are an easy food source for the gulls. Does not sound pretty.
 

Take care.
 
Mary Anne

Mon, 07/23/2007 - 08:28

Mary Anne Pell…

Hi Pam and Rebecca,
How nice, you’re one of the first to write.  I am adjusting well, because I am with some very special, warm individuals.  

The strangest thing is 24 hours of sunlight.  Last night, July 19, we came back from the colony at 9:30 and had dinner at what seemed like about 8 pm.  It was 11:45 pm however.  I go to bed only because I am fatigued and the clock says 1 am.  But it never gets darker than it would in Chico or Seattle right now, at about 8 pm.  So odd.

The birds are so cute, and we’ve just started to find lots of chicks in the nest the last few days.  When we need to take a parent out to get blood and take measurements, we put the chick in a wool hat or glove so it stays warm until the parent is returned. This is also true if an egg is found.

Have a good summer, I will send Rebecca some cute bird photos when I return to Chico.
Love,  
Mary Anne