Waiting Game

When I stepped off the Boeing 737 and onto the tarmac I was greeted by a familiar blast of cold arctic wind. I quickly glanced around as I walked excitedly towards the main airport building, surprised by the thick blanket of snow that enveloped the landscape. After locating my baggage and a fellow USFWS shorebird crew member Laura Makielski, I was whisked away to the field house through the familiar streets of Utqiagvik (Barrow) Alaska.

Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) male

Utqiagvik, North Slope, Ak

Jun. 5, 2018

Wyatt Egelhoff

I have returned for my third year with the long term shorebird demography monitoring project in Utqiagvik, and like last year, 2018 has proven to be an exceptionally late season. While not as cold as the beginning of last season, the large volume of snow that accumulated during the dark arctic winter has taken a long time to melt. While 2017 had proven the latest snow-melt in the 15 year history of the project, 2018 is already about a week later than last year. It took a solid week after I arrived (May 25th) before large numbers of shorebirds began to show up.
Anyone paying attention to environmental news this past winter may have noticed a worrying paucity of sea-ice on the arctic ocean at the border with the Bering Sea. One particularly poignant clip showed waves hammering a building on the island of Little Diomede, an island usually protected from winter storm waves by a buffer of sea ice. Overall sea ice extent on the Arctic Ocean was the lowest since remote sensing technology allowed extent to be sampled. Break up of sea ice in the springs generally continues to be earlier every year. But despite this, the land is still covered in snow, a curious juxtaposition that may in some way be correlated. Venturing into the realm of speculation, it would seem possible that more open water later in the fall would be favorable for increased evaporation and subsequent precipitation. Usually the sea ice would reduce the amount of available moisture in the atmosphere, but with lower ice extent, more open water is available. In general Utqiagvik gets cold in the winter (average temperatures around -40F), but not snowy compared to interior Alaska, which sees much greater snow accumulation.

Members of the USFWS Barrow shorebird crew heading out to check one of the demography plots near the new landfill in early June. This is usually one of the first areas to open up, but still lies under a foot of snow.

Regardless of the reason, the tardiness of the season has forced birds wishing to breed on the tundra surrounding Utqiagvik to concentrate around the limited patches of open water/tundra until larger areas begin opening up and they can disperse. Waterfowl migrating in on the ocean seem to have been biding their time beyond the sea ice surrounding Utqiagvik, exploring leads in the ice when they appear, but generally toughing it out on the ocean and simply waiting for the tundra to melt. This has made for some interesting early-season sea watching.
Ultimately, it seems unlikely that the birds won't attempt to nest this year, but rather the amount of time that is available for nesting will be reduced. Most nest initiating for shorebirds in this area ceases around July 5th, and those nests initiated after about June 28th tend to have a much lower success rate than those initiated before. It seems unlikely there will be any time for re-nesting if clutches are predated.

Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) male 

Laura Madison Rd, Utqiagvik, North Slope, AK

May 28, 2018

Wyatt Egelhoff

From a birding perspective, the late season appears to have concentrated birds, making detection easier, as well as freed me up to cover more areas while waiting for the demography plots to open up and work to begin. This year saw a slew of quasi-vagrant passerines such as Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) and Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) which breed further east and south on the North Slope, but are unusual in the Utqiagvik area. In the category of "wacky unexpected vagrants" a Tundra Bean-Goose (Anser serrirostris) seen aggressively ripping at the tundra was definitely a highlight. I suspect this individual may have wintered in North America and travelled north until it reached Utqiagvik (at which point it is difficult to get any further north). It tended to hang out apart from the large groups of Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) so I am not so sure it migrated with a flock. But ultimately, who knows. Maybe it did come across from Russia.

Tundra Bean-Goose (Anser serrirostris)

Cake Eater Rd, Utqiagvik, North Slope, Ak

Jun. 8, 2018

Wyatt Egelhoff

Big thanks to the members of the USFWS Eider monitoring crew that helped us find it

Finally, and perhaps most notably, I was not only lucky enough to see a Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) again this year (3 for 3), but also managed to find my own while scanning the sea ice for migrating birds. Something about watching the bear travelling over the ice after serendipitously picking it out with a scope was more fulfilling than chasing, but either way I am very happy to have seen this magnificent species in my lifetime. Still waiting on that Ivory Gull.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis) 

Utqiagvik, North Slope, Ak

Jun 5, 2018\

Wyatt Egelhoff

Not annual in the Utqiagvik area, the last time this species was detected here was 2014. Here's hoping they hang out and breed despite the difficult conditions this year.