It is feeling pretty chilly in Arctic Bay today. Temperature wise it isn't that bad, but a bit of a breeze gives -27C quite an edge. It was still a good day to get out and do Day 2 of the Great Backyard Bird Count. So far it seems that Arctic Bay is rocking the Nunavut participation this year as it looks like three others have submitted checklists thus far. And thus far I haven't seen another from Nunavut, but there is still time.
Yesterday I only gave a cursory look around for birds, but today I had plans. I wanted to get a good count on Ravens, concentrating on the dog teams and the dump, then head out towards Nanisivik and try and find a ptarmigan to add to the total. I thought, perhaps with luck I could see a Gyrfalcon and confirm the possible sighting from last month.
But as usual this time of year it is all about the Ravens. Travis and Hilary came along (Travis has incredible eyes when it comes to spotting birds) and we did find an impressive amount of Ravens, eighty-two around the dump. Strangely there were none at the dump itself, just several large groups positioned all around it.
While one of the downsides of birding in the dead of an Arctic winter is the low number of species seen, it does have its advantages. Few people taking part in the count get to see vistas such as this on their count. (The little black dot on the ice is a snowmobile).
Nor do they watch dog teams coming in from the day's race.
(This photo had a strange colour to it, it looks better in Greyscale).
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I hit the sea ice, dump and sewage lagoon this afternoon. I’m not sure about tomorrow – likely Victor Bay or the cliffs just to poke around and see what’s there. Any recommendations?
It would be nice to find some ptarmigan. There had been some tracks above the Co-op. I might head out to the Gyrfalcon aerie at the cliffs just to check. Really they shouldn’t be around right now but that sighting a couple of weeks ago has me intrigued.
Great fun to read about your efforts in the GBBC. My wife got out with her birding buddies and discovered a Greater Scaup which are quite rare in our area, so they came home happy birders. I’m a bit surprised you haven’t seen ptarmigan more. I remember them being commmon around Igloolik in the old days.
Great bird Michael. Spent a lot of time looking at Scaup in Fort Providence. The ptarmigan are around, although possibly slightly down this year. I just haven’t 1) spent enough time or effort at it, and 2) been in the right place at the right time.