alaskan adventure

heres a gallery from my field season in nome, alaska working with the institute for bird populations studying the movement of the avian flu in asian migrants in western alaska. the study species was the eastern yellow wagtail, a summer visitor and breeder in the western arctic of alaska. we focused on this species because of its dense wintering populations in southeast asia their proximity to domestic livestock ie they follow cattle around feasting on the insects that are rustled. the flu sampling we did involved capturing the elusive birds in nests (see below) and sticking a qtip in their hoo hoos!! ouch. hope you enjoy





typical landscape around nome, alaska, flat coastal plains with long, rounded mountains. but there arent always rusting trains. this is the train to nowhere, a remnant of the gold rush.




nome was used as a radar station during the cold war, heres a reminder of the standoff on anvil mountain




upon arrival in late may we found 200 yards of thick pack ice and spring decided to stay away for another 3 weeks





training in may was a cold ordeal, riding in the bed of a pickup in 30 degree weather was invigorating.
me, melissa, jimmy, dr sarracco













this is the general passive net setup. the ultra-thin mesh net between two poles and a remote playback recorder in the middle to draw the birds in.






here's our hero with a female eastern yellow wagtail. processing a bird inside the "orange bomber" (our suburban). notice the unsuspecting look on this bird's face, just before the Q-tip is inserted. then she's released into the cold night air without so much as dinner or a movie.






the big bossman (dr desante) with a male wagtail









i think this has to be one of the most beautiful birds in all of the world aptly named the bluethroat






the holy grails: vials of fecal samples
















sometimes the rigors of the day mandates a visit to aqueous environments to hmmmm errrr... investigate the spatial distrubution of wagtails. conclusion: no birds here, but may need further study.
oops we sometimes forget proper equipment.






now here we find our hero blending into his surroundings. can you pick him out?
our summer line suggests that difficult to capture that derelict look, that's a louis vutton camoflauged burlap soaked in cat urine, with oh yes if you were wondering that is a camo baby onesy on his head.


























on my off time all i do is fish and smoke salmon




























you wouldn't believe the traffic at rush hour