13 June 2018 Bears, Berries, and OTCs

Here Comes The Sun

The weather cooperated enough today that we were able to spend some time outside! We loaded up this morning to do berry counts on Mt. Slope, north of Toolik Field Station. We saw the camp fox on the way out (he was not feeling photogenic, however – I will get a picture another time!), and drove to the site. While the weather was cooperating, the bear population was not. They too, know where the berries are, and beat us there. So after a few photos, we went back to camp and left the bears to their meal.

After lunch, we loaded up 24 OTCs (open top chambers) to place on a site at Toolik. These OTCs are like small fiberglass greenhouses. By small I mean large and cumbersome to carry. Thankfully, they are not heavy in addition to being bulky. The hardest part was trying to figure out how to hold them to carry them along the boardwalk to the site. This was my first day traversing the tussocks on the tundra. The ground in the melting tundra is similar to walking on a wet sponge. The tussocks do make walking more difficult, and I can see why some of the researchers here have said that walking on snow covered tundra is easier. Once the OTCs were in place, we staked them in, and by the time we left, the greenhouses were already melting off more of the snow.

This Pedicularis kanei (commonly known as woolly lousewort) was blooming beside the boardwalk. TundraA treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation such as lichens, mosses, and stunted shrubs. flowers are really beautiful!

The Adventures Of Flat Cat

Today, Flat Cat is hanging out in Weatherport City. This is the area of Toolik where the researchers and their teams live.