My experience in the arctic was immeasurable in it's variety, scope and adventures.

I have moved back to my home province of Ontario and find I miss the haunting beauty of the north, the winter sky with all the universe on display, it's dancing aurora, and the feeling of cold air on my face.

I will miss my pintail visitors, buntings and ravens (for all that they are).  Below is a video of a raven who had been listening to a neighbours dog bark, then tried it for himself..remarkable bird!

My beauty

Queen of the land

My dog came with me to enjoy a peaceful life, free from the abuse and violence which she was subjected to; before you judge me she is a husky, an outdoor dog who rarely wanted to be indoors no matter the weather.

Under the snow at my door

These are my final images taken in 2015.

Thank you to all who have taken interest in my blog and blossoming photography skills (see what I did there?).

Autumn on the tundra

Apex Melting

Spring arrivals

Last summer a friend introduced me to the wonderful world of birding. Though not a large variety around Iqaluit, there are a number of small songbirds, waterfowl and raptors around.

I’ve been able to get some cute photos of the wee songbirds and am in awe of their hardiness. They arrive when before the snow has completely melted and depart on a good wind in the arctic autumn.

Hoary Redpoll

Northern Pintail

Snow Geese

Everyone is getting busy with the spring season, mating, eating, training their young during the short summer for the return trip to winter grounds.

Hopefully some of the others will show up soon. I did see the Lapland Larkspur, I’ve yet to spot the American Pipit or the Horned Lark.

Slow spring

The townsfolk are getting antsy for spring. Me included, so to beat the cabin fever I’ve taken up a new hobby. Yes I have now successfully preserved two skulls. Some think it’s morbid, but honestly, it reminds me of our mortality and especially our frailty.

This is a ptarmigan skull, very small and paper thin.

 Seal skull, it’s teeth are surprisingly sharp and serrated.

The seal was for my nephew, I had purchased the seal for dog meat for my pet. It seemed a shame to discard the head for the ravens. So I set about learning how to prepare an animal skeleton.

I’m quite pleased with the results and my nephew loved the unique gift. Seal is a bit trickier if I cut myself during the preparation, the infection could result in seal finger. Seal finger requires medical treatment and is unique from other infections.

The ptarmigan was my second attempt, now there is no risk of getting seal finger with a ptarmigan and the smaller skull was much more delicate to work with.

What is striking about both skulls is the size of their eyeball sockets in relationship to their skull.  Perhaps a biologist would be able to advise on that, I suspect the bird has big eyes to improve it’s night vision, and the seal for it’s life in the water.

Wonder what the next project will bring my way!

*the animals were killed legally by hunters, the ptarmigan hunter gladly provided me the skull upon request.*

autumn arrives

We went looking for the White Crowned Sparrow and were surprised to find the Savannah Sparrow. They were very curious and flew just inches off the ground about 18 inches in front of our feet. That apparently didn't provide enough information so a scout landed just behind us and checked us out for a good while!

Who's watching who now?

Savannah Sparrow

Just before dusk, autumn grasses provide just the right colours in the fading light.



This duck got very cagey and slid into the wetland grasses to conceal her ducklings.
She has 8 ducklings and they seem to be in no hurry to move south. Other ducks; American Pintails and American Longtail have dropped in for some food and rest, staying for a very brief visit but this lot isn't quite ready to leave us yet!

Northern Pintail Duck

Too soon autumn has arrived on the tundra. It is spectacular! We had a surprise on the long weekend when we awoke to see snow in the distance.
With the arrival of autumn the fish are gone for the season the birds are also leaving us for the winter. I had a dismal fishing season. However the ones i did catch were healthy fish this year.

Luckily I've found me a hiking buddy and over hill and dale..or at least hill and muskeg we go. We've covered a lot of ground recently in search of migrating birds. This time of year there are stunning vistas and I love the cool wind on my face.
My favourite hiking food is a light-to-carry lunch means boiled eggs, trail mix, a cup for stream water and some type of sweet...fig newtons alleviate the guilt by providing a fruit!

Then I discovered Photomatix photo editing software! Duck country

I'm clearly not a pro at this which is why i love this particular photo editor, easy, fuss free enhancements! I trialed it for quite some time before I committed to the product, I have other free photo editors but don't really want to invest the time and effort into modifying the image pixel by pixel, or layer by layer.

Migration season is upon us....

Redpoll

I have spent the last couple of days birding. I'm new to birding so luckily I met someone who is not and together we hiked the tundra and hot spots for the migrating birds. We did happen upon the American Pipit, Redpoll, Northern Pintail duck!




Fleabane



American Pipit


Unfortunately my pictures of the Northern Pintail didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped. Maybe next time!

Summer Rush

Flame Lousewort


Summer happens in a big hurry in the north, the plants hurry to bloom and create fruit.


Long Stalked Starwort

The fish rush to the open river mouth down to the bay to feed, and the people rush to take advantage of the warm season.

With the incoming tide, the fishing spots disappear under water.



Waiting for the ice to pass.

Flower Season

The usual suspect here on the tundra.

Rain brings out the colour in your florets! Arctic Thrift; my first shot of it in full bloom, usually I get to it when the little pods are emptying out their petals.

Swans

Never far apart.



Stretch!

It happened unexpectedly, driving around we spotted a pair of Tundra Swans in a shallow lake near Iqaluit! We haven't spotted any cygnets but this pair do their thing without much notice of the admirers stopping for a gander (bad joke).


Me, mosquitoes and the swans hung out for nearly two hours!

Another bird happened by, singing his song. The Lapland Larkspur briefly stopped on a nearby rock long enough for a portrait then departed singing his cheery song; the only sound on the tundra.


The fishing is off to a later start around here this summer, Heavy ice lines the rocky shores and unlike last year, doesn't look safe at all, cracks along the edges and of course it's slippery too.

It's tundra garden season too, and as usual, have been trying to do something new with the local flora pics, those at a later date!

oopsy it's been too long

Been busy, really busy at work and lets face it, not much to photograph in the grand outdoors when darkness prevails for so many hours in the day. My weekends in December and January typically go like this; should get busy and get outside for some sun.....oops missed it, try again next weekend!
All of a sudden it's MARCH! We gain daylight at an astounding rate and the camera gets dusted off a little more often.
The bay one frosty morn.

With a fancy new camera, I've been experimenting with the settings and purchased a sexy macro lens for summer photography!

Up close and personal

I've learned some new techniques to improve the night shots of the aurora, but we've been sadly quiet in the night sky. Forecasts for 2012 aurora are optimistic. During the recent solar flares, I was in Ottawa and missed out viewing our inky skies.

My efforts were further complicated when one evening in the late autumn, while using the tripod on a 30 sec exposure; I had to exhale and in doing so turned away from the camera to avoid tainting the image...when all of a sudden a gust of wind took my camera and tripod flying!

To my dismay the lens mount had busted, hurling the lens a metre away, and was un-usable. After a lengthy wait for the part, followed by a failed attempt at repairing it myself and in so doing damaged it further; I ordered a new lens.
Lesson learned; do it yourself in camera repair is not for me and is best left to the experts.

Yaay longer days!

Bye Bye 2010!

Safe and Happy New Year.

So Long 2010!

the arctic is melting

Politicking is not my thing, but one cannot ignore the weird and warm winter we're having this year. So much rain, freezing rain and melting will definitely affect the northern wild life. Furthermore the night sky has been obliterated by clouds.

falling stars

The night of the meteor storm was unusually cold and clear night for us (this winter). My friends and family in Ontario were under cloudy skies. So with a sense of duty, obligation we went out "representin'" to view the meteors! It was a chilly -27C but well worth the effort. We bundled up, trundled out the tripod and faced the wind to watch the universe unfold.

meteor storm with added bonus; aurora borealis extraordinaire




Not much to photograph if it's mud and cloudy skies so here's to hoping for the return to cold!

time passages

I made a difficult decision to remove the blog list which was to the right of ma blog. Reason, I can't keep up with the transient nature of northerners. Of the originals in my list, I think only Matt in Cape Dorset and I are still in Nunavut. Many others migrate to "greener" pastures of the Yukon, NWT or locales south. Sorry folks. Miss you all and Jen of the north I miss you the most.


Shelley

long wait to winter

Winter took a long time in arriving this year. December and we were still experiencing rain! Imagine, rain in the far north in December! No new posts since September simply because I have nothing nice to say about too much rain. It is easy math; rain = mud = nothing much to photograph.

But now with a couple of cold days and persistent snowfall there has been an upgrade in the local panoramas.

I always get a kick out of decorative trees here for the Christmas season as it usually takes me a minute to realize this is novelty, not nature. But the trees complete the "festive" scene and make me feel all fuzzy and warm.



With winter finally here, the landscape looks nice and clean and the Christmas lights are brightening our long nights.



The temperatures remain unseasonably mild, with today being the first day of a temperature colder than -10C. It has been disappointing to our southern visitors as they feel cheated out of their arctic experience.

Today I saw two people out in a boat in the bay, the windchill at the time was -31C, yes a boat not a snowmobile. Hopefully the bay freezes in time for the New Years snowmobile parade!

Here's a tip of the egg nog, and a toast for a bitterly cold winter ahead!

Autumn greets the tundra

It was a rare unseasonably warm September day, finally the rain had stopped, it seemed to cloud over every evening just as we finished work for the day. Life was simpler when skipping class on a fine spring or autumn day resulted in a scolding from the school or ....not! No chance on cutting classes now though. The fine weather will end, bringing on the early nights and lazy sunrises, and the plants will be blanketed for another long wait under the snow.

Alan loves blueberries, all berries in fact. I don't. Picking berries makes great use of the fine weather. Today I bake a pie..or tarts...something with blueberries for him. The black berries (crowberries) are sweeter after the first snow, oddly we haven't had one yet. When we do, I will get back out there in the colder weather to harvest the frost sweetened black berries for the winter.

Crowberry

Thanks to the rainy month of August, the berries are bountiful, big and juicy. It amazed me that so many plants can share the thin soil and at the end of the short season, everyone has had a successful summer.

Blueberry among lichen.


Mountain Avens? I think, unfurled with seed.



Blueberries, red bear berry, and crowberry crowd the thin soil covering the rocks.



Mt. Avens


Dwarf Fireweed seedpod

This fine weather does nothing to improve the state of our apartment, an opportunist like me would rather be outside playing in the sunshine than inside fighting with the vacuum. Taking pictures is a good way to stay outside for long hours. As the sun moves across the sky, with the ever changing the light, there is always something beautiful to capture.





After all, there will be plenty of time to sort and organize in the coming months!