Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Feb 5, 2012, 7:26 pm
I caught a glimpse of the fireworks from Winterfest the other the day. We had stumbled into a Formula Taxi race somehow, and were speeding through the city. The last time I'd been going that fast in a city was during a high speed chase through the streets of Saskatoon. But as we approached downtow... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jan 28, 2012, 7:30 pm
So I saw the Sun yesterday, high in the sky above Iqaluit. We’re south, in Ottawa, which is why I get to see it before the first week of February. This marks the first time in a number of years that I’ll not be in Arctic Bay for the return of the Sun, and it seems just a touch disorientating. Bu... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 31, 2011, 8:26 am
I so cannot wait to be able to get safely closer to this iceberg, which will probably spend the winter locked in the ice near town. I know, I know, more iceberg photos. You'll just have to tough it out. Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 30, 2011, 9:56 am
Arctic Bay froze yesterday, hopefully it will stay. If the calm weather remains, it will. Once again it is late from what I know as normal, the Thanksgiving Weekend. My understanding was normal used to be even earlier before I got here. The last six or so years have seen late freeze ups, fro... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 29, 2011, 12:35 am
It looks as though there may be some sun shining tomorrow. It may be a good day for some photography at last. Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 27, 2011, 12:49 pm
Today the remaining boats were pulled from the water, as it looks as though freeze up has begun to take hold. But for this wind the bay would be solid.
Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 26, 2011, 8:08 am
The last sunset of the season is only about a week and a half away. How quickly we change to the dark season. This year we've had so many overcast skies that the dark season has crept up even more quickly. There have been so very few dramatic sunrises and sets this fall, just varying shades of g... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 16, 2011, 3:05 pm
When most people think about our wildlife in the High Arctic it is our mammals that get all the attention. Polar Bear, Narwhal, Bowhead Whale, Beluga, Ringed Seal, Bearded Seal and the like all spring to mind first when you think about our oceanic fauna. So its not on very many people's radar that... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 11, 2011, 9:45 pm
... was the internet down but there was no long distances service. It ... 13;
Now on the face of things you might think that it ... could have.
No weather information was getting out from any of ... serious medical emergency while the satellite was out of commission could have had serio... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Oct 4, 2011, 9:37 pm
I know I've been a bad blogger. My muse is on vacation. But, I do have a new post up on 10,000 Birds. Dark deeds, indeed. Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Sep 12, 2011, 8:07 am
It has become the great measuring stick for iconic events. Do you remember where you were when "X" happened. And it is one we heard of with great frequency this past weekend of remembrance and anniversary. And for the record, 10 years ago on September 11th, I was sitting in my office at the Detachme... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Sep 2, 2011, 8:16 am
It has been a fairly busy season up here for visits by ships and yachts. I suppose a harbinger of things to come, between the Naval facility and the opening up of the Northwest Passage. At one time, during Operation Nanook we had four ships in Arctic Bay, two Naval and two Coast Guard, and current... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Aug 30, 2011, 8:06 am
They are late migrants here, and stand out once the Baird's Sanpipers and others. Here is a Purple Sandpiper from the other day, when all the other waders had fled these shores.
Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Aug 29, 2011, 8:05 am
And now 'tis man who dares assault the sky . . .
And as we come to claim our promised place,
Aim only to repay the good you gave,
And warm with human love the chill of space.
— Prof. Thomas G. Bergin
It seems like it has been a hellish month, this last one. A friend fell... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Aug 18, 2011, 12:02 pm
Growing up in rural Manitoba where and when I did, I called Sharp-tailed Grouse "Prairie Chickens". There were real Prairie Chickens that owned that name, but I didn't know that. They were a bird I never knew.
There was a time though, when there were many of them in the area I grew up in. Eve... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Aug 17, 2011, 12:16 am
The past couple of weeks I spent a great deal of time at the outflow of Marcil Lake, getting in some late season bird counts, and enjoying the wildlife, and the solitude.
I always paused at this feature in the river, imagining the activity that teemed here a number of years ago. This, is a fi... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Aug 16, 2011, 1:20 am
It is blueberry season up here. The weather has been gorgeous.
Those two statements together mean we have spent all of our evenings out picking blueberries, hands down one of Leah's favourite activities. Now, when I say we have been picking blueberries I'm stretching the truth a little, for... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jul 31, 2011, 8:08 pm
Yesterday was a rough day in many ways. There was a tragic boating accident that unfolded here and we lost two members of our small community. Every death hits us hard, and this doubly so.
But July 30th is always a day I rue, for personal reasons. For it is the anniversary of another death, t... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jul 30, 2011, 3:23 pm
I had been waiting for this moment for thirteen months.
On the first days of July of last year two Pacific Loons appeared on a pond by the outflow of our water lake, Marcil Lake. It wasn't the first time I'd seen Pacific Loons, and when they established a nest a couple of days later it wasn't... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jul 26, 2011, 8:08 am
First of all, travel with someone more observant than you, like my wife.
Walk quietly until she points out the Ermine to you, mere feet away.
Avoid crowds of screaming children.
As the Ermine starts to flee "squeak", its curiousity will get the better of it and it will come to t... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jul 21, 2011, 2:49 pm
First of all, find the Ermine by watching a scrum of kids chasing something around.
Position yourself in a place where you can watch the action, but where you are in no way hidden from the Ermine.
Next, pay no attention to your camera settings, or if you do make sure it is set on a slo... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jul 19, 2011, 3:58 pm
We have been barbequing almost nightly here. Well not here really, over in Victor Bay, where everyone goes to get away from the hustle and bustle of Arctic Bay. A tank of propane is expensive here, $150. So when they are available, and when you lay down that cash (when the mine was here a fill used ... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jul 13, 2011, 10:52 am
If you could see this photo in higher resolution, you might notice something strange about it. The bird is a Tuitui, in Inuktitut. A Baird's Sandpiper, one of our more common summer breeding birds, and by far the most common shorebird around here.
They are long distant migrants, some travel... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 28, 2011, 7:43 am
These colourful little birds never cease to bring a smile to my face. The males sing their songs while parachuting down from a height, their wings held stiffly out to the side.
The females, while more cryptic, are every bit as beautiful. Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 25, 2011, 1:09 pm
Leah used to spend part of her summers camping with her grandparents on the beach near this waterfall. This is a bit of an unconventional composition for me, but it seems to work.
And for another view of this waterfall, check out my contribution to Poop Week, at 10,000 Birds: Whitewash... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 24, 2011, 8:55 am
This time of year there are many cracks in the ice that must be navigated. This was a particularily narrow bridge, not more than the width of a couple of komatiqs. Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 21, 2011, 9:38 pm
I always find the Summer Solstice vaguely depressing. Yes, we still have another 6 weeks before the Sun sets, but we have started that slide towards dark. Foiled by the tilting earth yet again. Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 14, 2011, 8:04 am
A little over a week ago we had a dog attack in town. A toddler, aged 2 or 3, was mauled by three dogs as he played near his home. Another child raced and got his grandfather who stopped the attack, and saved the boy.
Having spent a good deal of my adult life policing in northern communities ... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 8, 2011, 8:06 am
Photo by Leah Ejangiaq Kines
In the late morning we struck camp at Ijjujuarjuk and headed down the road to Ikpikituarjuk. Despite it being one of the most popular areas here for fishing and camping it is another place I'd never been to before. Dozens of Ringed Seals dotted the ice, tak... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 6, 2011, 8:29 pm
Last night, thanks once again to my sharp eyed son who saw the bird drop in behind me, I saw a Red-necked Phalarope at my favourite spot, the outflow of Marcil Lake. Now its a new bird at that location for me but I have seen them before. This however, is the first time I've seen one not offshore, an... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Jun 6, 2011, 8:08 am
In the early spring, when the Sun has warmed and you can feel its strength, even if the air temperature stays cool, the lemmings emerge from their tunnels under the snow. Before the snow has a chance to glaze into a hard, shiny crust their tracks can often be seen as they go on excursions under the ... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 31, 2011, 1:27 am
Now that the first migrants have begun arriving we tend to get out for a drive almost every night, looking to see who is new to the neighbourhood. Sunday, after seeing the first Canada Goose of the year, we continued on to First Bridge, where this Arctic Hare hunkered down in the lea of a boulder ... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 30, 2011, 12:06 pm
I've got a new post up on 10,000 Birds, And so it begins. My new schedule there is the last Sunday of each month. So go visit and show me some love.
Migration is underway up here and although I speak of it as a large influx, it is nothing compared to the fall out that happened recently on N... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 30, 2011, 8:09 am
If not for a comment from a reader I'd have missed my blogoversary Saturday. That is kind of indicative of the drop in attention I've been paying to it of late.
Six years I've been at this game. For someone with my attention plan that's an incredibly long time. I'm proud of this little spac... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 27, 2011, 5:41 pm
I find it impossible to adequately convey just how jaw dropping beautiful the land is up here. I feel that way about the scenery right around town, but it is scenery that I see daily. On those far too few occasions that I get out traveling farther afield, well, I become all too aware of how in... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 16, 2011, 7:38 am
I'm more than a little pumped today. Dave Brosha is in town leading a photography workshop. And I need all the help I can get. And because I now know that photos of Inuksuit are the single largest selling Arctic image, heres a photo of a couple of them from last night. Right there, on the top of t... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 6, 2011, 12:43 pm
Beautiful drive at lunch yesterday with a somewhat co-operative Arctic Hare posing in the bright warm sun.
Here's two photos for you.
Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 4, 2011, 12:05 pm
We don't often think of song birds, or the passerines, as predators. Some people are aware of the shrikes, or butcherbirds, as being just that. Tiny birds of prey, which sometimes hang out at feeders, picking off redpolls and the like. They earned their moniker "butcherbirds" from a habit of impalin... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
May 4, 2011, 11:19 am
There are few things that helped establish me as a blogger as much as I and the Bird. Way back in the Dark Ages of blogging when I started out, well the Renaissance is probably a better analogy, I discovered carnivals. I believe that the first one I sent a post to was the Tangled Bank, a Natural Sci... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Apr 29, 2011, 10:33 am
If you ask most people to imagine the Arctic they would generally think of frozen tundra, perhaps some icebergs. Some would think of mountains and fiords (and according to a recent survey by Up Here! magazine some 28% of southern Canadians would think that landscape included penquins). Very few ... Comment - Like
Clare K. posted an article on
The House & other Arctic musings
-
Apr 24, 2011, 10:06 pm
After our family outing yesterday, we went for a drive around the neighbourhood. It gave me an opportunity to do some Black and White photography.
Black...
... and White.
Comment - Like
Recent Discussions
