Blogging about travel destinations, deals, and stories - from outrageous to humorous and everything in between.

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Notes From the Far North

Their "summer office" is a boat in the far North...on the Yukon River.  They study the Peregrine Falcons along the river each year, counting nesting pairs, then counting babies about two weeks later.  Such a life, what a job!  These are notes from my daughter and son-in-law.  I am sharing them with their permission, so you can enjoy the beauty of this wonderful land!


Yukon River
Photo: Florian/Ambrose

Greetings from the Far North!


We just returned from 3 weeks of surveying for falcons out on the Yukon River.  It was a great trip, a little rainy but we stayed nice and dry in the Dream Boat (love that Dream Boat!!!).  Before this trip, we thought that the peregrine population was leveling off at about 53-54 occupied territories in our 160 mile study area.  We were wrong.  This year we found 60 occupied territories!  We were hoping to get one or two more territories, but 6 more was a pleasant surprise.  Just when you think you might know what's going on around here, you find out you really don't.  Needs more research, as we like to say!


My Granddog, Abbey
Photo: Florian/Ambrose


Big chunks of ice on the Yukon River
Photo: Florian/Ambrose


We tried a few new recipes this trip and the big hit was the fresh baked bread.  The first loaf was a beautiful Yukon Sourdough and the second was the super easy No Knead Bread recipe.  It took some guess-work to figure our the right number of coals for the Dutch Oven, but it all worked out fine.  We got some sourdough starter from our favorite little restaurant up here and made sourdough pancakes too.  Not as good as Sourdough Sam's pancakes, but still good.



Rainbow on the Yukon on a stormy night
Photo: Florian/Ambrose


We are going to do a little traveling around here before we go back out to the Yukon again in July.  More photos coming soon!


~Chris, Skip, and Abbey the Wonder Dog of the Yukon


Get out and explore!
Pat
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

4 comments:

  1. Savannah GrannyJuly 1, 2012 at 1:05 PM

    What a dream job. One would never want to leave.
    It is great that the territories are increasing in number.

    The pictures are fabulous. I had to look for the rainbow. I didn't expect it to be so low. That was really neat.

    Chris, Skip and Abby, thank you for sharing your "job" with us.

    Pat, great article, thank you,

    Ginger

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat MJuly 1, 2012 at 3:11 PM

      Ginger -
      Thanks for your wonderful comment! I love seeing where they are working and all the beauty of that area. They are both Wildlife Biologists and contract work with the Nat'l Park Service to do sound studies in various parks. They have been going to AK for many years and will continue whether they are paid or not. They love it up there.
      Hugs.
      Pat

      Delete
  2. PandoraJuly 1, 2012 at 6:46 PM

    All I can say is "wow!" They certainly have a dream job! And I, also, didn't expect the rainbow to be so low...wonder why that is?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pat MJuly 1, 2012 at 7:18 PM

      Pandy - I'm not sure. I'll try to remember to ask when they come in from the river again.
      Hugs,
      Pat

      Delete

Your comments are loved as much as hugs! Each one blesses my day and I thank you!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)