Farewell

Days remaining: 1 day

New bird count: 22 (northern shrike outside the office today)

So long, Bethel, and thanks for all the unsolicited salmon.

My time living in Bethel has been, let's say, bittersweet. I was not particularly happy here. I can't blame this entirely on the town itself - the bunkhouse has been a particularly nettling situation. But there were many things wrong with Bethel. The rampant alcoholism, and the subsequent lack of beer. The subtle and not-subtle racism between the natives and the whites, in both directions. The lack of suitable vehicles and roads (I'll be home soon, my lovely little 'Scort). The ridiculously expensive groceries ($9 for a gallon of milk) and terrible produce (I bought a brand new head of garlic and when I got home and peeled it open, it was moldy inside). The cancelled field work. The nearly constant sickness since I got here, and the emergency room trip.

But I can't be completely negative. Or, I can, but as many people tell me, I need to not dwell on the horrible things so much (especially after the migraine.)

The Delta is infamous among waterfowl researchers and enthusiasts. At Chico State, we couldn't think of one person who had taken the waterfowl class that had been to the YK Delta. Without Bethel, I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to live in the Alaskan bush for the summer, seeing geese and ducks during the other half of their life.

I got to go out onto the Kuskokwim River three times. Since I was little, I have always loved being on the water. Being on the river and the sights and smells were a real treat and very comforting to me.

I've gotten over 21 new life birds here, and nearly half of them were in Bethel! It was easy to start taking common redpolls for granted, and when out doing field work red-necked phalaropes became boring. Breeding birds behave differently than when they're wintering. and aren't spooked nearly as easily, and because of this, I got up and close views of familiar faces, like the white-fronted geese, and with new beautiful birds, like the emperors.

I met a lot of fun and fascinating people. Some were fellow biotechs with similar senses of humor (thanks, Zach and Nathan, for all the fairy ball, Thai food, and driving me to the hospital) and waterfowl heavyweights, like Jim Sedinger and Bill Henry (who I made chocolate chip cookies for). The refuge staff has been incredibly helpful while I've been here, including Brian, who got me medication after the migraine, and Tom, who had us over to see his young goshawk.

I don't know if I want to come back to Bethel again, but at least I can look back and find some humor and joy in the time here. Already the whole migraine incident is hilarious to me, and I'm sure at some point the bunkhouse hellishness will become a funny story. Probably not until after I'm home in my own bed, with my cats, where I don't have to worry about resetting the water heater everyday and where the water doesn't taste like metallic ass.

Tomorrow I fly out of here for the largest city in Alaska. You better be on your A-game, Anchorage, because I seriously need a beer.

Finding Beauty in Bethel, Part IV, and Storytime

Days remaining: 1 week, 1 day

I have one last set of photos for you, but first I need to share a story. Last night, right around 7 pm, I started developing a blind spot in the middle of my vision. At first, I just figured I had looked into the fluorescent over my desk for too long. But then it stuck around and started getting bigger. I tried to ignore it, and it did go away after a half hour, but then it was replaced by a loss of peripheral vision in my left eye. At that point, I was asking if anyone in the bunkhouse saw some distortion in my eye. I went and lied down for a little while, and my vision improved slightly, but as I sat up and moved to the computer, my left arm went numb.

At this point, I asked to be driven to the hospital.

By the time I got to the emergency room, my face was numb, and my cognition was a bit impaired. After I gave my information, my symptoms all began to fade, to be replaced by a massive headache. After four hours in the waiting room, nearly five on a hospital bed, three Tylenol and one shot of vasoconstrictor later, I was released at 4:45 am with the diagnosis of "just" a migraine.

That was my grand adventure last night. Now all I have left from that experience is a minor headache, and sensitivity to light and sound. This may have cost me my trip up the Kwethluk, but at least all it was was a migraine...

Anyway, pictures now.Some of our planes. Except the second one. That belongs to the state troopers.
The Beaver again. I love this plane. I think this shows you how ridiculously long the wings are.
A mama green-winged teal and her ducklings.
The fuel pump and gate at Hangar Lake, where we keep our float planes during the summer.
I hate salmon.
The (crappy) Suburban.

Finding Beauty in Bethel, Part III

Days remaining: 1 week, 4 days

Last Saturday, I went over to a fellow biologist's house, where we got to see his young northern goshawk. He recently obtained a license to practice falconry, so he collected this hawk as a chick from a local nest (don't worry, there were two other chicks in the nest.) When I first saw her a month ago, she was a large fluff ball with limp feet. Now she actually looks like a hawk!Here she is attacking the practice lure.I find her eye color fascinating. In a few more months, her eyes will turn yellow, and when she's full grown her eyes will be red.

Finding Beauty in Bethel, Part II

Days remaining: 1 week, 6 days

More pictures from my walk around Bethel.

Finding Beauty in Bethel, Part I

Days remaining: 2 weeks
New bird list: 20

Bethel is not... a nice place to live. But since there was a sunny break in weather today, so I attempted to go out and take pictures. Here's a few of the decent ones.This is fireweed. It's in full bloom right now, the bees are all over it.

Can you see the yellow warbler fledgling?

Independence Day in Bethel

Days remaining: 3 weeks, 6 days

Happy 4th of July everyone! (I assume most of my readers are American.) Independence Day is a sad day in Alaska; since there's no darkness here, there's no fireworks. It just doesn't feel right without fireworks.
But Bethel has a little parade through the town, and a fair with a raffle for prizes. While not the celebration I'm used to, its still patriotic and adds some festivities to the day. And it gave me an opportunity to take pictures!I don't know what's better, the smiling kid and trooper, or the hilarious sign.
Most of the vehicles in the parade were fire department vehicles.
They had a dog sled team hooked up to a Polaris 4x4, to support the local pound.Kids jockeying for candy.

Peterbuilt truck
Guy in wolf suit? Sure. Why not.

Girl Scouts. They were throwing sugar free gum and granola bars.

Pre-Flight Information: Where the Hell Am I Going?

Days Until Departure: 13

So I'm going to Alaska. We all know that "Seward's Folly" is the largest state in the country (at 663,268 square miles), as well as being one of the two states outside the continental U.S. (Fun fact: after this summer I'll have been to both of those.) Since this state is so very large, saying "I'm goin' to Alaska!" potentially cover a number of different areas.

So let's be clear. I'll be stationed at the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, the second largest NWR in the country and the state.

The one labeled with an arrow. In yellow. No, I can't see Russia from there. Jackass.

Okay, we're looking at a refuge that's 29,941 square miles. That's still a lot of land to cover. From what I've learned about my job (which I will cover in a different post) I'll be traipsing all over the refuge chasing nesting waterfowl. I do have a home base for the 10 weeks I'll be there.Bethel, Alaska, is the 6th largest city in Alaska, with about 6,300 people. I know very little about the town I'll be living in for the majority of the time I'm there, other than the following:

• It's located on the Kuskokwim River
  
• You can only get to it by boat and airplane
• 62% of the population are Alaskan Natives
  
• I'm pretty sure there are no ice skating rinks there
  

I'm half wary and half excited about living in Bethel. I'm naturally a planning and information-gathering type (I was recently told I'm a "natural taxonomist") and this lack of information about Bethel makes me nervous. However, my boss will be taking me on a tour of town when I get up there on May 22nd, and this will be a great opportunity to get settled in a town without any family or friends to help me out.

As for what Bethel looks like, you'll just have to wait until I get there with the Canon.