JPMayers 1976 Journal 51 Chukchi Sea, Barrow, Alaska 22 August After a morning painting stakes on GRID 4 (what I did yesterday also), I went out into the Chukchi: Sea this afternoon with Tom Harvey from George Divoky's group. Our transport/bim was a small Zodiac inflatable; purpose - to collect an assortment of birds for Divoky to examine for stomach contents. My role was spotter and chief gun. Weather - balmy at first with tempa 42° - 5% clouds, wind growing to strong out of South. The wind picked up sufficiently during the afternoon to prevent us from rounding the point (well, not prevent, simply discourage). We put out at 1500 and returned at 1700, traveling from the theatre via NAREL to Nunook and back during those 2 hrs. A wide lagoon existed between shore and the ice pack ~ 500 - 1000 m off shore (varying). The ice pack itself was heavily thick, more like a large number of floes piled up into one another. Surprisingly few birds except for the gulls immediately beside the shore, among a strip of ice floes which created very calm water at the shoreline. Red Phalarope by far the most abundant bird, followed by arctic terns, sabres gull, kittiwake, and glaucous gull. We collected 5 Xema, 2 Rissa, 2 Larus h., and 2 Polysticta stelleri. The gulls were concentrated on a feeding site just beyond the tip of the point, out in relatively large waves. All were feeding by plunge diving (save the larus). Few phalaropes were seen farther than 100 m from shore; in fact most were within 2 m of the shoreline. GRID 4 23 August Painting stakes again this area in the fog drip. Mornings have been exceedingly foggy these last several mornings; the plane hasn't been able to land during the morning for 4 days. Notable, but by 1130 - 1300 it clears to reveal an almost cloudless sky. Bird-wise, one has to look now to find melanotus juveniles. Linnodromus are abundant, whaling overhead frequently, and foraging in drying thaw ponds as well as low wet (gravely-edge) areas (e.g. transect 3). Pluvialis dominica juveniles are abundant along gasoline ridge, as are Calidris alpina. Nothing seems to be changing very rapidly. Is it to do with relatively warm temps (compared to last year)? Nighttime fog discouraging migration?