JPMyeus 1978 Journal Barrow, North Slope, Alaska 21 May At Barrow, again. Arrived 1710 via Wien Flight 3, greeted at the airport by 30°F, a brisk easterly wind, and one singing Plectrophenax. Dave Shuford and Stuart Johnston arrived with me. Melt-off has begun, with bare ground and puddles prominent in the villages, and the road is a nasty pile of slush. But few birds are here. Only after a 20 min search through the dump did we find a single 8 Calcarius. 3 Arenaria interpres, 500 to 1000 Larus hyperboreus (almost all adults), and 10-15 Plectrophenax. The Plectrophenax apparently have moved in throughout the Barrow area. According to Tony Hall (resident at the lab) they arrived between 21 April and 15 May while he was away. The gulls did also. 22 May Little time for birding today as we are trying to get our expedition off to Meade River, 60m south. After much Redder-Bureaucratic hassle I arranged for a flight tonight. ~2100 took off in the single otter for Atkasook on the Meade River. At Kasook, Meade River, Alaska Very little difference if any between snow conditions at Barrow + the tundra between Barrow + Meade. The only extensive snow-free areas are sand dunes lining the Meade River itself. Otherwise all that emerges above the snow are the tops of Euphorbum vaginatum tussocks. Saw ~20 caribou and 1 arctic fox en route to Meade. A few Larus hyperboreus. Otherwise nothing. We landed on the river shel! beneath camp. Temperature ~25° For 20°F. Brisk easterly wind. It took us 2½ hours to haul all our gear up from the river to camp, and then to got inside the buildings. The entrances to most of them are drifted with snow, piled high against the doors. 9 Calcarius were foraging on some exposed pundra by the bluff. 2 Lagopus in brilliant plumage moved apart around camp. One displayed in flight. -6°C at 1400 hrs. 23 May Up at 0630 to a blustery cold day. Wind >20 mph. Temp [illegible] I had the heater + stove going in short order. At 1100 I walked NE to the end of the runway and back again. 45 min. The ground is 790%