J.P. Olliges 1980 Journal At Kayook on the Whale River, 100 km S of Barrow, Alaska 31 May (cant) 200 m away from the bluff and it is all snow. A flock of 30 Anser albifrons plus 2 Chen hyperboreus wheeled in the river beneath us as we came approached the strip. Upon landing I immediately found a rich set of birds on the airstrip - Arenaria, Calidris alpina and melanotos, Pluvialis squatarola, lagopus lagopus, Calcaria, Electrophorus, Ixorius haeveus, Stercorarius parasiticus and longicaudus. It seemed to indicate that the season was well underway here, at first. But then I realized (after 2hrs of dragging equipment to the camp) that not one was displaying. At 1700 I left for the traffic lick (24,42) walking into the wind along the river bluff the whole way. En route I saw no shorebirds. On the grid at the lick were 4 C. alpina and a few Calcaria, plus 150 Branta bernicla on a frozen pond hidden from the wind by a sod dune. From the grid I could see 8 Rangifer; their winter/spring grazing was obvious along the whole trip. Earlier I left my tent at the gird and also a lot of equipment. On the way back I saw 4 P. dominicus and 1 Arenaria. That was it for shorebirds. Reached camp at 2130 1 June 20°F and 15 mph outside at 0600. I decided that caution was called for - there was no sign that bird life was picking up and I had a sore throat. I therefore limited myself to a 2 hr hike around 0800 and another 1hr outing at 1900. Of interest during the latter was my first sighting of Stercorarius pomarinus flocks - one of 7 and one of 15. I had seen one in the morning. The wind blew all day long and the temperature remained in the low 20's till mid afternoon. By 1900 it was around 30. 2 June 20°F ad 10 mph outside at 0800 so I decided to trudge about. I first went to the west end of the runway [8,41] then I circled back around camp and took the bluff trail to Butterfly Creek [16,39]. At that point I cut down into the river, following it to approximately (8,41). I then emerged from the