We started our day early, got breakfast then went to the Dawson City airport for a flight to Inuvik in the Northwest Territory. Since the weather for the next day looked iffy we decided to drive to Tuktoyaktuk as soon as we could, which was a great decision.
We made it all the way to the Arctic Ocean, a new body of water for both of us.
Breeding plumage Lapland Longspur.
A pair of Pacific loons.
A close up of a Pacific Loon.
The only decent photo that I got of a Red-throated Loon. A much better look than what we typically see at Whitefish Point, Michigan during migration.
Tundra Swans. There were scattered pairs all over the tundra on our drive.
My favorite shorebird – Whimbrel.
Northern Pintails we common on the small lakes and ponds.
Male and female Long-tailed Ducks.
Long-tailed Jaeger, the first of many that we saw.
A closer photo of a Long-tailed Jaeger in the road.
At the start of the day I was really sick, feverish and coughing a lot. By the end I was done for the trip. I spent the rest of the day in bed, Tom and Susan brought me dinner. The next day I spent in bed. The flights back to Michigan we tough on me as well as Susan who was now getting sick. After getting home we went to Urgent Care and found out that we both had influenza-A and I also had pneumonia. Meds helped with the pneumonia and the influenza ran it’s course. It was a full three weeks before we were back to normal.
Getting sick when you travel is something that happens, was it worth it? You bet it was. This was a marvelous trip shared with Tom, our friend and leader and Don a long time friend.
More tomorrow…
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