by Tony Gaston, is a fabulous gift for any child you know, and features an inspiring story about the ancient murrelet, with beautiful illustrations by Judy Hilgemann. All proceeds go directly to Laskeek Bay Conservation Society to support their many projects and goals.
Fresh out of university in 1968, Tony Gaston set out to explore for birds in the Ahaggar Mountains of the central Sahara. Without a map or compass, he continued south to Niger and westwards to Liberia and Sierra Leone, traveling on trucks and buses and on foot through countries just emerging from colonialism. He carried little more than a sleeping bag, a teapot, and a pair of binoculars to pursue his passion for birdwatching, and relied on his wits and the kindness of strangers to help him along. He encountered many extraordinary people on the way, including Peace Corps volunteers and missionaries, policemen and prostitutes, barkeepers and beggars, whose stories mix with his own and give shape to his adventures. On the fiftieth anniversary of his trip, Tony casts a quizzical gaze on the past and its characters, forming a reminiscence of youth in the gentler era of the 1960s. Drawing from his memory and written records, this tale explores the nature of recollection in later life and the fluid association wealth and well-being.
Abstract
A recent review of bird distributions in Nunavut demonstrated that Mansel Island, in northeastern Hudson Bay, is one of the least known areas in the territory. Here, current information on the birds of Mansel Island is summarized. A list published in 1932 included 24 species. Subsequent visits by ornithologists since 1980 have added a further 17 species to the island’s avifauna. The list includes 17 species for which breeding has been confirmed and 10 for which breeding is considered probable. The island seems to support particularly large populations of King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) and Tundra Swans (Cygnus columbianus) and the most southerly breeding population of Sabine’s Gull (Xema sabini) and Red Knot (Calidiris canuta; probably).
Arctic Ocean Islands
Anthony J Gaston, National Wildlife Research Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada
© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Introduction: 1 Pleistocene and Holocene Histories: 1 Terrestrial Ecosystems:3 Flora: 3 Oceanography: 5 Terrestrial Vertebrates: 6 Mammals: 7 Birds: 8 Marine Ecosystems: 10 Mammals: 10 Seabirds: 11 Biogeography: 11 Human Influence: 11 Conservation: 13 Resource Extraction: 14 Tourism and Other Human Disturbance: 15 Pollution: 15 Military Installations: 15 Protected Areas: 16 Climate Change and the Future of the High Arctic Fauna and Flora: 16 References: 16
The final event was accomplished in the company of a small group of friends: Angela Sumegi, Birgit Braune and Timothy Lash (all from Ottawa), Peter Cellik (Anne’s nephew, based in LA) and Sanjeeva Pandey (until recently a forest officer in Himachal Pradesh). I am most grateful to them for their companionship and support. Those of us who traveled from North America flew in to Delhi on 7 April and then traveled by train to Chandigarh and thence by car to Mandi and onward to Inner Seraj, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, where we trekked for a week in the area of the Great Himalayan National Park, enjoying the tranquility and beauty of spring in the remote Himalayan forests. After the trek, Peter had to return to LA but he was replaced by Sanjeeva who accompanied us on the rest of the tour. We traveled by car via Rampur, up the Sutlej River valley, through Kinnaur and, via a truly awesome road, into Spiti, a very remote part of the inner Himalayas lying up against the Tibetan border, circled by peaks more than 6000 m high, and inhabited by Tibetan-speaking people who practice Tibetan Buddhism.
In Spiti, we divided our time between looking for wildlife and investigating Buddhist monasteries. On 21 April we held a small ceremony for Anne-Marie by the banks of the Spiti River at Tabo, the site of the oldest Buddhist Monastery in the region, and said to be the likely retirement home of the current Dalai Lama. Angela Sumegi said a short Buddhist prayer to the Goddess Tara after which we all recited the Tara Mantra (Om tare tu tare ture soha) 21 times, and then I cast some of Anne-Marie’s ashes into the river and Angela, with the help of our local guide, hung a prayer flag in a nearby tree. The ceremony for Anne-Marie, taking place in the cold windswept and barren scenery of Spiti and ringed by snow-capped peaks, was extremely moving for me: certainly more so than the other obsequies I have performed.
The event by the river was to have been the conclusion of the ceremonies, but Angela proposed creating tsatsa to incorporate the remainder of Anne-Marie’s ashes. Tsatsa resemble miniature temples and are formed out of clay, into which incense and the ashes of the deceased are mingled.This was done by an elderly lady – the grandmother of the family with whom we were staying. After a day in the sun, to dry out, the five tsatsa, a few inches high, were taken with us to Kee Monastery, the seat of the highest resident lama in the valley. Through a contact of Sanjeeva’s (his son has stayed in the area throughout the winter, working on his PhD project) we were able to obtain blessings for Anne-Marie’s tsatsa from a group of five lamas of Kee Monastery. The tsatsa were left at the monastery and the next day were to be transported into the nearby mountains, along with those of several local people. They were to be taken to a high and remote place where they would be deposited far from human view and where they will gradually return to dust. I feel that it is most fitting that a part of Anne-Marie returned to the mountains that she loved so much.
Spiti was chosen because Anne-Marie mentioned it shortly before she died as her favourite place in India. In a world that is increasingly accessible and subject to mass tourism, Spiti remains a genuinely remote and traditional area. The local people, although they carry cell phones, still till their fields with yak-drawn ploughs and haul themselves across rivers in little wooden cradles strung from wires. The road in and out is probably one of the most hazardous on the planet. We survived only because we had very careful drivers. I hope to return some day.
Aberdeen-Slain’s Castle-Cruden Bay-Stonehaven-Tongue-John o’Groats-Orkney-John o’Groats-Aberdeen. Highlights: Skara Brae, Dunnottar and Slaines castles, bonxies and jaegers
FREEDOM IS… THE THREEFOLD PATH
The exile, the orphan, the man with no child
The knowledge to cope with the tame and the wild
No fish to feed, no plants to water
No dog to walk, no plans to alter
No money owed, no rent to pay
Happy to leave and happy to stay
Closing the door without turning the lock
Awaiting the train without watching the clock
Spending your cash without guilt or regret
Losing the game without getting upset
A strong stomach, a strong back
A light foot and a light pack
Earning more than you make
Giving more than you take
Admitting whenever you made a mistake
Knowing how to distinguish the real from the fake
Saying only what you know to be true
And saying it only if you have to
Indifferent to the opinion of those you don’t admire
Untroubled by ambition to which you must aspire
No television interview, no press release
No record with the cops, or with the Ministry of Peace
No public face, either for infamy or fame
None held in awe and none in disdain
Sharp tools, well-practised, carried in the head
An obstinate refusal to lead or be led
Knowing that someday each truth will be disproved
And watching it happen, and staying unmoved
Constantly questioning the threefold path —
Solvency, silence, sincerity.
AJG, 1985
Being ourselves 