Fiesta! In celebration of a birthday here, we made several pinatas. There was a caribou (pictured), a muskox head, a hot air balloon, and a penguin (because despite all the marketing, there are no penguins in the Arctic). I also made some maracas. We also had Mexican food for dinner with tres leches cake and this time they even made proper rice and a double batch of guacamole!

After the party, I went on a canoe trip with a lab mate. We spent some quality time with the pair of yellow-billed loons that live on Toolik and we saw one of the first sunsets of the summer. The yellow-billed loon, Gavia adamsii, is the largest and rarest of the loons. They have spindly little legs and generally stay on the water most of the time, diving for food.


The sunset was all the sweeter because yesterday was the first day in a very long time that has been sunny! We're expecting clouds and rain by tomorrow, so I'm enjoying the blue skies while I can.