The barnacle goose is a medium-sized goose, long. Its wingspan is and the body mass is . It has a white face and black head, neck, and upper breast. Its belly is white. The wings and its back are silver-gray with black-and-white bars that look like they are shining when the light reflects on it. During flight a V-shaped white rump patch and the silver-gray underwing linings can be seen.
Barnacle geese often build their nests high on mountain cliffs. This keeps them away from predators (mostly Arctic foxes and polar bears) but also away from food. Like all geese, the goslings are not fed by the adults.
Instead of bringing food to the newly hatched goslings, the goslings are brought to the ground. Unable to fly, the three day old goslings jump off the cliff and fall. Their small size, feathery down, and very light weight helps to protect most of them from serious injury when they hit the rocks below. Some do die from the fall. Arctic foxes are attracted by the noise made by the parent geese during this time. They eat dead or injured goslings. The foxes also stalk the young as they are led by the parents to wetland feeding areas.
Pink-footed goose
The pink-footed goose ("Anser brachyrhynchus") is a goose which breeds in eastern Greenland, Iceland and Svalbard. It is migratory. It winters in northwest Europe, especially Great Britain, the Netherlands, and western Denmark.
It is a medium-sized goose, 60–75 cm (24–30 in) long. The wingspan is 135–170  (53–67 in) cm. It weighs 1.8–3.4 kg (4–7.5 lbs). It has a short bill, bright pink in the middle with a black base and tip, and pink feet. The body is grey-brown, the head and neck a richer, darker brown, the rump white, and the tail grey with a broad white tip.
Nesting is often on cliffs close to glaciers. This gives protection from mammalian predators (mainly Arctic Fox). Three to six eggs are laid in early to mid May in Iceland, late May in Svalbard. Incubation lasts 26–27 days. On hatching, the goslings go with the parents on foot to the nearest lake. They fledge after about 56 days. Southbound migration is from mid September to early October, and northbound from mid April to early May.
The diet is almost entirely vegetarian. In summer, they feed on a wide range of tundra plants, both on land and in water. In winter, they graze mostly on oilseed rape, sugar beet, potato, and various grasses. Damage to crops can be large.
Common eider
The common eider ("Somateria mollissima") is a large sea-duck. They live on the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breeds in Arctic and some northern temperate regions. They winter farther south in temperate zones. There it can form large flocks on coastal waters. It can fly at speeds up to 113 km/h (70 mph).
The common eider is both the largest of the four eider species and the largest duck found in Europe and in North America. It measures in length, weighs and spans across the wings. It has a bulky shape and large, wedge-shaped bill. The male is unmistakable, with its black and white plumage and green nape. The female is a brown bird. It can be told apart from all ducks, except other eider species, because of size and head shape. This duck's call is a pleasant "ah-ooo". The species is often readily approachable.
This species dives for crustaceans and molluscs, with mussels being a favoured food. The eider will eat mussels by swallowing them whole; the shells are then crushed in their gizzard and excreted. When eating a crab, the Eider will remove all of its claws and legs, and then eat the body in a similar fashion.
Eiders are colonial breeders. They nest on coastal islands in colonies ranging in size of less than 100 to upwards of 10,000-15,000 individuals. Female eiders often return to breed on the same island where they were hatched. This can lead to a high degree of relatedness between individuals nesting on the same island.
King eider
The king eider ("Somateria spectabilis") is a large sea duck. It breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes. They migrate to the Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. They lay four to seven eggs in a scrape on the ground lined with grass and down.
The king eider winters in arctic and subarctic marine areas, most notably in the Bering Sea, the west coast of Greenland, eastern Canada and northern Norway. It also happens yearly off the northeastern United States, Scotland and Kamchatka. Breeding areas include the Arctic coastal tundra of the north coast of Alaska. This species dives for benthic invertebrates, such as crustaceans, polychaete worms, and molluscs, with mussels being a favoured food. Wintering birds can form large flocks on suitable coastal waters, with some flocks bigger than 100,000 birds.
This species is smaller than the common eider. The male is unmistakable with its black body, white breast and multicoloured head. The drake's call is a deep cooing.
The female is a brown bird. They can still be told apart from all ducks except other eider species on size and structure. The head is shorter than in the common eider, and the feathering onto the bill is rounded, not triangular in shape.
An immature drake is typically all dark with a white breast and a yellow bill patch.
The king eider is a regular source of fresh meat in the spring. They begin their migration past the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in late April and are hunted in great numbers. In May, several hundred thousand eiders pass Point Barrow in northern Alaska on their way to Alaskan and Canadian breeding grounds.
Joyce Randolph
Joyce Randolph (born Joyce Sirola October 21, 1924) is an American actress. She played Trixie Norton on "The Honeymooners". Randolph was born on October 21, 1924 in Detroit, Michigan. She was married to Richard Lincoln Charles from 1955 until his death in 1997. They had a son. She is the last living Honeymooners cast member.
Colonel Sanders
"Colonel" Harland David Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was an American entrepreneur. He started the company Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana on September 9, 1890. He studied at Southern University. He was married to Josephine King until they divorced. He later married Claudia Price. Sanders had 3 children. He died on December 16, 1980 in Louisville, Kentucky from leukemia and pneumonia. He was 90 years old.
Ziegler Polar Expedition
The Ziegler polar expedition of 1903–1905 was a failed attempt to reach the North Pole. The party was stranded north of the Arctic Circle for two years before being rescued. All but one of its members survived. The expedition was paid for by William Ziegler and led by Anthony Fiala. They left from Tromsø, Norway, on June 14, 1903, aboard "America".
Ziegler chose Anthony Fiala, who was a photographer on an earlier mission, to lead his second polar trip. Fiala calculated that the food for an eight dog team and driver would be at least 1100 pounds. This was an issue, as the most a sled could hold was 600 pounds. He planned to use ponies to carry the extra supplies. Then to feed the dogs on horse meat when the supplies were low.
In November 1903 severe weather started. The ship broke up, destroying the provisions and coal.
The following spring, more tries were made to reach the pole by traveling both east and west. The conditions were too severe, and open water caused difficulties. Supplies ran low, and the expedition headed south. They reached depots at Cape Flora, Cape Dillion, and Camp Ziegler.
William Peters, who was second in command, took this time to lead the crew in survey work. This helped to make maps and charts better.