J. Dewey Soper

Joseph Dewey Soper (May 5, 1893 – November 2, 1982) was a Canadian author, ornithologist, explorer, and zoologist, who worked in the Canadian Arctic. The Dewey Soper Migratory Bird Sanctuary is named in his honour.

Quotes

Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus. Mallard.—This is the predominant duck of the region, but it has only slight numerical superiority over the lesser scaup. Mallards were omnipresentin the waters of the entire territory, often varying only slightly in relative abundance from one lake to another. In only a few lakes were its numbers surpassed by any other species of ducks. In relation to all other ducks, its ratio varied from as low as 11 per cent to as high as 42, the average for 32 lakes being 26.3 per cent.
- (July 1949) "Birds Observed in the Grande Prairie — Peace River Region of Northwestern Alberta, Canada". The Auk 66 (3): 233–257. (quote from p. 241. See Grande Prairie and Peace River.)

After June 20, morning temperatures were between 45 and 50 degrees and slightly higher some days. The highest temperature in June was on the 27th, 60 degrees at eight in the morning. The mid-day temperatures average about 5 degrees higher. Insects were countless by latter part of June. Butterflies of several species, bumblebees, spiders, several species of gnat, flies, and mosquitoes were common.
The end of June was characterized by rapidly melting snow, nesting activities of the birds, and the quick development of vegetation, Grasses, in particular, made fast headway in moist depressions. Actual bloom was not particularly noteworthy until early July. On June 28 the white heather, Cassiope tetragona, began sparingly to bloom. On June 30 the mountain avens, Dryas integrifolia, and the Arctic blueberry, Vaccinium uliginosum, suddenly burst into bloom. The Arctic Labrador tea, Ledum palustre, was just on the point of bloom on June 30.
The last snowstorm of the season occurred on June 17 and the first rain the following day.
- A Faunal Investigation of Southern Baffin Island. Canada Department of Mines; National Museum of Canada (Musée national du Canada); Bulletin 53, Biological Series, 15. Ottawa: F. A. Acland, printer to the King. 1928. p. 16. (143 pages; with a chapter by Alice Evelyn Wilson)

The food of the polar bear chiefly consists of seals, especially the plentiful, widely distributed ringed seal, Phoca hispida. These are caught by waiting their appearance at breathing holes in the ice, by crouching at the edges of floes, or by creeping up to the animal as it sleeps on the ice. The Eskimo assert that the polar bear also catches seals and young walrus by seizing them in the water, from underneath, and dragging them onto an ice pan.
- p. 31

The Arctic fox lives largely on lemmings throughout the year. These they easily catch during the summer. In winter they dig through the snow for them or catch them as they wander on the surface. Ptarmigan may constitute part of the diet and, rarely, the Arctic hare, especially the young. In winter, foxes are often very thin, thus indicating their difficulty of making a living during the season.
- p. 35

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