This morning we had -42C in Yakutsk, Yakutia, Siberia / Russia. At last, real winter arrived.

See today’s photographs of the extreme cold winter… and stay tuned, as the day is not over yet. More pictures are coming.

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This is a 5-min video about Yakutia!

Its creators tried to do the impossible… to show all images of the vast diverse region called Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Think, they succeeded, but, frankly, such a hard mission won’t be possible to do ever.

No more words! Watch Yakutia!

Dersu (his blog) is great! Last August he and his friend, Sergey Ermak, completed another trekking expedition, but this time to Palatka Mountain, one of the biggest glaciers in East Yakutia, Siberia / Russia.

Dersu’s previous trekkings across Yakutia:

- Kyuellyakh Moustakh River Expedition, Yakutia/Siberia
- The Momsky Range, East Yakutia/Siberia

Palatka Mountain is located in Suntar-Khayata Range in the area of the upper Suntar River. Considered as the third highest point (2797 m) after Pobeda Peak (3147 m) and Mus Khaya Mountain (2959 m).

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Evgenia Arbugaeva, a Yakutian photographer, keeps stunning us all the time. In September – October, she is exhibiting her pictures from the project “Tiksi In Winter” in Toronto, Canada. Her photo exhibit will be a part of so-called Days of Sakha-Yakutia at Bezpala Brown Gallery.

Days of Sakha-Yakutia at Bezpala Brown Gallery
Sept. 30-Oct. 9; Oct. 15-30, 17 Church St., Toronto; bezpalabrown.com

If you are in Toronto, don’t miss a chance to see her images of the Russian Arctic seaport of Tiksi located in Yakutia in the area of the Lena Delta.

Some of Evgenia’s photographs you might see right now.

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This time Inga Bysykatova (in the abiove picture), who previously presented the photo report about the Siberian white crane expedition in South Yakutia, shows how the republic biology institution’s field study went in the Arctic tundra of Ust Yansky region, the north-eastern part of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia, in summer of 2009.

The mission was to research Sandhill Cranes on the western border of Siberian white cranes areal in North Yakutia, if to be more precise, in the area of the estuaries of the rivers Chondon and Sellyah north of the Tumat village. See the map.

Inga says that before the expedition there were a fact of Sandhill Cranes presence registered at that place, but not proved scientifically.

Today she is able to confirm that the expansion of these birds going on to the West. Sandhill Cranes were officially registered in Chukotka before 1920s, than they moved to Kolyma by 1950s and the Indigirka river by 1990s. Nowadays, they are in Ust Yansky region.

“Our expedition was the first that proved the presence of Sandhill Cranes in the Ust Yansky tundra. That was in 2009… We counted and registered 142 Siberian cranes and 6 Sandhill Cranes,” says Inga.

By the way, it was Inga, who arranged the whole travel to the Arctic. A pretty hard work, I dare to say.

Now feel free to enjoy the summer Arctic of Yakutia, Siberia/Russia, and don’t miss amazing pictures of those bloody-sucking mosquitoes.

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Wildfires in Yakutia, North-Eastern Siberia, Russia

Just to let you know what’s going on in Yakutia, Siberia / Russia. The summer 2011 appeared to be extremely hot. Last three weeks we had temperatures much above +30C. There were days with +42C. As a result, our precious forest (taiga) got set on fire immediately. Taiga is vulnerable.

Here is what yesterday YSIA News Agency informed. Note: the text was translated by Sayyna Gogoleva and published without proof-reading.

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Take a look at Inga Bysykatova‘s set of fascinating travel photographs taken during the white crane research travel along the Aldan River in South Yakutia (Russia’s Siberia & Far East).

As Inga informs, it was the journey along the Aldan River in July – August 2007. From the village of Ust Maya to the settlement of Bulun (Us Taata). 600 km done by regular motor boats. In short, it was Sterkh (white crane) field research expedition.

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Here we go! Lena Pillars! The famous geological monument on the Lena River (Yakutia / Russia) was the third spot visited by Ilya Kovyakin, a friend of mine from Magadan, his family and Ajar Varlamov on their 3-day journey along one of the world’s biggest river.

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Ah, summer! It’s, indeed, at hand. It will arrive the next week. June 1st is the official start of the Lena River navigation, but it’s not the point. The important thing is that in summer we will enjoy our major river at its best.

Today I found out that the eYakutia – English Yakutia blog has 29 published posts related and dedicated to the Lena River. Amazed! Elected 11 photo stories worth to see!

Check them all and enjoy the mighty Lena River!

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Today’s pictures are not as great and awesome as in previous posts, but they are here to show what is happening behind my window… in the Russian city of Yakutsk… and what type of weather we have currently.

Oh, by the way, we are waiting for the big wave coming from the very south of the Lena River. More waters must be. Everything seems calm at the moment.

Photographs were taken during this morning’s dog walk, the last one in the evening from my balcony.

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