Happy Holidays!

Hello all,
Hope everyone is having a great holiday season. I was back in Michigan for a week. I had dinner with the Mid-Western family (minus the sister). Had some beer, talked about deer hunting, you know Michigan stuff.

Had lots of food and saw lots of family. Overall a great time. My nephew is walking around with minimal support. Almost ready for his first pair of bins. I'm back at Palo right now. Picked up Gouldii this morning. His beard has grown in nicely. We'll be off to the Central Valley to band next week.

I think it's time for everyone to give an update. Peace out.

Oiled birds

Reading more about the oil spill on PRBO's website, continuing to hear about it in the news, and seeing photos of shiny black oil blobs really brings home to me that we are addicted to oil. I mean, each one of us uses some form of that oil that fell into our oceans, washed up dirtily on our beaches, and killed our birds. Each one of us drives the demand for it, to a small extent. What can we do? What changes do we make, which aspects of our lifestyle are we really willing to give up?

This morning I walked up to the refuge offices through the parking lot where a man was using a leaf blower to clear the sidewalks. It just suddenly seemed to me wrong to use that energy, even that tiny little bit, to blow leaves around. It was just so starkly incorrect.

But what about me? Here I use a computer to communicate with friends and write proposals to study conservation, I have a fridge humming in the background keeping my food from spoiling, a light is on next to me. Why do I condemn a leaf blower?

What can we do? Choose our battles: give up what we can, and ponder what we can't.

The Adirondacks :)

I went camping in the adks last weekend... well not technically "camping" My friends have a cabin up there. They're older place has a cute little wood stove w/ no electric but they wanted to test out the new cabin which was a little more "comfy" and we were using kerosine heaters but no electric. (I prefer tents...or if a cabin then at least the one w/ the wood stove) aaaanyway. My redneck friends are avid hunters so we got all dressed up in camo and headed out on the 2200 acres they own up there! We didn't see any deer but I did experience something amazing! We were sitting in the forest on "night watch" waiting for the sun to go down. We were toward the top of a ridge where it slopes way down and then rises again across from us. So I could see the creek below us and the next mountain across from us. All of a sudden as if it were out of a movie, we both spot this big "white" bird coming straight toward us... eye level from the other mountain. With hardly any maneuvering through the branches and trees this bird B lined it straight toward us..eye level the whole way, wings flapping end everything. I swear to you it was about 2 feet from my face I think it was going to land on my head..it got this close and I finally saw vertical breast streaking... my new NJ raptor ID trained brain immediately thought young accipiter. At this point I flinched my head down into my chest a little bit and at that moment the bird spread it's wings to stop it self and landed on top of a snag directly to my right...about 4 feet away and 2 feet up. Oh...hello Coopers Hawk... come to check me out?

it was incredible...

Oil Spill?

Hey I heard on NPR this morning that there was an oil spill in SF Bay...and birds were washing up all along the coast covered in oil! News please!!! Are most of the birds okay, what role is PRBO playing?

Smile!

Here's a great photo that was forwarded to me:










Sanibel is beautiful. While biking home from the library yesterday, I saw a COHA cirling above the houses. Then, further down the road, I glanced into the mangroves and saw two Roseate Spoonbills dabbling around in the mangrove muck! They were so beautiful, and it was cool to watch them forage. My uncle's house, where I'm staying has some mice (but not deer mice thank god), and the no-see-ums come out at night. So, paradise takes some work (I've gotta pick up some traps, and maybe a fine mesh mosquito net for sleeping), but it's so wonderful to be back in the tropics with the warm breezes and blue ocean. It really makes me miss Hawaii though, being so close yet so far.

Bird list so far: NOCA, WEVI, BRPE, XXTE, COHA, Anhinga, Roseate Spoonbill, Common Grackle, XXWA (Prairie Warbler perhaps?), Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, SNEG, Fish Crow, BAEA, OSPR, WILL, Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Also, while in CT I saw Tufted Titmice. My life list is slowly growing.

Chickadees etc

I guess I'll just complain that all that are left up here in the cold (frosted last night) northeast are BCCH, SCJU, various XXGU, SOSP, big flocks of XXBL, and EUSTs! Saw a Sharpie yesterday but she was probably the last one. I can't wait to follow her down to Florida, which I am doing Monday!!!! And I'll have the whole week to settle in before starting my internship the following Tuesday.

Next time I blog it'll be hot and muggy with mosquitoes buzzing around my head and tall birds wading past my window.

ps, The Office is awesome this season! Remember when Dwight......sorry, just kidding!

SEFI Blog

I'm on the Farallones now. I decided to start a blog. I'll be trying to post pictures and write a little.
http://markonarock.blogspot.com

Don't tell me about The Office, I'm missing it.

Whooper!

Last weekend, I got a chance to go out to the Haehnle Crane Sanctuary where the sandhills are staging for their migration, and saw the WHOOPING CRANE that's been hanging out with em! He's banded, and they've figured out that he's from the 2005 class of the Wisconsin reintroduction program that teaches the birds to migrate using ultralight aircraft. Apparently this particular guy collided with an ultralight and was injured, so he made part of his migration trip down to Florida in a crate - presumably why he ended up in the wrong state when he made the trip back up himself. Poor guy! Anyway, the whooper plus about 2000 sandhills was quite the spectacle.

Missing Palo

Hey guys at Palo. Be safe up there, I hear the fires are out of control down south.

Poison Oak Celebration

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/09/26/us/20070927_OAK_SLIDESHOW_index.html

who are these people? they should have a prize for "worst oak rash".

Also, if you click on "more slide shows", there's one about the recently reinvigorated controversy with the northern spotted owl and logging up in Oregon.

Wrentit Ahead in Polls

Well, if a Wrentit ran for president, he would probably win. And the world would be a better place...poison oak planted everywhere...instead of going to war we would just churr...no one would go further than three bushes in any direction...and everyone would just wear color bands.

And, jeez, who could those two SPOW voters be? I just don't know, whoooo could it be?

For some really cool owl and kid stories (and how the two species have been interacting), check out my other blog at http://palilabird.blogspot.com/

Wrentit is killing the best bird competition!

I wonder who voted for spotted owl... =P

Which Bird is Best?

Finally got the poll to work, (down a little on the right). So, cast your vote for which bear, uh, I mean which bird is best! They're tough choices, so think carefully.

It's a beautiful and blustery Indian Summer day here. I'm recovering from a nasty cold, and am trying not to get discouraged in the graduate school application wasteland.

WPWA Haiku

Palm Warblers I see
Two of them bobbing tails
At Palo today

Yo ho ho and 105 kids

Well, I have to say that the pirate messages will prove helpful in my curriculum. We take kids out for night hikes where we play cool games ("Recognize Your Rock", "Owl & Mouse", "Bat & Moth") and learn cool facts (triboluminescence can be generated by crunching down on a Wint-O-Green Lifesaver -- try this in the dark in front of the mirror), and there's one part of the hike where we break out the pirate eye-patch. The point is to cover your night-adapted eye with your hand (which functions as a pirate eye-patch) and listen to a story while the uncovered eye re-adapts to light by looking at a white-light lantern. I like to tell a pirate story about our pirate ship attacking another pirate ship, and we're swashbuckling out on the sunny deck, taking prisoners and yelling "yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum". But then when we pirates go below deck to look for the treasure, we are plunged into darkness (turn off the lantern)...but then I tell them to change their pirate patch to the other eye, and look around. The covered eye is still dark-adapted and they can see the difference between the two eyes. But now I have many more pirate sayings to add to my story. Thanks guys. The monkey was a little sketchy though.

Been seeing tons of birds coming through, but no White-eyed Vireos...wow! Just Canada Warblers, Northern Gannets, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Blue-headed Vireos, Merlins, Baltimore Orioles, maybe a Tennessee Warbler, and a thrush that I thought was a Hermit until I looked in Sibley and saw how many Catharus Thrushes there are out here that look exactly the same (argh!).

So, we had 105 kids on campus last week. At one point I was in charge of 20 sixth graders in the dark. Hella crazy, but we all had fun in the end. Teaching is stressful, exasperating, challenging and rewarding. I highly recommend that all you field scientists get some experience in outreach. It's one of the most important aspects of conservation. And kids, when they're not whining or asking questions designed to push your buttons, are way more fun and interesting than many adults. There's one program I give about landscape change that I really enjoy. We walk around on a big UTM map, learn how to calculate UTM coordinates, play "lichens-shrubs-trees" (a rock-paper-scissors game that demonstrates forest succession), take GPS points in the forest and then put them into mapping software. And while we're walking around, every now and then I get to point to the sky and yell "Sharpie!" as one flies overhead. The kids heads snap up and they're all like, "Whoa, cool!" and then we talk a bit about migration and how awesome birds are.

So, suffice to say that things are great, but I definitely miss field work: the relative solitude, the intellectual stimulus, the colleagues, and the birds.

And finally, in honor of the first "Office" episode of the season (my roommate and I raced back to the apartment after our night hikes to catch the show on thursday), I'll leave you with this fact about me: I'm not superstitious, just a little stitious...

Avast!!!!!

Hey all,
September 19th was International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Ryan alerted Jess and I to this fact and Jess replied with this wonderful link.
http://eclectech.co.uk/messageyarr.php?i=igT

Be sure to roll your mouse over the monkey a few times. He's got many great sayings.


Enjoy ye scurvy dogs!

It pays to not pay attention...

So last Thurs for our "wednesday" meeting, Renee decided to have the meeting outside on the deck by the kitchen since it was such a nice day (why didn't we ever think of that this summer???). We had a paper to read and discuss, some of us read it and some of did not (...aka gunther). As we were discussing the paper, Jonathan was gazing off into the distance (maybe a Gunther song playing, with images of the Sunshine girls dancing in his head) when all of a sudden he perks up, starts pointing frantically towards a tree near the shed (but didn't say anything because he didn't want to interupt Renee).
Jon "Oooh oooh!" "Umm, Renee!"
Us "What is it Jonathan? What do you see?"
Jon "What's that bird?!?!?!"
Renee "Hmmmm. I see a white eye....wing bars....hmmm"
(turns to vireo page and mumbles something under her breath so as to not get everyone too excited, meanwhile all the staff come out bins in hand, lots of ooohing and aaahing and grown men weeping...ok maybe there wasn't any weeping)
"Yup, White-Eyed Vireo!" "Ooooohhh, Aaaaaaaahhhh!" "Wowwwwwww!"
"Heavens to Betsy!" "Somebody call Keith!!!"
Geoff "Hmmm, that's a good bird.....it's not a wrentit, but still a good bird..." (turns around and walks balk to office)

So Keith shows up within 7 minutes with his equipment "Where is it?!?!?! Where is it??!?!?!"
Tried to get some footage of it but Gunther was the only one that got any good footage with his videocamera. Keith offered Jon a free t-shirt from his shop for spotting the bird "Good work brother!"(hand shake) - Jon was in heaven that he provided such a joyous moment for his idol Keith. Like a school girl with a crush....

Anyway - lots of commotion and craziness that day.
Moral of the story:
It pays to not pay attention...just ask Jon!

Rare Bird

Hi all.
We have some visitors here at Palo for a couple days; Malkolm (15yrs) and his parents are on a bird conservation bike tour from the Yukon Terr, Canada, going all the way to Florida in a year without using fossil fuels!!!!! Pretty amazing!
Malkolm and his parents were out hiking near Bass Lake today and Malkolm saw a Black-Throated Sparrow....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He took tons of pictures on his hi-tech camera and sure enough, the Dettler and Alicia (Clear Creek) confirmed it!!!!! Very cool and exciting!
We called Keith Hanson and he was delighted to say the least. I think he said he's only seen or heard of 3 or 4 in the area in the past 20-30 years....(i hope I'm not making that up, it might have gotten lost in translation.)
Anyhooooooo. Thought you guys would be interested in hearing that tidbit.
The biker birders have a cool website:
birdyear.com
p.s. 23 WAVIs at RECR the other day- that's niiice....
miss you all - kokes

bird

Canada Warbler.....9/05/07.

The high desert

Back in the desert and trying to relish the last few days of the monsoon. I wove through Nevada and Utah before arriving in NM. It took an extra day but solitude in the desert has become a powerful refuge. I drove across Nevada in one day... stopped along the extraterrestrial highway and then camped in Zion. Spent half a day hiking in Zion, then drove to Bryce just to see it... took photos in the evening, then drove to Kaibab National Forest... just in time for a dramatic monsoonal thunderstorm. I slept in the Prius that night, then got up pre-dawn to drive to the overlook above the Painted Desert where I waited for sunrise to illuminate the Vermillion Cliffs before finishing the long drive to Albuquerque. This trip reinforced my belief that the Colorado Plateau is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Seeing my mom again was such a relief. She was alert and talking and up front about what was happening when I arrived, but she very quickly took a turn for the worse. It is now very close to the end and we are all gathering around her. I'm very thankful that I am here now to be with her, and that I got to say goodbye and tell her how much I love her. Someone gave me a book - final gifts - an immense help. It made me appreciate what we have and helped me know what to say and when to say it.

Ivan came a little bit early so that he could be here too, and I've never been more thankful for him than I am now. We have been trying to spend time in the mountains every day, birding and hiking. The migrants are steadily flowing through now... MacGillivray's Warblers and Wilson's Warblers down in the desert washes, Virginia's Warbler and Townsend's in the higher springs, flycatchers near water courses, raptors trickling in. I am hoping to see Grace's Warbler and some vireos tomorrow morning.

It is so great to read about everyone on the blog. This was such a great idea Susan!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at Palo this fall. Sounds like you are having a great season from koko's e-mail. My best friend might be moving to Northern California too - an immense blessing.

That's it, somewhat non-sequiter, but a brief update at least.

My Summer Vacation

Hello all,
I've been back in Michigan for the past few weeks. It really has been like a summer vacation from back in the grade school days. Lots of sleeping in and lots of bad, mindless television. There sure are a lot of horrible reality shows on now. For example, one with Bret Michaels (the lead singer of Poison) and some women that want to marry him. Then there's another with Scott Baio (Charles in Charge) and a therapist where they are trying to get him to settle down (I guess he is a ladies man). I am stupider for having watched those shows, though I never actually made it through a whole episode. Otherwise, I've been spending time with friends and family, especially my nephew (Nicholas). He's totally awesome. Happy and smiling most of the time. I was able to start his ornithological training by showing him some bird pictures and playing some songs. Speaking of birding, I've been out several times trying to track down any eastern species I can. I even went and banded one day at the place I first learned to band (www.rrbo.org, check it out). I banded some Gray Catbirds and a Nashville Warbler. I can't stay away from those birds, it's a sickness, I know. Other "exciting" activites include cutting the lawn, trimming trees, bowling, and making a wooden bowl. I'll be heading back west in a couple days. Sadly, I wasn't able to meet up with fellow Michiganders (yes that's the correct word for someone from Michigan) Jessica and Amanda, maybe next time. Can't wait to get back to the cold and foggy coast!

Prickly Porcupine Points

The other night, I was just falling asleep when what to my wondering ears should I hear but a squealing and squalling outside my window. I went downstairs and opened the back door. A dark shadow shuffled out into the lawn. I went and got a flashlight and the light illuminated a little beady-eyed face. There were two porcupines, one big, one small, both pulling mouthfuls of grass and dandelions out of the lawn, making shrill squeaks and squeals. It was not a sound you'd associate with dining.

Did you know...Porcupines grow throughout their life, so the bigger one is, the older it is!

Woah! A flock of about 15 XXBI just went over the houses outside; I wonder what they were? Looked like large passerines...are they migrants? Two days ago I came across a flock of about 20 YRWA, with the odd RBNU, GCKI, and BTNW. They were just dripping out of the trees. I guess they Yellow-rumps are the most common fall warbler migrant in these parts. I'm thinking they're mostly MYWA, but I'm not sure. I've also seen fledgling BTNW being fed by parents. And also, two GHOWs the other day. One of the owls I noticed after watching an AMRE for a while (just because they're so pretty and cute when they fan their tails), when I suddenly noticed the yellow eyes of the owl that the AMRE was scolding! The GHOW had been in my binocular view the whole time, but hadn't noticed until it turned to face me! Then, further down the path I heard a young GHOW calling, and he flew over towards where I had left the adult. So, it's interesting that there are apparently migrants coming through, as well as young birds still associated with their parents. I haven't picked up any new species for a while; the last was a Magnolia Warbler, a very handsome male.

Rings of Fire

Renee and I got married. We eloped.

A Porcupine Parable

I had a very cute porcupine experience yesterday that I just have to share with you guys. Rachel and I were driving back from a park blood-drive where we stood around doing nothing for 4 hours. Along the one-way loop road back to the Schoodic section of the park, we saw in the distance the small, dark, waddling figure of Little Porcupine crossing the road. I was driving and slowed down until we were stopped about 5m away from him. The little guy had paused in the middle of the road, sniffing bemusedly in our direction. As with all wild creatures I meet and in whom I want to instill a sense of fear associated with roads and humans, I honked at him. He leaped into the air the equivalent of a human jumping a meter, then hurried as fast as his waddling gait could carry him to the side of the road and disappeared into the spruce forest. So cute, I couldn't stop laughing.

Did you know...Porcupines do not see very well past a few meters. But they use their acute senses of smell and hearing to identify approaching animals. -Excerpt from a Porcupine Fact Sheet we're developing.

Hey everyone! I made it back to the mitten state with minimal travel-related trauma.. it only took me until Nevada to realize that the mail key was wedged underneath my driver's seat.. oops. Now I'll forever be That Intern who took off with the only mailbox key. Oh, well...

For those of you who will sooner or later be driving across the country, if/when you go through Utah, I do recommend checking out the Great Salt Lake. I also recommend camping on Antelope Island and seeing some remarkable wildlife. I do NOT recommend getting too close to the free-roaming bison, even if some random guy claims it's okay. The bison WILL get pissed at some point and charge you. Got that? Salt lake yes, wildlife yes, close encounters of the bison kind NO. And yes, delicious bison burgers are available.

Climbing on Granite

The past few days have been fun- and bird-filled. I'm exhausted. I've been back to "Good Birding Trail" and have since added BAWW, AMRE, and SCJU to my life list. I also got great BAEA photos that morning.

(I'll do a plug for my photo site here: http://picasaweb.google.com/susan.culliney).

Yesterday, Rachel-my-roommate and I went over to Mount Desert Island for a tutoring in tidepool interpretation. The tidepool language is pretty rough, but it was fun to poke around looking for crabs, sea stars, anemones, and periwinkles. It's amazing to remember how diverse the tidepools on the west coast were. Message to people still at Palo (and those others of you who have access): GO TIDEPOOLING, IT'S AWESOME. Then we took the long way home and got some disappointing looks at what were probably Common Loons, but who were so far away, I'm waiting to get a more satisfying look of them before checking them off.

Today, we went into Winter Harbor to attend the annual Lobster Fair. We didn't get the lobstah dinnah as it was $18 and we'd just had lunch. But we did peruse the craft booths and stopped to listen to a couple of songs by "Schoodic Steel", the local steel drum band who were rockin' despite the chilly waters this far north of the caribbean. I couldn't help but think of Michael, just back from Sandals, Jamaica, playing his "Hot! Hot! Hot!" steel drum in the parking lot at Dunder Miflin.

I meant to start out by saying that the bouldering and climbing here is awesome as the granite is everywhere, and abuts the ocean, so you're climbing by the sea (though of course, the side of the shed will do in a pinch). It's best at low tide when more of the coast is exposed. I've got some sweet bruises and scrapes from jumping around on the rocks.

I love airports!

So I was at the airport one day and I overheard the guy in front of me saying he was going to Hartford, CT when the woman behind the counter freaked out and told him he had to hurry to get the very next flight that was leaving RIGHT NOW! I in turn freaked out and said "me too, me too! I'm going to Hartford too!"
She freaked out some more, had me throw my bags on the weigher thing, asked for my ID - barely looked at it, and was ecstatic that I checked in on-line.
She then hopped over the weigher thing and told me and the other Hartford guy to start running with her to the gate...we started running...fast. I was loving it and couldnt help but blurt out "this is so exciting!" She turned to me huffing and puffing and said "Exciting?!?! Girrrlll please!!!".
When we reached the security gate she flashed her badge very official-like and yelled "We got some runners here, we got runners!!!!" they let us through to the next security checkpoint where she put her hand up to stop the people already waiting in line and told them to let us through or we'll miss our flight. We had to rip our shoes and bags off and try to put them back on just as quickly after they went through the x-ray machine. I had one shoe on and was trying to put the other one on and run at the same time. The other guy was taking too long so Gail (not her real name) grabbed his laptop and proceeded to run to the gate. He eventually caught up to us but I think she forgot she had his laptop clasped tightly to her chest because she held on to it for the next few minutes as she was frantically explaining our situation to the gate people.
We got on that flight thanks to "Gail". And thanks to "Gail" I had an exciting and fun-filled airport experience, I felt like I was in a movie! And anyone that knows me, knows how much I love a good airport. Thanks Gail!

ps. i miss you guys

My New Squirrel Friend

I am sitting in the moldy-smelling multipurpose room (the multiple purposes being: TV & videos, wireless internet, laundry facilities, and the random library of bad fiction and old textbooks that all field stations and National Park housing accumulate), reading the posts of Gouldii and Harris and laughing to myself because your various personalities come out SO WELL in your writing (I love it!). Just then, a little red squirrel scampered into the room, obviously interested in borrowing some of the romance novels. I talked him out of it, shooed him out the door, and then sat down to write this post.

Schoodic's weather is just as changeable as Palo's. A day will start out with a crystalline blue sky before a mid-morning fog rolls in, then out again. Then, maybe about 3pm, a thunderstorm will darken the sky and send lightning down to earth for the rest of the evening and night. The next day might be foggy again.

We had a teacher's workshop today where the large part of the afternoon discussion centered around the scintillating topic of T-shirts. Then we were going over some hands-on lessons and someone said "I can't get it all out again" and I had to stifle the urge to say "that's what she said." I have got to remember that I'm in a kid-oriented environment now; I'm no longer living amongst vulgar biologists. I miss you guys!

Bird notes: I woke to 20 ravens mobbing a GHOWat 5am this morning outside my window. I heard the owl hoot, but didn't see her. I've heard what sounds like an ORJU singing; but do the juncos here have the same song? I also heard what definitely sounded like a WIWR, but it was slightly more sweeter sounding that those in the west. CEDWs and RBNUs are everywhere.

Random CNF

When you play Monopoly with Chuck Norris, you do not pass go, and you do not collect two hundred dollars. You will be lucky if you make it out alive.

T-minus 62 days until season 4 of The Office...or is it T-plus 62 days?

hahaha

Matt and I just blogged all over the nice wrentits...

Dreary Sunday

Well here I sit looking out at the fog over Palo, it has been clearing up by mid afternoon most days, but today it seems to want to hang out. It has been slow at Palo and busy at offsites. We caught a WEWP at Lagunitas the other day, a very cool, but confusing bird(I almost banded it as a BLPH.) It is wicked quiet around the station these days and it is sad, after living with 10 people for the past 5 months you get used to the constant presence of co-workers. It will be sad to see Jess and Anna leave for Cape May, but also nice to have Gunther and Koko back as banders for the fall. I hope everyone, is having fun wherever they may be right now, and I wanted to take the chance to say that I will be posting a new Chuck Norris fact every few days on this blog. For those of you who don't know Chuck Norris is most famous for his role as Walker, Texas Ranger. The facts are good for a giggle, and hopefully this will start a trend of other people posting jokes, haiku's, poems, short stories or other random things of interest. So without further ado todays Chuck Norris Fact(CNF for short)...

Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make it drink. :)

Gouldii

p.s. only 64 days until Season 4 of The Office airs on NBC, mark your calendars people

Palo these days

Hi everyone, those of you that are gone..I miss you a toooooon!

Last Wednesday (Aug 1st) Matt and Irene abandoned me and moved to the North Bunkroom :( But I was strong :) lol The new interns Roselyv and Adrien are great! I have fun talking to them, they're teaching me some spanish, I know a little bit but I probably sound like a 2 year old talking to them :) Roselyv is a great bander, she must have a lot of experience. She does very well with handling and processing, and yesterday she extracted a WIWA in about 25 seconds! She's confident and knows all the scientific names :) Jon and Irene - you'll have fun with her, she's very sweet.

Palo is quiet, no new or rare birds recently. It's been pretty foggy and overcast, although it cleared up a little bit yesterday afternoon and I went to Irene's grand canyon on Grid 1 to lay out in the sun....yes Jonathon...with coconut oil haha. oh speaking of Jonathon....Matt and I were proofing the other day and spit flew out of my red pen....5 day old spit...Jon...thanks. ...and Dougie fresh never showed at PIGU either...so you'll be happy to know you didn't miss anything :)

Jess, Matt, and I brought some beer and ice cream to dogtown last night and watched 2 movies with Amy, Mark, and Ryan. Dogtown is a NICE HOUSE! we shoulda hung out there a lot more often!!

We're way behind on birdlist...I hate to admit this, but we're having breakfast for dinner together tonight and we plan to get all caught up. We're also trying to get caught up on monthly proof... but it's hard to resist nap time after banding.

Irene - you're my bestest friend and I miss you soooooo much. Please please be careful driving across country. I'll call you all the time when you get back to Palo..keep the dance parties alive!

Jonathan - ...geez thanks for all the harris-ment, the nicknames, the bander scrutiny, the spitty pens, and gunther :)

Kraaaantz - I miss you, thank god for you teaching me bird songs :) and showing such passion for birds. Palo hasn't seen the end of you! Please come birding out east sometime!!

Amanda - It was great getting to know you, thanks for laughing with me :) "teeny tiny thaang" (we love you krantz) I miss all your cookies, and muffins, and swans, and dangerous cheese cakes and homemade ice cream. You made Palo feel like home.

Susan - You were a great teacher when we first got here. I know I've told you this a couple times, but you were always so encouraging of us and made me feel at home in March. Thanks for taking me SPOWLING :) and you rocked at our last dance party!!! Keep taking amazing pictures and make sure you share them with us!

Matt - hahaha thanks for staying up late the other night and passing out on the deck, I knew you had it in ya! and thanks for always "getting" all the immature jokes that I always thought were hilarious.

Jess - Everytime I hear the gold digger song now I'm going to think of you! I'm soo glad we're going to Cape May together, and that we have this last week to get to know each other better :) See you on the other side! One of these days I'm going to take you up on those 'dollar bets' of yours... :)

Scibby - :) I love you guys, the best "den parents" I've ever had. You were great supervisors! Fun, smart, responsible, awesome, and patient. Libby I'm gonna miss you! Good luck in school!

All the staff - Renee, Diana, Geoff, Tom, Steve, Missy, Melissa, Rich, even Keith. You guys are all awesome and supportive. I'm so glad I got to meet and work with you. I'm leaving Palo inspired and proud of myself. Thanks for everything.

"The Office" rocks everyone better tune in. Premiers sometime in Sept..the 27th I think?

I had the BEST summer! You guys are all awesome and I'm gonna miss you so much, thanks for loving me through all my ditsiest moments.

~Anna ...wow that was long, but I wanted to get it all out.

.....haha I have to say it.. (that's what she said)*

Classroom Cleaning

I had the greatest intentions of getting up early today to go birding. I swear, I did. But, 6am came and went and I was lucky to get up in time to get ready to meet my boss at 8:30. It was also foggy intermittently today, which tugged on my heartstrings as it reminded me of Palo. The fog here smells more briny than it did in the bay area.

Today consisted of getting a campus tour and then organizing classroom supplies. We took stuff off shelves, put it in piles on tables and other shelves labeled "art supplies", "kids clothes", "teacher kits", "flag", "first aid", "possible props" and other education-y type categories. I have the sneaking suspicion that we will eventually be moving these piles to other shelves in other rooms. But that's for another day. I will have most weekends off and intend to use them for biking, birding and biking while birding (to the potential peril of other road-users).

I got my guitar today which was a big surprise. Go USPS!

Bird list: HETH, SOSP, COEI (tons of common eiders), HEGU, GBBG (greater black-backed gull), Bonaparte's Gull, BTNW (Black-throated Green Warbler), DCCO, GBHE, AMGO, EUST, BLJA (Blue Jay), and several unknown birds.

Willits, CA

Well, I'm in Willits, land of honalee... It seems that a "few" of these people have imaginary friends named Puff the Magic Dragon. We have been speculating about the proportion of stoned to non-stoned people in the town of Willits and contemplating a statistical survey. Just kidding, they would lynch us in front of the local safeway... I can see them chanting now, "burn them, buuurn them".

We have also been contemplating the dispersal rate of friends from field stations and where they will all wind up. I am hoping that 10 years from now the accumulated adventures of all of the crazy friends I've made at field stations will add up to a wild adventure yarn. All the more reason to fuel the blog.

I slept in this morning until 10 am after watching girl movies until 1:30 in the morning....this seemed a decadent luxury given that I've woken up before the alarm the entire field season...even on days off.

In other news, the poison oak rash on my leg has reached a full boil and spread a bit more... c'est la vie... bound to happen to all of us eventually, except Matt. Too bad we can't bottle up is immunity and market it.

Will write more later!!! Thanks for starting the blog Susan!!

Back in Maine

Maine is just as beautiful as I left it. The forests end right at the edge of the tidal line, unlike California where the coastal scrub acts as a buffer between the water and the land. The buildings here too are different. I was struck by how much brick is used in towns. The shingled houses are very colonial, and blocky, probably more heat efficient in the winters. Civilization feels more settled in here. Out west, it's still rambling and wild.

I start work tomorrow. I am getting more and more nervous about teaching kids. Do I use a bander's grip or a photographer's grip on them? I have become much more comfortable with birds and bird people. There's only one remedy: I'll just have to convert everyone into birders.