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.