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.