birds don't like rain clouds

After Julian netted one bird on Wednesday, Candice and I moved the nets to another site, seeing as we now had caught a bird in every patch of the current site. Which is good enough for us. We tied the poles to my roof rack, threw the everything else in the back, and set off down the gravel and dirt roads. I can't wait til I get my temporary license to drive the Forest Service trucks.

Setting up nets is a pain in the ass. No matter how neat and tidy you put them back in the bag, they will tie themselves in a knot somehow. Same with the strings on the stakes. Then you have to stand there in the hot sun and figure out what the hell is going on without dropping the net on the ground, because then it gets caught on every plant or stick within reach and it won't let go. On top of that, half the time you can't even get the pole in the ground. Either the dirt is just too damn hard, or it's all dry, loose sand and won't hold the weight up. Every now and then you hit a magic spot and the pole goes super deep. Did that sound dirty? Anyway you just gotta poke around til something gives. Aw yeah, that's how you do it.

We were supposed to put up 4 nets, but we were tired and it was thundering, so we left the 4th for the morning. Good thing, too, because the sky just went crazy. I love thunderstorms, but not when I'm in a trailer that wouldn't stand a chance against a tornado. The scary stuff stopped, but it was raining when I went to bed.

It was overcast and almost cold all the next day, with a bit of rain here and there. Candice and I decided birds don't like that, because they wouldn't come out of the matrix. They're stuck in this computer generated world, believing they're in 1999, when in reality, it's 2199 and machines control the world. Right. The matrix is just what we call the forest (mostly loblolly pine) between the patches, which are savanna-like. And the birds seemed content to hang out there and not venture out in the the patches much. Lazy birds.

They were still lazy Friday morning, as it was still overcast and cool. At about 10 or so, we decided to move some nets to other patches, and meanwhile a female finally flew into mine. She was not a happy camper. She struggled and made a lot more noise than any others so far. She also bit pretty hard, but luckily not enough to break the skin. We processed her and let her go, then called it a day because we thought Candice had safety training at 1. But she didn't so we went home. Did the usual routine with Skyping and all.

I think I'm going climbing in North Carolina tomorrow, so that'll be something a bit more exciting to write about. I realize the bird thing is getting a bit old, since it's essentially the same news most days. Maybe I'll include more personal thoughts and musings from now on, or anecdotes of past happenings. Whatever. I like to think of myself as entertaining (don't know if anyone agrees, though), so I'll attempt to make this blog reflect that. And add some pictures.