Saturday, June 21, 2008

one of these days i'll add some photos

It turned out site 10 wasn't so successful, only 2 birds. But Julian and I (Candice was in GA) decided on Friday that 2nd round sampling was way more important, so we headed to site 8 to get ready for Monday. We picked 2 patches out of a hat to do nest searches and set up 3 nets in each. We want those buntings, dammit. Patch A wasn't too bad, since it didn't have a ton of brush to look in. We found a lot of old nests of varying sizes, but nothing was definitively a current bunting nest. So we just picked 3 locations, semi-strategically. Patch C started out OK, but then we got to the wings. One of these days I'll actually explain the experimental design of the Corridor Project, but for now, patch C has wings, OK? Brush removal seems to have been either less successful/effective or more neglected here. Very hard to maneuver and too much to search. We did find a nest, though, so we put a net there. After sloppily making my way through the other wing, I felt on the verge of collapse. There was definitely dehydration involved, hot sun, slight anemia, and just tiredness in general since I was nearing 11 hrs of work. I think some was just mental, as well, subconsciously looking for a way out of Hell. (ha, that rhymed) As tempting as it was, I decided faking collapse was a bad idea, since they'd probably take me to the hospital and then I'd never get home. I got my water and we finally finished, though I know I most definitely skipped some bushes out of laziness or inaccessibility. I had to stop at CVS on the way home and it took forever, but luckily I got to talk (complain) to Beck anyway, which made my day better.

Woke up pretty early on Saturday and made something like an Egg McMuffin with fake sausage. Deliciousness. I thought I might check out the Hopelands Gardens, but I checked the weather forecast and it called for rain, so I made a blackberry tart instead. I picked the blackberries on Friday at Site 10 while I was supposed to be taking down nets. I'm a naughty little scientist. It was a simple recipe, and I might have been able to make better given the right ingredients, but it was delicious nonetheless, just like my breakfast. Beck called after lunch, but left soon to watch the Holland soccer team sadly lose to Russia in the quarterfinals of the Cup. Pissed off at the forecast for lying (it rained for like, 5 seconds), I decided to actually visit the Gardens. It was very pretty, lots of tall, old trees and small ponds with ducks and turtles. I wandered with my camera, and probably didn't see all there was to see, but I needed to stop by the grocery store so I left after roughly an hour.

The grocer store trip was primarily to get cheese for the quiche I was planning to make for dinner. Miraculously I managed to avoid getting too many extra things, just the ones on my list. I guess I was just in a culinary mood, because the quiche was also quite delicious. I put zucchini, broccoli, squash, and shrooms in it. I kept Beck up waaaay too late on Skype, then decided to write this blog before I went to bed. And you're in luck because I'm putting a few photos from the Gardens in it! Hooray!A sign depicting the labyrinth, which was just a path marked by a different color of brick

Just a general view


A pond with... a duck house maybe?


Big ol' honkin cedar


A nice canopied pathway


Duck/turtle feeder/house? I honestly don't know

Turtle island!
Duckies! They were all just sleeping or preening. So cute.

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