my first week

So, 800 mosquito bites later, my first week is over, and it was pretty crazy.
I feel the need to apologize in advance because this post will be all over the place.

I worked Monday through Saturday, 5:30 AM - around 1:00 PM every day. Wow, what a schedule. Anyway, overall it was a good time and I think, once I adjust to the time schedule, I'm going to enjoy it.

I became familiarized with the different areas of Oak Openings in which we do field research. Basically, my job is help the PhD student (whose website is linked in a previous post) I am working for set up mist nets, remove the birds from the nets once they are caught, help band them, take a blood sample, and record measurements. In addition to that, I used the spotting scope to find lark sparrows, the target species for both Jeremy's research and my independent project. Caught lark sparrows are marked with color bands as well as band numbers so they can be identified from afar, using the spotting scope. I have helped Jeremy color-band new lark sparrows and I have also located previously banded lark sparrows with the spotting scope. I have to admit, though, using the scope is very frustrating and while my skills are improving, the improvement is slow going. Yesterday, I found my first lark sparrow nest! (The birds nest on the ground in fields, but they are well hidden). It takes a certain technique to locate the nests and I did it for the first time, so that was exciting. The nest had 6 eggs in it and while I couldn't identify the female, the male's color bands were "red over dark blue."

All week I have been pretty exhausted and hungry after work so I have been taking serious naps during the day and still going to bed around 10:00 PM. The areas we work in are very mucky and wet in the morning and get pretty hot when the sun comes up. Plus, as earlier mentioned, the mosquitoes are seriously vicious.

So far I am really enjoying the people I work with. Mainly, I work with Jeremy, but there is another grad student who is involved with the project and sometimes she, her husband, and their baby come out to help. :-) There are also a couple volunteers, but so far I have only met one. She's very cool as well.

I have also seen and learned about many different species of bird this week, and I am working to memorize them all. It's pretty difficult when you're starting from a pretty blank birdie knowledge base.

Random "highlights" of the work week:
-Dead, skinned snake on the side of the road. I've never seen a skinless snake before.
-Two birds were so strong they broke their legs struggling in the nets. This is a rare, gruesome occurrence.
-Lots and lots of deer, a few out in front of "my" car
-A shrew siting. Ugly little buggers.
-A newly learned skill: the woodland pee. (still working to perfect this one).
-Caught a few hummingbirds. They are so tiny and cute, and their heartbeat is more like a vibration it's so rapid.
-Caught a few red-headed woodpeckers. They are SO loud and don't stop screaming.
-Making good friends with a number of pricker/thorn bushes.
-Finding a tick in my hair last night before I took a shower. Thankfully, it had not had the chance to bite me yet, but I still have the heebie-jeebies from it.

Today, I helped out for Blue Weekend at Kitty Todd Nature Preserve (only about 15 minutes from my house). As you can see from the link, we gave bird banding demonstrations this morning. It was pretty cool to be able to show interested people the techniques we use to catch the birds and to band and bleed them, and for them to get to see all kinds of different species up close.

Moving on, I also found out this week that I'll be traveling for my job, and very soon!
Next Wednesday, May 23rd, through June 8th I will be traveling to Illinois & Nebraska to assist with field research. All expenses are paid through the $900 allotted for research through my Undergraduate Student Research Scholar program. Supposedly there will be internet available in at least Nebraska, so hopefully I can bring my computer and blog it up.

Yay.