I WANT AN ASS OF TITANIUM!!!!!!
I just went on the BEST FIELD TRIP EVER. it was so fun. it is hands down the best thing that's ever happened in my university academic career. I learned so much and it was just awesome.
Day 1: So i woke up at 5:50am (ok 6:10) and got ready to leave. We were supposed to meet at 6:30 at BioSci, which is the farthest building from my res. I had stuffed my sleeping bad, my huge ass flashlight and my boots into my duffel bag. Halfway there, my duffel bag was getting way too heavy so I changed my shoes and wore the boots and I put my water bottle into my backpack, for easier carrying. I got on the bus at 6:30 exactly, huffing and puffing, and low and behold there was like...four people on the bus. Two of my friends were on the bus (jess and michelle) so i talked a bit with them and then fell asleep-ish. more people got on the bus and then one of the t.a.s got on and took attendance. we were two people short, but at 6:50, we left for QUBS. I slept most of the way there.
When we started entering the less-populated areas, it was really beautiful. the trees were just starting to change colour and we passed by a lake with mist on it. at one point we saw pheasants (or some type of wild ground bird) on the road. on the other side of the bus, jess saw a deer (which i missed =( ) It was cool. We first stopped at an area that was like a clearing. It was SO COLD. i was wearing two sweaters, jeans, one layer of socks and my boots. There was frost on the ground and the air was so cold. We had to look for the traps that the peoples set up the night before and see whether we had caught any small mammals (like deer mice, voles, shrews, etc.). The ones Priya and I were assigned to had nothing. We got back to the group and one trap had something in it. So the lab coordinator, Brenda, opened the trap and....there was nothing inside. It was a little disappointing. But it was fine. We got back on the bus and i put on another pair of socks, cuz my feet were so cold (i stayed dressed like that for the whole trip!) then we continued on our way to QUBS proper, which is where the actual station and living spaces and all that are. We arrived at QUBS at around 8-ish. We got off the bus and assembled in front of the main building. It was a nice building lol. really. then they explained more things to us, about the kitchen, the living spaces, and the activities. we were then assigned to our groups (i was in group D) and our living spaces. i was lucky! i got the nice building with heating, 2 kitches, 3 washrooms, a living room (with a tv! that only had one channel) and nice beds. it's called the white house. priya was my next door neighbour. i shared a bunk bed with a girl named emily, who was in the same group as me and was thivviya's friend. thivviya was downstairs in her own room, and it was great! they had told us that our sleeping conditions would be terrible and that there wouldn't be heating so i packed so much stuff i didn't need lol. oh well. it was funny because all the girls were assigned to sleeping areas that had heating, but some of the guys were not so lucky. yaa....so after setting our things down, we went back to the hub (the main building) and started on our first module. my group's first module was "field observation." we all picked up a binocular each and followed our leader, mark. he led us behind the white house where there was a potter trap set up, a trap for birds. and there was a bluejay inside!! mark then went in and grabbed the bird and brought it to us. it was so COOL!! he then started talking about bluejays; he was banding it, sexing it, determining the birds' age, and it was just so cool. one of the people in my group got to hold the bird. after mark banded the bird and recorded everything, we went to the next trap. it was in a clearing, surrounded by pine trees. there were two chickadees and a red-breasted nuthatch caught. these small birds kept biting mark and it was kinda funny. they were so cute. so he did the same thing with these birds. then we set off to a different kind of trap, a mist net. at first even i couldn't see the net. it was in a forest and it was really windy. leaves kept getting trapped in it and we removed the leaves. there were no birds in that one either. so we went to set up our own mist net and mark put a recording of bird calls under it to try and lure birds to it. then we went back to the first trap and there was another bluejay in it! yay...lol the next module was theeee...CHIPMUNKS! yeah...first we had a little seminar about QUBS and the research that goes on there...and we looked at little stuffed mammals from the 1940s, then we went out! to stalk chipmunks. there were little platforms all around the area. in pairs, we were assigned to a platform and we were to put seeds and watch the chipmunks that came to feed. once the chipmunks were done feeding, we were to follow them, locate their burrow and flag it. my partner was emily. at first we had no chipmunks so we sat on a rock and chatted. then one chipmunk came. i was in charge of timing and emily was in charge of chasing. soon after the first one came, a second one came. then the first one came back. then the first came back AGAIN. and it happened like that. no. 1 came like 6 times, no. 2 came like 4 times, no.3 came like 2 times, and no. 4 came once. when there was one there and another came, the first one would chase the other one off and the other would then wait for the first to leave. sometimes they were patient, sometimes there was lots of chasing. they were so cute! they'd stuff their faces so full of sunflower seeds and then scurry off....so cute. and i was able to get really close to one. i was refilling the sunflower seeds and i think it was no.2 that came back and really wanted food so he came right up to me and just started eating. i backed away and watched him from a few feet away. <3333 other groups weren't so lucky. most had no chipmunks go to their platforms. the next one was the insect module. we went to this meadow by the water. the peoples had set up pitfall traps for insects that were placed randomly around the meadow. we were to empty the preservatives holding the insects into a jar, take the sticky sheet from a pole, and replace it. i was partnered with emily again. it was pretty cool. we had an insect who's body was missing on our sticky sheet. after that, we were to sweep the ground using insect nets. there were four nets and five pairs so emily and i did the handcatching of insects first. emily caught a katydid!! they're big and green and look like leaves. it was sooo cool. i caught an ant and a leafhopper...lol other people caught spiders and caterpillars and moths and other cool things like that. when we were walking back to the station, we saw a deer!! she was sitting down and as we stared at each other, she slowly got up and moved farther away. i had never seen a wild deer before!! just cause i don't go to UTM...jeez. but it was so cool and i was so happy. yeah...then we ate dinner, and everyone was tired. at 7pm we had to listen to a seminar given by mark, about research and field biology. it was okay, but i had to pee and i was sleepy. after that, at around 8:30, we went for a night walk. it was cloudy so there were no stars. priya, thivviya, emily and I linked arms. it was so funny cuz i'm so short. priya's like 5'9 and thivviya's 5'7. at one point i was in between them and i felt so tiny lol. we had a virtual astronomy lesson. floyd, one of the managers at qubs, showed us where the stars were behind the clouds using a green laser pointer (it's so cool, i want one!!). floyd also did owl calls, hoping to attract owls. he's so good at it!! too bad it was windy and drizzling....no owls came to greet us. but there were fireflies!!! they was like...single ones randomly along the road. they were so prettty!! i was so excited...on the way back, i just hung on to emily's arm with my eyes closed and i just walked. i was sooo tired. we went back to the hub and i had hot apple cider and an almond cookie (SO GOOD... those almond cookies were the best things ever). after our snack, it was like 10:30, we went back to the white house and went to sleep. i brushed my teeth and washed my face, changed into sleeping clothes and went to sleep.
next morning, emily had set her alarm for 7. i heard it but just went back to sleep. she got up though. i woke up to someone else's alarm, at like 7:20...i brushed my teeth and changed into yesterday's clothes and waited for thivviya and priya to finish so we could go to breakfast together. after breakfast, at 8:30, we started our next modules. my next module was the habitat one. we hiked with our professor around qubs. along the way we would stop and different habitats and look around and talk about the area. he would ask us questions about research and observations that we made. we went in a forest, by a lake, and even in a marsh! there was this bridge that crossed through the marsh. we walked among cattails (i almost got hit on the face by a cattail twice) and passed by a beaver dam (a beaver dam!!!) and a rickety bridge that we had to cross one by one, to the other side. professor eckert showed us the plant he did his doctoral thesis on and asked us questions and stuff. after that, we crossed back through the marsh, and climbed a really steep slope. it was wet and soggy...but it was so fun. we were 15 mins late for our next module, but it was finnne. our next module was the plant one. we were in a field of sumacs and we were to measure it in various ways. i paired up with a girl named danielle. it was funny because the main point of it was to do random sampling. but because danielle and i were about the same height (rather short) we weren't able to reach the top of the trees we randomly selected. so we "randomly sampled" the ones that were easier to reach. lol. it was cool...measuring trees and stuff. during the whole four hours, i had not sat down once. by lunch time, i was so tired and hungry. after lunch, we had time to pack and our last module started at 2pm. our last module was the fish one, which i was so psyched for. we got to go in the water in the chestwaiders. i went with a guy that was rather tall and a little water got into the side of my chestwaider and my left side was wet for the rest of the day. we measured sunfish, weighed them and scaled them. there was a guy in our group who was bent on beating the record for heaviest fish. the record was 150g. and we beat it! we first got one that was 175g and then he got one that was 190g. it was so exciting. it was really really fun. i had such a good time! even though it was raining, it didn't even mind the rain! =))
so we got on the bus at like 4:30 and left qubs at 4:45. we got back to campus at 5:30. i had to trek all the way to isaac's place with my heavy duffel bag because he had my keys.
but like. i had the best time. it was so amazing and i learned so many things. the things i saw and the things i did were just....amazing. i had so much fun, especially with my friends that i don't get to see that much and got to meet people that i would probably not talk to in a lecture. it was a really really great experience and i would totally do it again.
but now i have two assignments due this week that i have to get started on. it's not my fault. they gave us the data on friday and my class is on tuesday. oh well. fighting!
Day 1: So i woke up at 5:50am (ok 6:10) and got ready to leave. We were supposed to meet at 6:30 at BioSci, which is the farthest building from my res. I had stuffed my sleeping bad, my huge ass flashlight and my boots into my duffel bag. Halfway there, my duffel bag was getting way too heavy so I changed my shoes and wore the boots and I put my water bottle into my backpack, for easier carrying. I got on the bus at 6:30 exactly, huffing and puffing, and low and behold there was like...four people on the bus. Two of my friends were on the bus (jess and michelle) so i talked a bit with them and then fell asleep-ish. more people got on the bus and then one of the t.a.s got on and took attendance. we were two people short, but at 6:50, we left for QUBS. I slept most of the way there.
When we started entering the less-populated areas, it was really beautiful. the trees were just starting to change colour and we passed by a lake with mist on it. at one point we saw pheasants (or some type of wild ground bird) on the road. on the other side of the bus, jess saw a deer (which i missed =( ) It was cool. We first stopped at an area that was like a clearing. It was SO COLD. i was wearing two sweaters, jeans, one layer of socks and my boots. There was frost on the ground and the air was so cold. We had to look for the traps that the peoples set up the night before and see whether we had caught any small mammals (like deer mice, voles, shrews, etc.). The ones Priya and I were assigned to had nothing. We got back to the group and one trap had something in it. So the lab coordinator, Brenda, opened the trap and....there was nothing inside. It was a little disappointing. But it was fine. We got back on the bus and i put on another pair of socks, cuz my feet were so cold (i stayed dressed like that for the whole trip!) then we continued on our way to QUBS proper, which is where the actual station and living spaces and all that are. We arrived at QUBS at around 8-ish. We got off the bus and assembled in front of the main building. It was a nice building lol. really. then they explained more things to us, about the kitchen, the living spaces, and the activities. we were then assigned to our groups (i was in group D) and our living spaces. i was lucky! i got the nice building with heating, 2 kitches, 3 washrooms, a living room (with a tv! that only had one channel) and nice beds. it's called the white house. priya was my next door neighbour. i shared a bunk bed with a girl named emily, who was in the same group as me and was thivviya's friend. thivviya was downstairs in her own room, and it was great! they had told us that our sleeping conditions would be terrible and that there wouldn't be heating so i packed so much stuff i didn't need lol. oh well. it was funny because all the girls were assigned to sleeping areas that had heating, but some of the guys were not so lucky. yaa....so after setting our things down, we went back to the hub (the main building) and started on our first module. my group's first module was "field observation." we all picked up a binocular each and followed our leader, mark. he led us behind the white house where there was a potter trap set up, a trap for birds. and there was a bluejay inside!! mark then went in and grabbed the bird and brought it to us. it was so COOL!! he then started talking about bluejays; he was banding it, sexing it, determining the birds' age, and it was just so cool. one of the people in my group got to hold the bird. after mark banded the bird and recorded everything, we went to the next trap. it was in a clearing, surrounded by pine trees. there were two chickadees and a red-breasted nuthatch caught. these small birds kept biting mark and it was kinda funny. they were so cute. so he did the same thing with these birds. then we set off to a different kind of trap, a mist net. at first even i couldn't see the net. it was in a forest and it was really windy. leaves kept getting trapped in it and we removed the leaves. there were no birds in that one either. so we went to set up our own mist net and mark put a recording of bird calls under it to try and lure birds to it. then we went back to the first trap and there was another bluejay in it! yay...lol the next module was theeee...CHIPMUNKS! yeah...first we had a little seminar about QUBS and the research that goes on there...and we looked at little stuffed mammals from the 1940s, then we went out! to stalk chipmunks. there were little platforms all around the area. in pairs, we were assigned to a platform and we were to put seeds and watch the chipmunks that came to feed. once the chipmunks were done feeding, we were to follow them, locate their burrow and flag it. my partner was emily. at first we had no chipmunks so we sat on a rock and chatted. then one chipmunk came. i was in charge of timing and emily was in charge of chasing. soon after the first one came, a second one came. then the first one came back. then the first came back AGAIN. and it happened like that. no. 1 came like 6 times, no. 2 came like 4 times, no.3 came like 2 times, and no. 4 came once. when there was one there and another came, the first one would chase the other one off and the other would then wait for the first to leave. sometimes they were patient, sometimes there was lots of chasing. they were so cute! they'd stuff their faces so full of sunflower seeds and then scurry off....so cute. and i was able to get really close to one. i was refilling the sunflower seeds and i think it was no.2 that came back and really wanted food so he came right up to me and just started eating. i backed away and watched him from a few feet away. <3333 other groups weren't so lucky. most had no chipmunks go to their platforms. the next one was the insect module. we went to this meadow by the water. the peoples had set up pitfall traps for insects that were placed randomly around the meadow. we were to empty the preservatives holding the insects into a jar, take the sticky sheet from a pole, and replace it. i was partnered with emily again. it was pretty cool. we had an insect who's body was missing on our sticky sheet. after that, we were to sweep the ground using insect nets. there were four nets and five pairs so emily and i did the handcatching of insects first. emily caught a katydid!! they're big and green and look like leaves. it was sooo cool. i caught an ant and a leafhopper...lol other people caught spiders and caterpillars and moths and other cool things like that. when we were walking back to the station, we saw a deer!! she was sitting down and as we stared at each other, she slowly got up and moved farther away. i had never seen a wild deer before!! just cause i don't go to UTM...jeez. but it was so cool and i was so happy. yeah...then we ate dinner, and everyone was tired. at 7pm we had to listen to a seminar given by mark, about research and field biology. it was okay, but i had to pee and i was sleepy. after that, at around 8:30, we went for a night walk. it was cloudy so there were no stars. priya, thivviya, emily and I linked arms. it was so funny cuz i'm so short. priya's like 5'9 and thivviya's 5'7. at one point i was in between them and i felt so tiny lol. we had a virtual astronomy lesson. floyd, one of the managers at qubs, showed us where the stars were behind the clouds using a green laser pointer (it's so cool, i want one!!). floyd also did owl calls, hoping to attract owls. he's so good at it!! too bad it was windy and drizzling....no owls came to greet us. but there were fireflies!!! they was like...single ones randomly along the road. they were so prettty!! i was so excited...on the way back, i just hung on to emily's arm with my eyes closed and i just walked. i was sooo tired. we went back to the hub and i had hot apple cider and an almond cookie (SO GOOD... those almond cookies were the best things ever). after our snack, it was like 10:30, we went back to the white house and went to sleep. i brushed my teeth and washed my face, changed into sleeping clothes and went to sleep.
next morning, emily had set her alarm for 7. i heard it but just went back to sleep. she got up though. i woke up to someone else's alarm, at like 7:20...i brushed my teeth and changed into yesterday's clothes and waited for thivviya and priya to finish so we could go to breakfast together. after breakfast, at 8:30, we started our next modules. my next module was the habitat one. we hiked with our professor around qubs. along the way we would stop and different habitats and look around and talk about the area. he would ask us questions about research and observations that we made. we went in a forest, by a lake, and even in a marsh! there was this bridge that crossed through the marsh. we walked among cattails (i almost got hit on the face by a cattail twice) and passed by a beaver dam (a beaver dam!!!) and a rickety bridge that we had to cross one by one, to the other side. professor eckert showed us the plant he did his doctoral thesis on and asked us questions and stuff. after that, we crossed back through the marsh, and climbed a really steep slope. it was wet and soggy...but it was so fun. we were 15 mins late for our next module, but it was finnne. our next module was the plant one. we were in a field of sumacs and we were to measure it in various ways. i paired up with a girl named danielle. it was funny because the main point of it was to do random sampling. but because danielle and i were about the same height (rather short) we weren't able to reach the top of the trees we randomly selected. so we "randomly sampled" the ones that were easier to reach. lol. it was cool...measuring trees and stuff. during the whole four hours, i had not sat down once. by lunch time, i was so tired and hungry. after lunch, we had time to pack and our last module started at 2pm. our last module was the fish one, which i was so psyched for. we got to go in the water in the chestwaiders. i went with a guy that was rather tall and a little water got into the side of my chestwaider and my left side was wet for the rest of the day. we measured sunfish, weighed them and scaled them. there was a guy in our group who was bent on beating the record for heaviest fish. the record was 150g. and we beat it! we first got one that was 175g and then he got one that was 190g. it was so exciting. it was really really fun. i had such a good time! even though it was raining, it didn't even mind the rain! =))
so we got on the bus at like 4:30 and left qubs at 4:45. we got back to campus at 5:30. i had to trek all the way to isaac's place with my heavy duffel bag because he had my keys.
but like. i had the best time. it was so amazing and i learned so many things. the things i saw and the things i did were just....amazing. i had so much fun, especially with my friends that i don't get to see that much and got to meet people that i would probably not talk to in a lecture. it was a really really great experience and i would totally do it again.
but now i have two assignments due this week that i have to get started on. it's not my fault. they gave us the data on friday and my class is on tuesday. oh well. fighting!