May 18: Decided to post these here (field stuff, posted after-the-fact)
I'm having a blast and I haven't managed to break anything yet!
So I went to training (for 2 days) in Grant's Pass, OR, just like last year. Banded some, got rained on some. We caught a Red-Shouldered Hawk in one of our nets on my first banding day, which was the awesomest thing EVER. She was all "GRRR" and we totally all went paparazzi on her ass. ^__^
This is a Tree Swallow, a juvenile (born in the spring last year), so he's kinda brownish instead of the brilliant dark blue like an adult would be. Look at that FACE!!
Same Tree Swallow... we don't catch them very often because they have VERY good eyesight and usually see the nets, and they spend most of their time way up high, doing some very cool aerial acrobatics while catching insects.
Cool Bird of the Day #1: Red-Shouldered Hawk!
More of the hawk... it's most likely an immature female, by the size and coloring. ^___^
Cool Bird of the Day #2: Brown Creeper. Arguably one of the cutest birds around. They use their stiff tails to climb up and down tree trunks (sometimes even upside-down), thus their name. Photo by Erika Taketa.
I've been assigned to Wenatchee National Forest (the same place I was stationed last year), and my partner is an awesome girl named Erika. She is a toned-down, Asian version of me... we talked for several hours (and several Mike's Hard Lemonades) about cute gay boys and our mutual problem with imposing homosexuality upon unsuspecting male novel and movie characters.
We are in Willamette National Forest at the moment, for our first round of set-ups, and 5 out of the 6 banding stations are snowed in. But they're up at 3500 to 4000 feet, so I suppose it's ok. We'll leave here on Thursday afternoon to drive up to Wenatchee to set up our station, but we've been hearing that it actually snowed there a few days ago, so we may have the exact same problem there. Anyway, at 2 of the snowed-in sites, we tried to hike in on the snow, but it defeated us after about half a mile in both cases.
Snow-pack makes an excellent slide!
Removing snow from various articles of clothing. Photo by Erika Taketa.
One of several snowed-in roads.
The Three Sisters.
Mt. Washington.
I am desperately trying to win my tan back after all these years in Alaska have stolen it away from me... I think I'll need a few more days before I succeed. ^.~
We took today off and went hiking along the river (McKenzie River) and past 2 awesome waterfalls
and now I'm sitting in a little local diner-thing, eating roasted potatoes and stealing internet.
Anyway, I'll try to update again once we get to Wenatchee!
So I went to training (for 2 days) in Grant's Pass, OR, just like last year. Banded some, got rained on some. We caught a Red-Shouldered Hawk in one of our nets on my first banding day, which was the awesomest thing EVER. She was all "GRRR" and we totally all went paparazzi on her ass. ^__^
This is a Tree Swallow, a juvenile (born in the spring last year), so he's kinda brownish instead of the brilliant dark blue like an adult would be. Look at that FACE!!
Same Tree Swallow... we don't catch them very often because they have VERY good eyesight and usually see the nets, and they spend most of their time way up high, doing some very cool aerial acrobatics while catching insects.
Cool Bird of the Day #1: Red-Shouldered Hawk!
More of the hawk... it's most likely an immature female, by the size and coloring. ^___^
Cool Bird of the Day #2: Brown Creeper. Arguably one of the cutest birds around. They use their stiff tails to climb up and down tree trunks (sometimes even upside-down), thus their name. Photo by Erika Taketa.
I've been assigned to Wenatchee National Forest (the same place I was stationed last year), and my partner is an awesome girl named Erika. She is a toned-down, Asian version of me... we talked for several hours (and several Mike's Hard Lemonades) about cute gay boys and our mutual problem with imposing homosexuality upon unsuspecting male novel and movie characters.
We are in Willamette National Forest at the moment, for our first round of set-ups, and 5 out of the 6 banding stations are snowed in. But they're up at 3500 to 4000 feet, so I suppose it's ok. We'll leave here on Thursday afternoon to drive up to Wenatchee to set up our station, but we've been hearing that it actually snowed there a few days ago, so we may have the exact same problem there. Anyway, at 2 of the snowed-in sites, we tried to hike in on the snow, but it defeated us after about half a mile in both cases.
Snow-pack makes an excellent slide!
Removing snow from various articles of clothing. Photo by Erika Taketa.
One of several snowed-in roads.
The Three Sisters.
Mt. Washington.
I am desperately trying to win my tan back after all these years in Alaska have stolen it away from me... I think I'll need a few more days before I succeed. ^.~
We took today off and went hiking along the river (McKenzie River) and past 2 awesome waterfalls
and now I'm sitting in a little local diner-thing, eating roasted potatoes and stealing internet.
Anyway, I'll try to update again once we get to Wenatchee!