Field Camp Extraordinaire!
So while I have a whole 30 mins while waiting to go to a behavioural ecology seminar.. thought I'd update here.. (Edit: ended up leaving early so I continue this after a failed attempt to find Pickerel frogs this evening)..
I'm at my Ecology of Amphibians and Reptiles field camp, and its a lot of fun (albeit tiring)! So far (and we're only 3 days in, but they're working us! Typical day so far:
7:00am wake up
7:30-8:30am breakfast/meet up with profs for instructions
9:00-12:00am Lecture or hike or digging around in bog/swamp/marsh
12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch/meet up with profs for instructions
2:00pm-5:00pm Lecture or watching surgeries/lab work
5:30pm-6:30pm Dinner/meet up with profs for instructions
7:00pm-10:00pm Field work (usually anuran call tracking/capture for DNA samples)
Then work on stuff or go on the intarweb until maybe 12am or 1am
Busy schedule! Its been great so far.. though I have some regrets: I should have brought a goddamn sweater! And a waterproof coat! And hipwaders! Its so cold in the evenings (heck, all the time.. barely heated quarters are not fun... eing in the nice warm surgery room today was GODLY), and its the kinda cold that just seeps in and you can't ever warm up.. bleagh.. but once you're out tracking snakes with radio telemetry, or up past your boots in a swamp looking for frogs less than an inch long.. its worth it!
I do not regret buying a headlamp though.. so much less annoying than trying to balance yourself and hold slippery amphibians with a flashlight taking up one hand. Also don't regret bringing my laptop - wifi access ahoy!
Anyway, this is a damn long post.. just wanted to let people know how I was doing.. so far, so good.
I'm at my Ecology of Amphibians and Reptiles field camp, and its a lot of fun (albeit tiring)! So far (and we're only 3 days in, but they're working us! Typical day so far:
7:00am wake up
7:30-8:30am breakfast/meet up with profs for instructions
9:00-12:00am Lecture or hike or digging around in bog/swamp/marsh
12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch/meet up with profs for instructions
2:00pm-5:00pm Lecture or watching surgeries/lab work
5:30pm-6:30pm Dinner/meet up with profs for instructions
7:00pm-10:00pm Field work (usually anuran call tracking/capture for DNA samples)
Then work on stuff or go on the intarweb until maybe 12am or 1am
Busy schedule! Its been great so far.. though I have some regrets: I should have brought a goddamn sweater! And a waterproof coat! And hipwaders! Its so cold in the evenings (heck, all the time.. barely heated quarters are not fun... eing in the nice warm surgery room today was GODLY), and its the kinda cold that just seeps in and you can't ever warm up.. bleagh.. but once you're out tracking snakes with radio telemetry, or up past your boots in a swamp looking for frogs less than an inch long.. its worth it!
I do not regret buying a headlamp though.. so much less annoying than trying to balance yourself and hold slippery amphibians with a flashlight taking up one hand. Also don't regret bringing my laptop - wifi access ahoy!
Anyway, this is a damn long post.. just wanted to let people know how I was doing.. so far, so good.