Photo-a-day changes

To completely copy Lisa, I have moved my older photo-a-day photos (from Jan-Mar) into a new folder. (Apparently everyone's internet is not as fast as mine and load times are getting a little long for some. Sorry!) The new pictures (Apr-present) are still at the same link that many of you have. If you would like the link to the old photos, just let me know. Also, if you don't have the link to the current photos but would like it, let me know that too. Just reply to this post or send me an email. Happy Memorial Day!

Tales from the field

I've been seeing a lot of interesting wildlife in the field lately (besides the ubiquitous wrens, adult deer, and ticks). For instance, last week on a cold, wet day Brian noticed a baby fawn curled up in the grass. Of course Jean and I had to whip out our cameras while saying girly things like awwwwwwww! Brian probably wished he had never pointed it out.


We've also had some non-target captures in our mist nets, including a ferocious cardinal that kept trying to take bites out of Jean's fingers (pictured below), a catbird, and some near misses by other birds like chickadees and sparrows.


Yesterday I had a great day for wildlife viewing as Jean and I saw two birds that we are 95% sure were juvenile bald eagles!!!! They were much bigger than the red tailed hawks that we usually see and a uniform brown color (unlike the golden eagle which has a lighter colored head according to my bird book.) The head also looked very eagle-like and not much like a hawk at all. Unfortunately they flew away before we could get the camera out. I also saw the pair of sandhill cranes that have babies right now and we had a fun encounter with a snapping turtle who was not happy about me standing so close to get a picture!


It is a good thing the wildlife was so interesting yesterday because aside from that I had a very crappy day in the field. First, my severe seasonal allergies kicked in several weeks early (hopefully they still will only last a week or two like usual) and my nose was like a faucet all day! It was miserable. To top that off, my spectrometer (a crucial piece of equipment) broke! And then the Wings lost later that night to be eliminated from the playoffs one round short of the finals! :( (Although my head was so messed up from being totally clogged by snot and then by the allergy medicine I took when I got home that I wasn't really feeling much of anything at that point.)

Luckily, today was better. Claritin is a miracle drug, and I borrowed a new probe for my spec from my generous labmate until we can order another one. There are 47 nests with eggs now, and I expect them to start hatching on Monday!

Happy Birthday Isis!

Thursday marked the 2nd anniversary of the day I picked out Isis at the Humane Society! I've been so lucky to have this wonderful cat in my life for two years!

Isis' birthday cake: treats with catnip sprinkles!

Isis' birthday present: she destroyed the feathers after about two minutes!

Funny math song

For my math geek friends, check out this song (courtesy of Mike):
Mandelbrot Set by Jonathan Coulton

The boys are back in town

My male wrens are finally starting to arrive en masse! (The picture above is the view looking straight down into a nest box with some sticks that a male wren has placed there to begin construction of his nest.) The males were about a week late, so I was starting to get worried. I'm guessing that the late snowstorm we had slowed them down some. But, as of Sunday I had 28 (out of 68) boxes where a male had begun nest construction. I expect more males every day and that the females will be returning sometime next week.