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.

Hockey Playoffs Update

Red Wings:
The Wings won game 5 today 5-1, giving them a 3-2 lead in the series! Game 6 is tomorrow in Calgary. The home team has won every game so far, so the Wings will try to change that tomorrow! I was disgusted by Calgary's dirty play at the end of the game today once the game was out of their reach, including the backup goalie swinging his stick like a baseball bat into one of our players and another one of their players cold-cocking one of our guys in the face. What a bunch of thugs. GO WINGS!


Griffins:
The Griffs won tonight too 4-1, tying their series with Manitoba at 1-1. Now we have 3 games at home this week (Mon, Wed, Fri), so I'm looking forward to some exciting playoff action. If anyone wants to tag along to a game just let me know, as there will be plenty of tickets. GO GRIFFS!

GO WINGS AND GRIFFINS!

Least surprising scientific study results of the year

Abstinence-Only programs don't work

"A long-awaited national study has concluded that abstinence-only sex education, a cornerstone of the Bush administration's social agenda, does not keep teenagers from having sex..."

I feel so much safer now

I can't help but think of the Simpsons episode where the dolphins took over the world...

Navy shows off anti-terror dolphins

Congrats National Champion Spartans!

The Michigan State University hockey team just won the national championship game 3-1 in a come-from-behind victory over favored Boston College! GO SPARTANS! Incidentally, a Red Wings prospect (and future Griffin?), Justin Abdelkader, got the game winning goal for the Spartans.

Game recap from ESPN.com

12 Angry Lindseys

Bah! I just got summoned for jury duty! Now if this had happened in say October it would only be a mild inconvenience. However, my date is right in the middle of field season and while I could probably spend half a day at the court house, I CANNOT actually get put on a jury during field season. At least not and still be able to graduate. There's something on the form about asking for a deferral or excusal or whatever. Has anyone had to do this before? Any tips on getting out of it (or at least getting them to move my date to after field season is over)?

More memes

From Tina's blog

Surprise surprise...

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Science/Math Nerd (Absolute Insane Laughter as you pour toxic chemicals into a foaming tub of death!) Well, maybe you aren't this extreme, but you're in league with the crazy scientists/mathmeticians of today. Very few people have the talent of math and science is something takes a lot of brains as well. Thank whosever God you worship, or don't worship, so thank no deity whatsoever in your case, for you people! Most of us would have died off without your help.
Drama Nerd
Social Nerd
Literature Nerd
Musician
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Anime Nerd
Artistic Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

Hmm ok...




Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?
this quiz was made by Lori Fury

Movie meme

From Nancy's blog...

1. Name a movie that you have seen more than 10 times.
Star Wars (all 3 originals)

2. Name a movie that you've seen multiple times in the theater.
Lord of the Rings (all 3)

3. Name an actor that would make you more inclined to see a movie.
Johnny Depp

4. Name an actor that would make you less likely to see a movie.
Any of the Wayans brothers

5. Name a movie that you can and do quote from.
Clue, The Princess Bride

6. Name a movie musical that you know all of the lyrics to all of the songs.
Phantom of the Opera, several animated Disney movies (Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King, Aladdin...I had the soundtracks when I was a kid!)

7. Name a movie that you have been known to sing along with.
See above

8. Name a movie that you would recommend everyone see.
Dogma

9. Name a movie that you own.
Gattaca

10.Name an actor that launched his/her entertainment career in another medium but who has surprised you with his/her acting chops.
Will Smith

11. Have you ever seen a movie in a drive-in?
No

12. Ever made out in a movie?
No

13. Name a movie that you keep meaning to see but just haven't yet gotten around to it.
The Godfather

14. Ever walked out of a movie?
No

15. Name a movie that made you cry in the theater.
Forrest Gump

16. Popcorn?
I prefer something sweeter.

17. How often do you go to the movies (as opposed to renting them or watching them at home)?
In the summer (when good movies are coming out) probably every other week. Only every three to four months in the winter.

18. What's the last movie you saw in the theater?
The newest James Bond movie (It has been a while!)

19. What's your favorite/preferred genre of movie?
Sci Fi/Fantasy/Action Adventure

20. What's the first movie you remember seeing in the theater?
The Little Mermaid

21. What movie do you wish you had never seen?
Scary Movie

22. What is the weirdest movie you enjoyed?
Moulin Rouge

23. What is the scariest movie you've seen?
Silence of the Lambs (I don't watch many scary movies.)

24. What is the funniest movie you've seen?
Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Happy 10th Anniversary!

It's been 10 years since one of the most memorable hockey games in my lifetime. "[N]ine fights, 11 goals, 39 penalties, 148 penalty minutes, one hat trick, one "turtle" and two Stanley Cup champion goalies duking it out in an overtime thriller." It fueled the flames of a great rivalry and launched the Wing into their `97 Stanley Cup run (and also Cups in `98 and `02).

Happy anniversary to Red Wings, Avalanche
by Thomas Neumann

Lets go Red Wings!

I heart Joss Whedon

The Legacy of Joss Whedon
by Anthony Letizia

Ten years ago, on March 10, 1997, the cult television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer premiered on the now-defunct network The WB. Based on a unsuccessful motion picture of the same name, no one gave the show much of a chance at the time, especially since no one was giving The WB much of a chance to begin with. But succeed it did, for seven seasons, in many ways changing the television landscape — and for the better — in the process... (click on link above for more!)

Favorite non-Simpson?

Coolest Non-Simpson 'Simpsons' Characters

My favorites from this list are Sideshow Bob, Kodos, and Mr. Burns. I'd also add Ralph and Duffman, although they didn't make this particular list.

An Epic Journey

Okay, maybe not epic, but I still had a heck of a time getting home from Rochester on Monday!

For those interested, here are the details:

For reference, it took me 8 hours to get to Rochester when I went out there on Saturday. (It would have been 7 1/2 but I spent a little more time at the border than I was planning on.)

On Monday, I left Rochester at 11:30 AM. The roads were clear, the weather was good. I made it about 20 minutes down I-90 and suddenly ran into completely stopped traffic:

I didn't think this was so bad at first, I mean sometimes you have traffic jams. However, 1 hour and 45 minutes later when I was still sitting in park in exactly the same spot, I felt a little more unhappy about it. However, I did do every single puzzle on the puzzle page of the USA Today that my hotel had given me that morning. Finally, after almost 2 hours traffic got moving. I finally found out what had caused the highway to be completely closed for almost 2 hours:

It was an accident that occurred during a whiteout involving 14 semi-trucks. You can see some of them in this picture on both sides of the road. Remember, this is 2 hours after the accident happened. However, after I got past this accident things went smoothly. There was no wait at all at the border, and in Canada I had about 2 hours of driving where it was even sunny. However, once I got on 403 going inland I met a familiar sight:

This time the car in front of me has an Ontario license plate! Yes, once again a highway was closed because of an accident. This time, they directed everyone off the highway (which took over an hour for me to get to the exit.) So, I was in the-middle-of-nowhere Canada with no idea where to go and the highway closed. So, I improvised. I had a guy from Ontario following me (and I have a Michigan license plate so I obviously didn't know where I was going so I have no idea why he was following me) and together the 2 of us wandered around the back roads for several miles until I finally found my way back to the highway, where it was open! My Ontario friend gave me a triumphant wave as we got back on the highway and moving. Our enthusiasm was short-lived, however:

We had only gone maybe 2 miles (~4 km, since we were in Canada eh) and right where 403 joins 401 we had traffic at a dead stop again. Yes, for the 3rd time on my trip home my highway was closed because of an accident resulting from a whiteout! Then I spent 2 hours sitting on 401. (The pic above is the view behind me from my side mirror.) I went a total of about 1 mile in those 2 hours and finally got to the exit where they were once again kicking everyone off. Luckily there was a truck stop by this exit, (although it was basically chaos because EVERYONE was stopping there,) but I did get to pee and get gas. Then, as I was coming back out to my car trying to decide what to do next, I noticed a heavenly sight: cars were moving on 401 again! I hurried back on the newly re-opened highway and headed for Michigan.

Unfortunately, the whiteouts were not done, and I had to go 25-45 mph for about 60 miles to try to avoid becoming another whiteout accident myself. Then, about 10 miles from the border, it totally cleared up! Michigan welcomed me home! I still had to get all the way across the state, so I didn't actually make it home until 1 AM. So my trip turned into a 13 1/2 hour ordeal. The lesson: uh...it sucks when they close the highway you are traveling on, but it sucks more when they do it to you three times in one day. Thats about all I got from it. Oh and when you are on a road trip, make sure you pee and eat when you get a chance, cuz you never know when you will have to sit in park on the highway for hours.

The Madness of March

McDonalds directly on my way home from campus + Shamrock Shake Season = INEVITABLE!


Actually I've already had 3!

I even got Tom to try one today. The even scarier thing is that I'm about to go on a road trip where I'll actually have to stop at fast food places anyway. Now might be a good time to buy stock in McDonalds! ;-)

In other news:

March certainly had that "in like a lion" thing down today. We had thunder and lightning, rain, freezing rain, sleet, hail, and snow. Here's hoping it means that during nest boxing time at the end of the month the weather will be lamb-like.

My birdfeeder count:
~Junco
~Goldfinch
~Black capped chickadee
~Tufted titmouse
~Nuthatch
~Cardinal

It's about time!

Women players to earn equal pay at Wimbledon

Ummm...

Another chocolate is good for your brain article.

Katie, what are the chances of getting another chocolate order in? :-)

Amazing Race!

In honor of Amazing Race Allstars starting tonight (8 PM, CBS) I was thinking about my all-time favorite TV shows:

Drama:
1. West Wing
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Buffy
4. Veronica Mars
5. (tie) Lost (the first season) & Firefly (which I only saw after it was canceled)

Comedy:
1. Simpsons
2. Colbert Report
3. Scrubs
4. Arrested Development
5. Seinfeld

Reality/Game show:
1. The Amazing Race
2. Jeopardy
3. Flip This/That House, Property Ladder
4. Iron Chef

Comments? Additions? Deletions? Cries of rage?