Birds amaze me. Birds baffle me. Birds comfort me. These feathered creatures have an indescribable beauty that never fades, an allure that tugs gently at heartstrings, and grace beyond human capability. Birds are also awkward and noisy, scrappy and amusing. This diversity only makes them more interesting.
I intend to share my bird-related stories, thoughts, photos, and knowledge with this blog, and to allow friends and family to keep up with me when I am away from them. I thought about sending out periodic emails, but I’d rather not fill up the inboxes of busy friends or assume that everyone wants to hear what I am doing all the time.
I am currently living at the UC Reserve Field Station on Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the Channel Islands, just off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. I am a field assistant for a project studying the Island Scrub-jay, Aphelacoma insularis. The Island Scrub-jay is endemic to Santa Cruz Island (SCI) and is easily becoming the most charismatic species I have ever observed. It is my job to observe territorial pairs of birds in three plots (with 10-20 pairs per plot) around the island, find their nests, and eventually band their nestlings with a unique combination of plastic color bands. This allows the birds to be easily identified in the field using only binoculars. I’m excited to be a part of this ongoing project, especially in an incredibly unique place like SCI.
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| Hillary Clinton (GBG/AR) perched in search of peanuts. |
Nora, this is a good idea and very well done, but I still think I love you more that you love birds...?
ReplyDeleteGreat idea Nora! Can't wait to read more about your adventures on this wonderful island/ secretly hoping to join you for a week or so as Dewey's field assistant (I still need to talk to him about this though). Much love from your brother,
ReplyDeleteBen