Virginia is for Birders

The title of my blog is in reference to Virginia's slogan "Virginia is for Birders". This isn't a quaint slogan that you have to research or something that Virginians don't know is their obscure 'state slogan', no, this is everywhere. License plates, signs, commercials - you name it.


 

I can't attest to its truth just yet - but I do know that I came here for the birds and boy have I seen some. We have a big birding blitz day in a few weeks and we are finding nests left and right, so I definitely have birds on the brain (read: not a bird brain).

 

Who knows, maybe Virginia is a great place to come with your significant other, but for me it's going to be rich in my relationship with nature. 

  

Earth Day

We hosted Open Farm on Earth Day 2017! The Reserve had wagon rides around the property with access to roads normally closed to the public. We had a food truck, band, kayak tours, a dock with a spotting scope for birding, and all kinds of activities. It was a little gray and rainy, but a chance to share our passion for nature with the public was worth the extra layers.

I helped relay with the walkie talkies, rode the front of the wagon for a few hours, and helped some people bird at the dock!

 

Bald Eagles

Today I saw something pretty awesome.

I've been lucky to have seen a lot of bald eagles in my life and can account to this day many of these sightings: I remember seeing a baldie nest on an Ecology field trip in Proctor, there was a nice nest spotted from the road in the Grand Tetons and we shared our scope with some French tourists, we saw a huge nest over the swelling Red River while we rode a john boat, I had a pair swoop down around me in a sculpture garden in Seattle last month, and recently we had a giant bald eagle flying so close to us we could hear its wings beat as we floated down the Illinois River. 


The craziest and closest nest I've ever seen was today on a barrier island. This pair has been nesting on the ground for several years now and appear to have fledged one chick this round. Seeing the chick and the parents in this coastal habitat was pretty memorable.

Usually bald eagles choose trees up in the canopy to build their 4-5 foot wide nests, so it was so strange to see this big nest on the ground - and on sand no less!

And I'm only on week 2!

Food

Let's be honest, we all know that my favorite thing to take pictures of is my food. Hate me for it or not, you can't deny it's a savory art.

  

We had a retirement party potluck my second day on the job and I didn't want to seem like a total mooch, so I decided to make cookies. Perhaps I should've gone with something like chex mix, but of course I chose a big project after my first day of work and in a new kitchen. When I got home from my glorious Food Lion experience I realized I had no flour (only cookie mix), no rolling pin, and no vanilla. There was no way in hell I was going back to that Food Lion, so I got creative - hairspray bottle covered in plastic wrap for the rolling pin, plastic wrap on the cutting board since I didn't have flour, and lime juice instead of vanilla to flavor the icing. I also think I was a bit dehydrated and wasn't thinking clearly!

 

Mastering the perfect soft boiled egg

  

My Easter meal was salmon, tricolored carrots roasted with Parmesan, and asparagus with blood orange.

 

Dairy Barn

I'm sure there will be many updates on the dairy barn as the summer progresses, but I'll introduce you to the cute little apartment above the old dairy barn.

It is a cute 2 bedroom "garage apartment". I'll be getting a roommate here shortly, but so far I've been moving in and making it feel like home.

Sunrise at the shop.

Sunrise from my porch.

Here's a look into my first week on the shore. I've been so absorbed with taking it all in for myself that I haven't taken many pictures or thought about how to translate it all to text.

Quite simply, it is beautiful and the staff is all very nice and the work is really cool.

There is a bridge/tunnel/island system that connects mainland Virginia to the peninsula. It costs about $15 to cross, so it's no joke. I was trying to get a picture of the bridge, but upon reviewing it on my computer realized I captured the pod of dolphins that was hanging out off the shore.

These fiddler crabs crack me up. Apparently their numbers will dwindle when the whimbrel come through and feed on them, but right no wit appears like the whole mudflat is moving when they all start retreating to their hidey holes. 

Food Lion

After my first day of work – and field work at that- I decided to go to the grocery store. I was still in my field clothes and thought well, I’m not going to run into anyone I know anyways. Before I had even entered the store I already felt like everyone was staring at me – did they know I wasn’t a local or were they wondering why I was dressed like that? I walked in and tried to separate two carts from the line, but they were stuck for good. A nice man in a self-styled sleeveless shirt said “wait one second little darlin’, they’re stuck together” and promptly pulled them apart.  I’m making friends already!

I’ve learned from many moves to get a membership card to whatever local grocery store you’re going to be frequenting- I have an Ingle’s card from NC, a Stop & Shop card from the Vineyard, and now a Food Lion card from the Eastern Shore. I waited in line at “customer service” to ask the cashier about applying for a card before shopping. She burped audibly and said “woo! I ate some pie, apple pie, and also had some iced tea. I keep getting burps of that mixture!” I nodded and muttered a non-committal ‘oh sure, I hate when that happens’. I asked about the card again and she pointed me towards the machine in the entryway, but hey, new friend number 2!

I went about my shopping with little issue – not very busy in a small town on a Tuesday night. By the time I went to check out I had filled my little cart with more than I had intended and noticed that one of the two open lanes was 12 items or less, so I backed up and went to the other.  While bagging my own groceries in reusable bags (really, the gall of me) the cashier looked at me and said accusingly “you have a little more than 12 items, but I’ll let it pass”. I really don’t think she was kidding at all. I looked up at the sign and saw that she too was 12 items or less – a tough situation when there are a total of 2 check out lines and maybe 6 customers in the whole place. Despite the hold up I caused (no one behind me at all), I made friend #3 - I’m sure of it!

They have probably flagged my newly issued membership card for the safety of all Food Lion customers and employees up and down the peninsula.

First Day Woes

Things that you worry about on the first day of work:

What do I wear?!

You want to look nice, but for field biology that’s tough. You want to appear professional and not ratty, but if you showed up in sparkling field clothes they’d for sure see you didn’t know what you were doing.

**my boss and I literally have the same pants and similar jackets, vests, etc. We basically wear the same outfits. When the whole office went on the boat we were mostly wearing the same chacos and other clothes.

What do I do for lunch?!

Usually this would be the worry of where would you eat in your new office building, but I’m worried about bringing my lunchbox and how many Clif bars I should pack and what food will be easy to eat on a boat or walking in the sand. Why did I buy a Tupperware specific for salads when that is an impractical meal for the field?! But thank god I ordered literally 40+ clif bars to get me started (can I start a GoFundMe for Clif bars??)

**my boss and I were commenting on eachother's Clif bars/Luna bars and our mutual favorite flavors

Will anyone like me?!

Yet to be determined

**I did get invited to happy hour on the first day, but I think that was sort of obligatory.

Summer on the Shore

It looks like I'll have another summer season of shorebird conservation! I'm very excited to be protecting birds along the Atlantic coast again this year. My  2017 season will be in Virginia on the eastern shore. I'll be living on the Delmarva peninsula, an interesting peninsula that isn't connected to mainland Virginia.

I will be working with the same species as last year with a few additions! The best explanation can be found in this video and elsewhere on this page.

What exactly is my life/what do I do/am I always just traveling? Good questions - I've been asked those many times in the last few years.

I'm sort of trying to figure out what I'm doing myself. I graduated college 3 years ago and am hoping to enter a Master's program soon. In this hiatus between formal education I'm trying to get as much experience possible. Though it isn't necessarily ideal to be moving from one seasonal job to another, it is a great opportunity to try out different agencies, different types of jobs, and different areas of the country. It is sort of like spurts of extended vacation, but I do work my butt off while on 'vacation'. I specialize in beach nesting birds which migrate and nest between April and July. The birds' schedule means I am really busy while they're getting busy, but slow the rest of the year. I'm truly enjoying this period of my life when I don't have commitments at home (i.e. house, boyfriend, kids) and can be known as a nomad and take every opportunity that comes my way. I am learning a lot about myself, my ability to jump headfirst into new situations, and what I want the rest of my life to resemble.

I'll write more later about how I got where I am, but that sums up why my life appears like I'm always on vacation :)