Reconnecting with Nature

As I have probably lamented before, birding in college is almost nonexistent. Senior year has taken off with full force and day after day I find myself swamped with homework, research, my jobs, and extracurricular activities (like gardening and running clubs). If I didn't love all this, I wouldn't do it -- but I guess I've sort of hit that mid-semester lull where I'm just tired of it all.. It seems like ever since I got back from my internship over the summer, school hasn't been the same. I get so restless being cooped up inside and I'm itching for adventure. 

Fortunately, fall break was last weekend, and, while it didn't quite satisfy my brain's need for some rest, I was able to get outside and reacquaint myself with the outdoors once more. 

Cattle drive

For break, I co-led a camping trip for my school's outdoor club. On our way up to our camping spot (about 2 hours north of school), we stopped at a little roadside farmer's market, where the shopkeepers informed us of a Florida cracker festival going on down the road. Lo and behold, a few minutes away we found the cracker fest, stopped for some lunch, and within the hour we found ourselves in the midst of a small cattle drive.

Local police stopped traffic for the drive

Period covered wagon

It was a rather random event to stumble upon, but quite enjoyable and a very "Florida" experience.

After that we all decided to scrap our backpacking plans and just go road-tripping, rolling with whatever happened. It was a good thing we did too, because things proceeded to go completely opposite of what we planned on, but turned out to be more fun than I ever could have hoped.

When we arrived at the primitive campsite, it turned out to be already occupied. As we were hiking the trail to find an unoccupied spot we came out to a beautiful river overlook, but were distracted by a putrid smell.

"Look at that big bird!" a freshmen pointed out to me. Ever the birding snob, I started to correct him that it was in fact, a black vulture, when we all realized at the same time what the vulture was sitting on: a 10 foot long dead alligator!

It didn't appear to have been shot (unfortunately such is the fate of most large gators around here), but it was otherwise impossible to tell the cause of death since it was floating with a patch of lilies in the middle of the river. Nonetheless, it was one of the biggest alligators in the wild I have ever seen, and quite a shame it was dead.

Our campsite

After gawking at the gator for a while and finishing the hike (finding no open campsites), we drove to the next closest camp ground, which wasn't as primitive, but was fortunately completely deserted; we had the whole place all to ourselves.

My tent :)

It was a fantastic night. We cooked a big pot of soup over a camp stove, hiked around, hung out, and eventually settled down for a chilly night on the soft ground listening to the call of insects and nighthawks and the distant rumble of air boats on the river.

The next morning I was wide awake hours before anyone else got up. I wandered the campsite watching the  birds, counting cardinals, phoebes, blue-gray gnatcatchers, Carolina wrens, common yellowthroats. I accidentally surprised a juvenile raccoon at one point, and followed it into the woods where it disappeared behind a tree.

Once everyone else got up, we ate a quick breakfast and headed back south to go visit a nearby cave. I hadn't been to these caves in almost a decade, since I was a kid, and they were quite different than I remembered.

Physically the cave was the same -- I vividly recalled the magical entry through the roots of a dead tree into the limestone caverns of the giant sink hole -- but unlike 10 years ago, today the caves are literally crawling with people.

Crowded cave

Tour groups, families, and campers were flowing in and out of the cave tunnels like ants in an ant hill. Although the plethora of spelunkers took away a little bit from the experience I remembered as a kid, it was still fun to squeeze through the tiny passages and come out in big caverns lit only by our flashlights.

Yours truly, coming out into the main cavern

We spent a couple hours exploring around in the caves before heading back to campus and watching the sunset over dinner. Although this marked the end of the camping trip, my fall break outdoor adventures were not quite over.

Kayaking

On the last day of break, my roommate and I decided to spend the morning sea kayaking. It was a chilly morning at first, and we were the first ones at the waterfront. We launched out kayaks and were quickly off through the creek and out into the smooth waters of the bay. We made it out to the nearby island and wildlife refuge, and spent a couple hours meandering around the mangroves, watching mullet hurl themselves out of the water, yellow-crowned night herons squawk and take off clumsily from their roosts, and brown pelicans glide serenely over the gentle waves.

By the time we decided to head back to school, the sun had warmed the air but the wind had picked up as well. At some points it seemed I was paddling in place, the wind was so strong. Nevertheless, we made it back to campus safe and sound, if not slightly exhausted.

And so ended my fall break. I cannot express how great it felt to be outside again, not worrying about school or life for a few blissful days. But now that it's all over I'm freaking out again, wondering how I'll ever catch up with everything. Alas.

Well, until the next time I get a break from the stresses of school, happy birding!

Summer in review

I guess you know it's a good summer when you don't have the time blog about it. But unfortunately the fact that I am now writing about it means that for the most part, it's over. Needless to say, it will be impossible to retell it all in a single post, but I'll do my best to give a short recap of the highlights. 

I mentioned in my last post that most of my summer job consisted of working as a camp counselor, which was an experience in and of itself. Although insanely difficult at first, throughout the summer things got easier as I learned how to work with kids and became more comfortable with my own abilities as a teacher. It was such a great feeling to spend every day outside and watching kids gain a new appreciation for the natural world, even if only in a small way.

Appalachian Blue

But the summer was full of other opportunities to improve my own naturalist skills as well. From periodic bird walks with the experienced staff members, to citizen science projects like butterfly counts, I tried to take advantage of as many of these opportunities as I could. 

Silver Spotted Skipper

Handling the Barn Owl for the first time

One of my favorite jobs was working with the birds of prey at the raptor center. Although cleaning their enclosures wasn't always that much fun, I was able to spend a lot of time handling the trained birds for weekend raptor shows and traveling road shows (TRS's) to educate people on birds and wildlife. I was actually surprised how little people know about birds, but it was a good experience to teach them and I ended up learning a lot, myself. 

Sunrise over the Catalina Mtns

About three-quarters of the way through my internship, I took a week off to travel to AZ for a conference for a scholarship I won earlier this year. It was a pretty big deal -- all-expense paid trip, funding for my last year of school, and the opportunity to network with 80 other student environmental leaders from around the country. Although much of this involved sitting inside conference rooms attending workshops, I spent the early mornings out on the hiking trails.

White-winged Dove

I didn't see a large number of birds, but most of them were new to me, as an Easterner. I was delighted by the abundance of Anna's hummingbirds, white-winged doves, Gila woodpeckers, cactus wrens, and other desert specialties that flourished in the hostile environment.  

Cactus Wren

Gila Woodpecker

Costa's Hummingbird

On one of the last days of the trip, the scholarship foundation took us to the Desert Museum, a 21-acre outdoor natural history museum and botanical garden. Although it was insanely hot (temperatures pushing 110 degrees!), it was also incredibly unique and enjoyable. I only wish we had had more time to explore it! By far, my favorite exhibit was the Hummingbird House, a small aviary literally buzzing with hummingbirds! It was great for photo ops, but also a good look at many of the local specialty species I wasn't able to see in the wild on that trip.

Female Anna's hummer

After a whirlwind tour of southeast AZ, I flew back east to central PA for the final 3 weeks of my internship. If you've never tried to teach a week of summer camp while jet-lagged, believe me: it's not easy! But I got through it, and spent the final weeks working around the center and with the raptors some more, trying to soak up each moment as best I could. 

Holding the Golden Eagle!

By far, my proudest moment of the final week was holding the Golden Eagle. I spent the summer working my way up to each species: the screech owls, the barred owl, the broad-winged hawk, the great-horned owl, the red-tailed hawk, the barn owl. All that was left was the big girl, the mother-of-all-raptors, the Golden.

Weighing in at nearly 12 lbs, standing 3 feet tall, with a 7 foot wingspan and an attitude, I'd been itching to handle this bird all summer. On my last day, the raptor intern (a great friend) asked if I'd like to try. I was game. That is, until I pulled on the glove. As we opened the door, I changed my mind; the bird was shifting around in the cage like a madwoman, ready to hop on my arm.

"I... think I'm good. I don't want to do this," I stammered, sliding into the safety of the back room.

"Are you sure?" She asked, clearly disappointed. I was disappointed in me too, but my heart was racing and I felt almost light-headed. She offered to tire the bird out first, so I agreed.

Quickly and smoothly, the other intern had the raptor up on her arm without a hitch. I agreed to try again. She coached me through it. "Just walk in quickly and present your arm," she said.

The Golden knew exactly what to do; after a little coaxing, she stepped on and I immediately felt the tight grip of her talons and weight of her body. My friend handed me the wooden staff used to keep your arm up under the intense weight.

It's a slightly painful experience with the strain on your arm, but the adrenaline rush distracts you in the moment. I have very rarely ever felt that same tangle of emotions - fear, respect, admiration, awe - towards an animal, but it was pretty special and an amazing way to end my summer.

Sunset on the last day

Where to next?

Approximately 96 hours (that's four days!) from now, I will be in Pennsylvania if all goes as planned. I've landed myself an internship at an environmental education center up there for the summer. My main duty will be as a camp councilor, but I will also be working with live animals and helping run the nature center among other things.

This will essentially be my first time in the state (I don't really count driving through it as "being there"), and my first time working as an intern, so I am really looking forward to the change of scenery and experience. Although I expect to keep busy working most of the summer, I am also looking forward to the opportunity to spend time outdoors and get to know the local birds of PA while I'm there.

Not sure how often I'll be able to post over the summer, but I'll try to keep this updated as much as possible. It's bound to be an adventure, whatever happens! Wish me luck!

And until next time, happy birding!

Final Days in Puerto Rico

Finally finished with school for the semester and wanted to post a few more pictures from my final days in Puerto Rico last month (wow, was it already that long ago?). Didn't see any new birds really in the final 2 days, but I did become very accustomed to the regulars -- scaly-naped pigeons, stripe-headed tanagers, tons of hummingbirds, wrens, and yellow-shouldered blackbirds.

After finishing work on our second-to-last day, we spent the afternoon hiking in the waterfalls. These falls were about a 15 minute trek from the Hacienda into the jungle, and were comprised of a narrow, rocky stream that ran down from the mountain top. I also found out on our last day that this was the source of water we had been drinking for the last week! No filtration or processing, just pure mountain water piped straight to the house. It tasted delicious, and no one got sick from it so I guess it was clean enough!

Climbing down (I'm in the purple hat)

We literally followed the stream for hours, climbing up waterfall after waterfall after waterfall. It was seemingly endless. Some were small and needed only a short step up, and others were taller than I am and required some intense finessing to get up. Coming down again was a whole other ordeal!

On our last day, we packed up again and headed off in the sketchy red van, with more people than there were seats bouncing around as we hurtled down the mountain. It was another gorgeous day, and I couldn't help but feel reflective and somewhat melancholy as we left the pristine jungles for the coastal city.

As if a testament to the urban growth slowly taking over the island, we passed this gigantic overpass that cuts straight through the rainforest from Ponce on the coast to Utuado inland. For a rainforest that  had made me feel so small, insignificant, and very much at the mercy of nature all week long, this bridge turned the tables completely, dwarfing the mountains and throwing nature at the mercy of humankind.

Cool sand sculpture

Once we got into Ponce, we had the whole afternoon and half the night to enjoy the city before heading to the airport at midnight (hooray for budget flights!). We wandered the central street market, browsed the shops, and had dinner at a fancy restaurant for our last meal together.

The city contrasted sharply to the jungles that surround it. Although it's fairly old and retains the classic Latin American style of architecture and layout, it's a very different world from the lives led by those who live in the mountains. 

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Like all travel, it was immensely eye-opening to the ways other people live, and a fantastic opportunity to visit one of the few biodiversity hotspots left in the world today. I hope to return to the Caribbean islands and Latin America someday soon and see what else there to see!

Ginormous millipede

On Thursday of spring break week, we got a day off from working to take a trip to some local caves. Our faithful guide accompanied us, but before taking us to the caves he wanted to show us a local cultural center. I was skeptical at first, but it turned out to be a really interesting archaeological site.

The Caguana Indigenous Ceremonial Park is an ancient Taino (native Puerto Rican) site dating back to 1200-1500AD, full of petroglyphs and plazas. The plazas were apparently areas used for civic and religious activities, as well as a ball game known as batey. The petroglyphs portray animals and human faces, thought to represent leaders of the tribes. I was really excited to see this, especially since I’m taking an archaeology class right now and got to geek out on some of the concepts I’ve been learning about.

Petroglyphs -- the middle one is one of the most famous images in PR

Bird petroglyphs! 

After spending some time at the site, we drove about another hour or so on windy roads, before parking at a gas station. I was a little confused at first, but it turned out the entrance to a cave we were visiting was accessible by a small, steep trail leading up a densely jungled and rocky mountain behind the gas station.

There were a couple small caves along the way, but our guide assured us that the cave we were looking for was much larger.

 And indeed it was! We followed a set of natural, steep steps down into a large cavern, switching on our headlamps and flashlights as the light from outside quickly diminished. It was clear that the cave was heavily used by people, but it was definitely an “off the beaten path” sort of place — not ropes, railings, lights, signs, or any sort of safety regulations you might find in a cave that size in the States!

Bats

More bats

The photos above are deceiving, but even with flashlights, the cave was pitch black once we got away from the opening. You could only vaguely make out the ground a couple feet in front of you. When we shined lights up at the ceiling, we could see bats swooping in and out.

After a few long minutes of picking our way through the darkness, light began showing at the end of a wide tunnel. When we came out to it, I realized we were hundreds of feet above the ground with a sheer drop down, looking out over the misty landscape. It was absolutely breathtaking.

As we sat there taking in the view, a rainstorm swept across the mountains, shrouding everything in fog. It’s impossible to even describe, but it was just beautiful. It was by far one of my favorite days yet, and a good end to a week of service work, fun times, and many new perspectives.

White-winged Dove

Service Learning in Puerto Rico: Part 3

While the first couple days of our trip were pretty laid back, the real work began on Monday when our site host arrived to put us to work. As all of our days would begin from then on, we rose with the sunrise and hiked up the steep mountain trail. Before we began that day, our host showed us some of the other trails and told us about the preserve and the work we would be doing. He showed us the plantains and coffee groves, and the sacred trees of the forest. Unfortunately I forgot most of the names of the plants he showed us, as they were mostly in Spanish.

Most sacred tree in the forest

One of the most interesting plants were the sacred trees in the old growth forest near the top of the mountains. They had a thick, gooey sap that smelled like Vicks vapor rub, and were used medicinally for the same purposes (to help with colds and to clear sinuses). You could see healed-over scratches in the tree’s bark where people had harvested some of the sap. After showing us all this, he had us all stop for a moment and pray to it; he felt a great affinity and spiritual connection to this part of the forest.

View from the mountain

We hiked back partway down the mountain and split off into different work groups. Some students stayed on the mountain to help the site host’s worker dig drainage trenches on the trail while the rest of us went down to clean out the guest houses on the plantation.

Giant cane toad (and Nana the white fluffy dog)

It wasn’t at all glamorous work. Unfortunately, the site had fallen into some state of disrepair over the past few months, largely due to lack of upkeep and probably not enough people to help, so the task before as was tremendous. We had to scrub the walls and stairs free of mildew (thanks to that warm, moist rainforest climate!), haul away rusted farm equipment and car parts, and generally organize the plantation complex.

There was also a small organic garden next to the main house that we recovered, clearing away weeds and harvesting ripe vegetables. We found peppers, tomatoes, and even ginger root flourishing in the overgrown weeds.

Awesome caterpillar 

Once we got to the inside of the main guest house, it got even worse — The kitchen and library rooms needed to be organized, gutted, scrubbed, dusted, and otherwise scoured from top to bottom. It took us the majority of the week to get it all done, but the end result was quite an improvement.

Even though the work was exhausting, messy, and not always fun, that was exactly the reason we needed to be there volunteering. The fact that we were able to help out, even in a small way made the trip that much more fulfilling.

Puerto Rican Stripe-headed Tanager

So that was how we spent most of our week: up to our elbows in dirt or dust or any number of other unpleasant things, but having a great time doing it (for the most part!).

The last couple days of our trip would be a little more exciting… so stay tuned!

Service Learning in Puerto Rico: part 2

Partly from exhaustion and partly from the symphony of coqui frogs outside my open window, I slept like a baby during my first night in Puerto Rico (zipped up tightly in my sleeping bag for fear of insects crawling in!).

We awoke with the sunrise and met our van in front of the guest house to take a day trip to the Arecibo Observatory, the largest radiotelescope in the world. After a harrowing 1 1/2 hour ride down some more treacherous mountain roads, we drove up a steep mountain, parked, and then hiked further up the steep mountain to the tiny observatory museum.

After wandering around, watching a short movie (which was in English, surprisingly!) we exited out the back door and found ourselves looking down into a massive dish that encompassed the entire valley.

It was one of those things that is really too big to even comprehend. It dwarfed the mountains and rain forest that surrounded it, like a giant bowl set into the earth.

We gaped at it for a little while, took some pictures, enjoyed the view, and then trekked back down the steep mountain. Our guide wanted to show us more of Puerto Rico, so we continued on to the city of Aricebo, on the northern coast of the island. 

Just as we were close enough to see the waters of the Caribbean in the distance…. BANG!!!! … With a jolt and the sound of a gunshot, our right back tire blew out in the middle of the road. Our driver pulled off to the side by a chain link fence and an old car lot, and we dutifully filed out to evaluate the damage.

The thing was ripped to shreds and our hubcap had spun off about 40 feet away. After retrieving it, and trying to jack up the van, the driver and guide discovered the jack was too small. We tried several variations of propping it up with wood and rocks, but to no avail. Eventually the driver called a friend who had a larger car jack, and we waited another 30 minutes out in the sun for him to arrive. Eventually they got the donut on and we were well on our way again, disaster averted.

When we arrived at the beach, we found ourselves amidst a cacophony of blaring Latino music and roar of waves breaking on the brown sand. We found a quieter place along the beach and headed into the waves, clothes and all. I discovered the hard way, however, that the waves in Puerto Rico are nothing like those on the gulf coast. Once you walk out to about waist-deep, the current is so strong it literally pulls you in across the rock bottom and then throws back at shore again, completely whipping you off your feet. It was kind of exciting at first, until waves got big enough to pull me under — not so fun anymore.

I had a blast, though. Once everyone got back, we rinsed off as best we could, piled in the little van, and sped off back to town for lunch at a crowded local BBQ joint. The food was delicious — we enjoyed meals of yellow rice, beans, beef, chicken, fried potatoes, and plantains, all cooked to perfection.

Yellow-shouldered Blackbird

Upon returning to the house late afternoon, I spent the rest of the day relaxing on the porch and exploring around the nearby trails. Tons of birds were around, as always, their calls, chirps, and whistles echoing through the mountains. 

Multiple species of hummingbirds and Puerto Rican Todies flew right through the porch to taste the plantain blossoms that grew around the building. They were way too fast to photograph though.

Mystery bird?

I also managed to get a shot of this little guy, but I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas?

Stay tuned for part 3 in the next few days!