I haven't been out in the field since I came home from Sheldon, at least not long term. I've been working in the lab of Normandeau Associates, an environmental consultation firm with it's national headquarters in Bedford NH. We did however head out to Hampton NH for about a week to dig for clams in the tidal flats in front of seabrook. It was great to get back out in the field again.
I particularly enjoyed watching the cormorants that liked to gather on the pilings at lunch to dry their wings.
I had been searching for a while for another field job before I was offered a position in Florida on Archbold Biological Station. I'll be a field assistant on a Florida Scrub Jay breeding physiology and nutritional ecology study. So according to the job announcement I'll be "spending time censusing the population, nest-finding and monitoring, and helping with logistical support of the project." According to the grad students who hired me I'll be helping capture birds to take blood samples for DNA as well. I'll be down there for the months of March and April. Then I have one week with which I plan to drive across the country back to SHELDON!
I'm wicked excited to be heading back to Sheldon for another season. This season I'll be there for the full three months, May through the end of July. I'll be based at Badger Cabin and be a nest searcher. I wanted to do something a bit different from point counting. Aaron told me in an e-mail that Matt and Berti are planning on coming back to Badger at this point as well. So that is just an added bonus to the return to the sagebrush.
I'm hoping that when the Sheldon season ends I'll have another field job lined up. If not, or even if I do, and have some time between jobs, I'm planning on taking my time out west, driving around, and seeing what there is to see.
So until I return to the field I'm getting in as much bouldering, skiing, and visiting with friends from home as possible. Because soon enough I'll be off again!
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