Sunday, June 21, 2009

snack time


Looks cute doesn't it. A tiny adorable little ball of fur, cutely stuffing its face.
Now, imagine that it is not peanuts but babies stuffed into its fat little cheeks, bird babies. These maniacal little fiends are devastating the junco (my songbird study species) population this year. Roughly 80% of the nests we manage to locate are eaten before they are old enough to leave the nest. This is usually, but not always, due to chipmunks. Not only is this tough on the juncos, trying over and over again to get a batch of young to independence before they are munched like beer nuts, but it is also tough on the poor, hard-working junco researchers that slave for hours and hours in the field to find these nests for our research. This is just the way it goes though if you study a tasty animal. Juncos are great because they are common and plentiful, but for that same reason there are plenty of other animals out there doing their part to keep the population from exploding out of control. These things go in multiyear cycles. About every five years or so there is a good crop of acorns, which allows a lot of rodents to make it through the winter. The following summer there are rodents everywhere, eating everything. This is one of those years. Lucky me, I get to be here to see it.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Sitting quietly


Amazing things happen when you sit quietly in the woods. All sorts of shy creatures, the type that one rarely sees, emerge and go about their daily business. Generally speaking people, including myself, are too busy getting where they are going to stop and sit long enough to see the forest come alive. We're busy getting to the overlook, the waterfall, the campsite or car. But if you pause and settle yourself somewhere unobtrusive the bashful being that make up the majority of living things around us will gradually poke their heads out. Most of the time I'm trying to get 8 things done at once and have little time to engage in such behavior. But, lately, because of the nature of some of my work, I've had the chance to stop and sit awhile. And it's been lovely. Seeing things most people never see, except on television, goes along way to improving ones outlook on life. I highly recommend it.