Hi,
I am having a day off due to a wind storm that is presently sweeping away anything not tied down or brought in doors. Figured it would be a good time to let the world know I am still alive and well, other than the grit now covering me from head to toe. The wind is supposed to hit cyclone speeds throughout the day, looking out side I'd say we're there. Just need a huge down poor of rain and it could be a proper little hurricane. I guess out here the dust takes the rains place in the wind, your face, and pretty much everything you own. The heat is finally starting to pick up. Most of last week when I walked out the door to head to work (on the days we weren't winded out) I was in at least three layers!!! But we are starting to head toward the lovely temperatures, which should be interesting seeing how my British counter parts are already complaining that its too hot in the middle of the day, life is about to get rough for them because the scare ball is coming for them! And in Australia the giant scare ball doesn't feel like it is located in the sky it feels like it is sitting on your shoulder, I have never felt the sun so close not even in the middle of the Mohave desert!
We have been out here for a little over 3 weeks now and I have already come across some of the coolest creatures Australia has to offer. Last Monday we headed out to take a look at a Goanna that one of the guys had found. A Goanna is a monitor lizard, this guy is about 1 ½ meters from nose to tip of tail. They had stumbled across its home which is a hallowed out tree. We got to his tree and he wasn't about, but from the other side of the dry creak bed we kept hearing a slight rustling in the dead leaves. So I crossed over to take a look and see what was causing the noise. Slowly creeping along (which is rather hard in a thick layer of very dry leaves, you don't so much creep as crunch your way along) Once I had located the source of the noise, I was so excited words escaped me (I know for some of you thats hard to believe). I ran back to the edge of the bank to tell the others what I had found and managed to articulate the worlds clearest sentence. “It's uh … it's uh … hedgehog, porcupine, thingy!!!!! My message was received and translated into its true meaning Echidna!!!
It was the first Monotreme that I had ever seen in the wild. It was a Short Nosed Echidna. One of the only three remaining monotremes in the world. The others are the long nosed echidna that lives in Papau New Guinea, and the Duck billed platypus that is also found in Australia. They are the last living link between birds and mammals. They are warm blooded, have fur like mammals (thought the echidna's fur has been modified into spines like the hedge hog and porcupine), they produce milk for there young, by secreting it out of pores on their backs. But they lay eggs like birds and reptiles. They are truly amazing little creatures and I was over the moon to find one!!!
It was one of those only in Australia moments made even more perfect by a slight slithering sound. So that we all rotated out heads and there less than 15 feet away from us and our echidna friend was the giant lizard we had come in search of. It was incredible, rotating my head back and forth between one of the worlds weirdest, coolest creatures and a giant lizard that if I laid down next to would be almost as long as me. He looks prehistoric, when he climbed his tree and was basking in the sun he could have been a small dragon. And when I got a little to close and he hissed at me, it was a very impressive sound, one that seemed to come from the depths of the past rather than the little dragon in front of me.
Yesterday was a good day for cool creatures. We went out early and came across a male Emu with his 7 young they were the youngest group of Emu chicks I have seen so far. They stood about 2 feet high and still had their striped plumage. They were so freaking cute!!!! I just wanted to cuddle one I would give it back I would give it back of course just wanted a quick cuddle! Then while I was out working with my birds I looked up and realized that their was a full grown Emu standing less than 6 feet away from where I was sitting with my gear. I figured it was intrigued by the racket my birds were making and came to talk a look at what all the fuss was about. I also found my first bearded dragon yesterday. It was sunning its self on the road, so we pulled over to take a look and also to try and move him at least onto the side because people don't slow down out here and they sure as hell don't watch what hapless animal they might be about to kill. Though we had the best of intentions for the little guy he was not super keen on moving and really not thrilled when I tried to use my foot to scoot him to the edge of the pavement. So we got a full defense display beard and all. It was truly amazing watching him try and take on two full grown humans and we didn't win the argument it only ended when he decided it wasn't worth the effort and took off.
My list of birds and lizards that i have seen out here is increasing astronomically, we are in the midst of a very weird year for Australia. The number of birds that have been seen on the research station for the first time ever is ridiculous. I can't wait for spring migration which should be starting sometime in October I have a feeling we will end up seeing some really cool migrants that don't normally come this way!!
This was my cool critter update. I will try and fallow this soon with an update about what I am actually doing out here, the project I am working on and the other projects and people that are living out here!
I will try and get some pictures posted soon, internet is very limited. We can't use up to much band width!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Hannah and Jack's wedding (She's Hannah Kennedy now!)
Well- the biggest event of the summer was Hannah and Jack's wedding in Massachusetts. That is me on the left, our lovely bride center and (little) Mary in yellow-- practically a grown-up can you believe it! It was a wonderful gathering, held at a quaint old-style summer retreat named Camp Stanica:
by the lake, complete with fairies as flower girls.
These photos document a very lovely wedding, held in a beautiful spot, for a wonderful couple, and their family and friends, both near at hand and far away, all of whom are connected in this community. I also want to add that Barry's mom Beverly, and Papa Gene, and brothers David and Steve (who officiated) and Steve's wife Sibby (who helped design the Chuppah, a Jewish wedding canopy which sheltered the ceremony, and whose top was a gorgeously colored quilt pieced by Hannah) were all present too, but alas-- those pictures have not been downloaded into my computer, so this post is partial-- with what I have on hand today!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Tis me agian!!
Hi everyone,
Sorry I have been such a slacker at posting but life has been kind of crazy.
Just got back from my first voyage into the Great Australian Outback!!! It was great!!! To start my trip I flew up to Sydney where I got to spend a day wondering about the city. Walked to botanical gardens and the found my way to the Opera house. It was really cool standing there looking at this building that I have seen countless times on TV or in picture and here I am right in front of it!
After my day in Sydney I met up with 3 guys that were also going out the the research station and we headed out (I didn't know until we got into the car that it would take 2 days of driving to get there!). Anyway quietest car ride ever!!!!! None of the guys that I was with really talked, Uli and I (who I got to know later and absolutely love him) were strangers and the other two just didn't seem to like each other. Anyway once we got through the Blue Mountains I went into what I call a boredom coma and just took a continuous stream of cat naps. Would wake up to look around watch some landscape roll past then drop my head back on the head rest and be out again for another little nap. Because not only did no one talk but being in the middle of know where your cell phone didn't work, no radio stations came in and there was no CD player or Ipod dock in this car.
That is how I made my way from one side of New South Whales to the other (the wide way a crossed). Once we got to the station I met Simon the professor from Macquarie University that I had arranged this trip through. I didn't even realize when I met him who I was meeting at first. I was expecting an older man and Simon is only 38 was really impressed you usually don't become a tenured prof with a really successful lab in our field before you are 50.
So I went out to work on Zebra Finches, any one who ever spent any amount of time with Granddaddy Howard over the years has seen a Zebra Finch or 300. They are one of the most widely kept birds in the world (I think they are right behind chickens) also one of the most widely studied birds in captivity. Simon's lab is pretty much the only one that studies them in the wild. He has a number of partnerships with other labs around the world so that their students come and do research along side his on the wild finches. One of those students Ulrich Knief (Uli) was my main companion while at the research station.
I was assisting him with catching, banding, and bleeding the finches. By helping him I mean I was catching, banding, and bleeding the birds while he took his morphological measurements that he needed for his project.
The way that we were catching these birds was freaking hysterical! It was something an 8 year boy would come up with (The technique was probably created and perfected by an 8 year old). It consisted of a regular wire bird cage with a sliding door, a stick, string and some seed. We seeded the cage tide a string to the stick propped the door open with said stick unrolled the string about 10- 15 meeters and waited. Before we could really trap, the feeders need to be heavily seeded with the door wired open for a few days so that the finches could find them and get used to going in them. We were extremely successful, on average I would catch about 100 birds a day the problem quickly became that we were re-catching a lot of the same birds (ones that we had already banded).
I have to go to work now so I will have to continue this post later.
But here are some pictures from my trip!
Our Work Station
Male Zebra Finch
Sun Rise
Me and my first Spike haired pigeon (more scientifically called a crested pigeon) I as you can tell by photographic evidence am thrilled Pigeon not so much!
This is a picture that Uli took in December but I love it. This little guy had just gotten out of the pouch.
Me in a Gum tree
Spiders were everywhere, amazing webs and the tensile strength of these webs was insane!
I have fallen in love with Gum trees they are so beautiful and smell amazing
Tried to get a picture of an Emu the whole time I was out there. Then as we were driving in to Broken Hill to drop me off this whole family came up next to the road to say good bye!
My partner Uli kissing a Honeyeater that I caught!
Sorry I have been such a slacker at posting but life has been kind of crazy.
Just got back from my first voyage into the Great Australian Outback!!! It was great!!! To start my trip I flew up to Sydney where I got to spend a day wondering about the city. Walked to botanical gardens and the found my way to the Opera house. It was really cool standing there looking at this building that I have seen countless times on TV or in picture and here I am right in front of it!
After my day in Sydney I met up with 3 guys that were also going out the the research station and we headed out (I didn't know until we got into the car that it would take 2 days of driving to get there!). Anyway quietest car ride ever!!!!! None of the guys that I was with really talked, Uli and I (who I got to know later and absolutely love him) were strangers and the other two just didn't seem to like each other. Anyway once we got through the Blue Mountains I went into what I call a boredom coma and just took a continuous stream of cat naps. Would wake up to look around watch some landscape roll past then drop my head back on the head rest and be out again for another little nap. Because not only did no one talk but being in the middle of know where your cell phone didn't work, no radio stations came in and there was no CD player or Ipod dock in this car.
That is how I made my way from one side of New South Whales to the other (the wide way a crossed). Once we got to the station I met Simon the professor from Macquarie University that I had arranged this trip through. I didn't even realize when I met him who I was meeting at first. I was expecting an older man and Simon is only 38 was really impressed you usually don't become a tenured prof with a really successful lab in our field before you are 50.
So I went out to work on Zebra Finches, any one who ever spent any amount of time with Granddaddy Howard over the years has seen a Zebra Finch or 300. They are one of the most widely kept birds in the world (I think they are right behind chickens) also one of the most widely studied birds in captivity. Simon's lab is pretty much the only one that studies them in the wild. He has a number of partnerships with other labs around the world so that their students come and do research along side his on the wild finches. One of those students Ulrich Knief (Uli) was my main companion while at the research station.
I was assisting him with catching, banding, and bleeding the finches. By helping him I mean I was catching, banding, and bleeding the birds while he took his morphological measurements that he needed for his project.
The way that we were catching these birds was freaking hysterical! It was something an 8 year boy would come up with (The technique was probably created and perfected by an 8 year old). It consisted of a regular wire bird cage with a sliding door, a stick, string and some seed. We seeded the cage tide a string to the stick propped the door open with said stick unrolled the string about 10- 15 meeters and waited. Before we could really trap, the feeders need to be heavily seeded with the door wired open for a few days so that the finches could find them and get used to going in them. We were extremely successful, on average I would catch about 100 birds a day the problem quickly became that we were re-catching a lot of the same birds (ones that we had already banded).
I have to go to work now so I will have to continue this post later.
But here are some pictures from my trip!
Our Work Station
Male Zebra Finch
Sun Rise
Me and my first Spike haired pigeon (more scientifically called a crested pigeon) I as you can tell by photographic evidence am thrilled Pigeon not so much!
This is a picture that Uli took in December but I love it. This little guy had just gotten out of the pouch.
Me in a Gum tree
Spiders were everywhere, amazing webs and the tensile strength of these webs was insane!
I have fallen in love with Gum trees they are so beautiful and smell amazing
Tried to get a picture of an Emu the whole time I was out there. Then as we were driving in to Broken Hill to drop me off this whole family came up next to the road to say good bye!
My partner Uli kissing a Honeyeater that I caught!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
"Snow"--fwd from Aunt Gail in Spencer, Oklahoma (I borrowed an image to illustrate)
Dear Ones, Yes, we got a lot of it (snow) this time. And lots of
wind, too. So much they are now calling it a ground blizzard (snow
has stopped falling, now just flying around due to the winds). And
it is below bitter cold. Just downright dangerous. Has been -16
degrees all day and will be worse tonight.
And, yes, once again, we are blessed. We are warm, dry and have
the ability to make hot food. Our biggest problem is that the dog
barely stays outside long enough to tend to necessities! She loved
the snow last year. Today she wouldn't even leave the path I made
for her in order to chase the birds perching on low bushes.
Actually, the whole state has pretty well been blessed. Not so
many serious car crashes, 'cause most everyone has heeded the
warnings to stay home, but not had many, if any power outages,
downed electric lines, etc.
Tomorrow, I hope to get out for long enough to shovel the driveway
and have it stay shoveled. We are expecting delivery of a new wood
lathe as soon as this stuff clears out and it seems they won't even
bring it up the driveway. They will forklift it off the truck and
maybe sit it on the curb! So, our entertainment as we wait this
storm out is figuring how to get this monster up the driveway and
positioned in the garage. We are at this point thinking hiring
some day laborers to help and carrying it like we do trees at a
sundance! Please make a prayer that the wind stops so there is not
such a horrible wind chill factor and there is no ice under the
snow, cause this thing is probably going to get dropped off on
Thursday! Lots of love to all, Gail
wind, too. So much they are now calling it a ground blizzard (snow
has stopped falling, now just flying around due to the winds). And
it is below bitter cold. Just downright dangerous. Has been -16
degrees all day and will be worse tonight.
And, yes, once again, we are blessed. We are warm, dry and have
the ability to make hot food. Our biggest problem is that the dog
barely stays outside long enough to tend to necessities! She loved
the snow last year. Today she wouldn't even leave the path I made
for her in order to chase the birds perching on low bushes.
Actually, the whole state has pretty well been blessed. Not so
many serious car crashes, 'cause most everyone has heeded the
warnings to stay home, but not had many, if any power outages,
downed electric lines, etc.
Tomorrow, I hope to get out for long enough to shovel the driveway
and have it stay shoveled. We are expecting delivery of a new wood
lathe as soon as this stuff clears out and it seems they won't even
bring it up the driveway. They will forklift it off the truck and
maybe sit it on the curb! So, our entertainment as we wait this
storm out is figuring how to get this monster up the driveway and
positioned in the garage. We are at this point thinking hiring
some day laborers to help and carrying it like we do trees at a
sundance! Please make a prayer that the wind stops so there is not
such a horrible wind chill factor and there is no ice under the
snow, cause this thing is probably going to get dropped off on
Thursday! Lots of love to all, Gail
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Pictures
Just wanted to post up some pics that I have. I will try and put up a post in the next day or so. I am totally beat from work so I am off to bed.
love ya
love ya
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