Day 9: June 3, 2016

Day 1 of Black Mountains Hermit Thrush Study

I woke up late for bird work -- at 6:30 am.  Olivia and I had gotten to the Black Mountains campsite late the previous night and didn't get to sleep until 12:00.  So our team of (aspiring) ornithologists -- John (my bird mentor who works at the Museum of Natural Sciences and has given me opportunities like this one), Edward (rising college sophomore who helped write the grant application for this study), Olivia, and I -- decided to sleep in a bit.  For breakfast I ate vanilla yogurt with granola and an everything bagel.  You might not really care about my breakfast, but I'm a foodie so I might describe food every once in a while, especially when I'm in special circumstances like camping or traveling.  Just wait until I travel to Spain, and then you'll really see what a food nerd I am :)

Our four-person group drove 20-30 minutes from the campsite to an overlook nearby the ridge we would be conducting our study.  The overlook was the only spot Olivia and I could get service to contact our parents (it was great, honestly, to disconnect from the world for a few days), and the view was spectacular.  The mountains were spread and folded before us, a mix of conifer-deep green (red spruce, mostly) and the paler emerald of deciduous trees (yellow birch and others).  Within the fine fabric of greens was the smooth silver-brown of dead Frasier firs, trees, John explained, killed by the balsam woolly adelgid that has killed pretty much all of the mature firs in the surrounding area.  We were close to Mount Mitchell, the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi at 6,684 ft, although the overlook was at 5,160 ft. in elevation.  While at the overlook, John showed us youngsters how to tie a transmitter.  A transmitter is a small device powered by a hearing aid battery that we would later attach to Hermit Thrushes like tiny backpacks.  They emit specific frequencies that we can use to track the birds at a close range.  The transmitters cannot weigh more than five percent of the bird's body mass, so that it will not hinder their flight or movement and make them more vulnerable to a predator.

The most exciting thing that morning on the overlook was seeing a lifer -- the Chestnut-Sided Warbler.  Edward (who's very good at bird songs and calls; much better than me, though that's not saying much) heard the warbler singing and called it in.  The warbler sat in beautiful lighting for ten minutes, singing and preening itself on a tree branch quite close by.  It was an astonishing male, with bold black face markings, a highlighter yellow cap, a fierce splash of chestnut-brown flanks, and yellow wing bars (which is unusual for warblers, John said).

After spending some time at the overlook, we drove down to park on the ridge where we would conduct our study.  Right as we got there, Edward used playback to call in a Blackburnian Warbler, another incredible lifer.  The male came in quickly, awing us with his ink-black facial markings striking against fiery orange, then fading into yellow in the throat.  I was instantly reminded of Emma's remark to me last year when she saw it for the first time, saying that it was like the color of a Cheeto in the canopy.

Fieldwork time:

Some things I learned as I set up nets and used playback to catch two Hermit Thrushes on the first day of Black Mountains fieldwork:

• Always bring clothespins to hold up the net while you set up the other pole.  This is especially important when setting up the net alone.  You have to stick one pole in the ground, put the loops of the mist net (usually twelve meters long, three meters tall, with fine, almost invisible mesh) around the pole, and attach clothespins below the loops.  These keep the net from falling to the stick-covered ground as you stretch out the net to the other side and attach it to the other set of poles.
• Play playback (a recording of the bird's song or call) of the target bird before you set up the net.  By doing this, you can ensure that the bird is nearby and will actually come into the net before spending time setting up the mist net.
•  For thrushes like HETH (the alpha code for Hermit Thrushes), don't make the net super tight.  Leave the trammels (pockets that the birds fall into when the fly into the net) loose so that the birds do not get injured as they enter the net.  The thrushes we caught were quite aggressive, so they flew in very fast (or "hard" in ornithologist lingo) and could possibly get hurt if the net was too taut.
• HETH approach pattern: I helped John set up two nets, and in both we caught a male Hermit Thrush.  Thus, I was able to determine what seemed to be a trend in how these birds approached a net.  They both came in very quickly to the first round of playback, before we set the net up.  During the second playback, after we had set up the net, they tended to simply sing back.  It was helpful to wait a while, about ten minutes, without playback after the second shot.  We then tried again, and the thrushes flew into the net.  
• Models are extremely helpful.  Models are wooden carvings of birds that can clip onto trees.  Birds don't know the difference between the models and a real bird, especially with playback.  John had brought a Swainson's Thrush model, and since it looks similar to a Hermit Thrush, it worked very well.
• Find an area with some low vegetation that is just clear enough to fit the net.  This helps the birds come in slower.
• Bungee the net pole directly in front of the tree it's attached to and make sure it is completely straight.

I put a harness on the second thrush that John and I caught.  Putting on a harness is tricky and a two-person job, but it was great to have the opportunity to do it. 

The first Hermit Thrush that we caught was cool because he came into the playback with a large insect in his mouth, indicating he either had nestlings or was feeding an incubating female.

Some cool notes/things I saw:

• Lady Fern is "thrice-cut" and thus looks quite lacy, while Resurrection Fern is only once-cut and browns when it is dry then springs up all green and happy-looking when it gets wet again
• Red squirrels are adorable and make trilling sounds
• Hay-scented Fern smells like grass/hay, and some birds may nest in it specifically because the strong scent could confuse predators, according to Mark.  Mark is a retired man who, along with his wife Marilyn, birds all over the Black Mountains and has a permit to find bird nests.  He is a "true naturalist," John says, because he is fascinated and knowledgeable about every facet of the natural world.  He also knows an incredible amount of the social and natural history of the Black Mountains, which I find pretty awesome.
• The stem of Yellow Birch smells exactly like spearmint

Days 4 - 8: May 29 - June 2, 2016

The next few days were full of relaxation and much-needed family time.  I played Spades with Olivia, Mama, and Daddy, continuing the long game that has been going on for years.  I don't remember how old I was when Olivia and I were taught how to play Spades by our parents, but it has been at least eight years since we began our game.  It is pretty remarkable how close our scores have stayed.  Olivia and I are on one team and Mama and Daddy are on the other, and both of our teams have over 80,000 points and the scores are within 100 points of each other.  I have always enjoyed having this family time, because we always have fun playing as we listen to Lyle Lovett and/or Ray Charles, our go-to Spades music choices.

Along with Spades-playing, I watched some West Wing with my family.  Daddy has always loved the show, and Mama has, too, and they were excited to introduce it to us.  Olivia and I got hooked, enthralled with the well-rounded characters and political story line.  Now, it has become another family tradition to watch the show at the end of a long day.

Some important events to note:

IB Prank at Millbrook: The afternoon of May 31, I went to school to blow up balloons.  That sounds a bit ridiculous, and I suppose that it is.  My 20th Century Topics teacher organized an IB prank to flood Millbrook's IB Coordinator's office with balloons on the day of IB graduation.  So, for two hours on May 31, I was in my teacher's room blowing up balloons.  The following morning, I got to school at 6:15 and helped fill the office with balloons.  It was fun, hanging out with my IB peers and teacher as we laughed and joked while we pulled the prank.  We were lucky enough to be there when our IB coordinator arrived to his office and saw that he was surprised, overwhelmed, and had an expression on his face like he might laugh so hard he would fall over.  Most students left after talking with him a bit, but Olivia convinced me to stay along with some of our friends to clean up all of the balloons.

IB Graduation:  This wonderful event was a time of unity, glory, sadness, and joy.  My good friend Dawson gave a beautiful speech that almost made me cry, and after a formal ceremony there was time for many pictures, yearbook signings, and hugs.  One of my favorite parts of the graduation was the IB superlatives organized by some of my dedicated peers.  Many of the superlatives were inside jokes drawing laughs, others were more truthful and accompanied by nods of agreement.

 

Day 3: May 28, 2016

Emma had a sleepover with Olivia and I again last night, and we woke up early so that we could lead a bird walk at Yates Mill Pond from 8:00-10:00 am.  We were leading it for our fellow Young Naturalists, which is a group associated with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences whose purpose is to engage youth in the outdoors.  There were about eight people there, and we heard and saw dozens of bird species.  All of the kids there were already interested in birds, and it was gratifying to be able to help them find birds and see their passion for nature.

Once I got home, I went to see the neighborhood goats again before they left later that afternoon.  I then went to the gym with Olivia, where we danced for about 45 minutes for cardio and then did eight sets of bench for arm strength.  Even though I sometimes don't feel like it, I honestly really enjoy working out.  I think that I like it so much because--other than the obvious fact that it makes me physically stronger--I relish the idea of going against societal gender norms by doing exercise when lifting weights is still an activity dominated by men.  Okay, I'm done with my short feminist speel

The rest of the day it was party time.  Mama, Olivia, and I went to our neighbor Tom's house for his annual pool party.  There was great food like vegetarian seven layer dip, guacamole, potato salad, ziti with tomato sauce and beef meatballs (I just ate the pasta part), and, of course, burgers and hot dogs (neither of which I ate).  I loved chatting with my neighbors; all kinds of conversation topics arose -- births, traveling, chickens, books, and more.  I even had a conversation with one of my neighbors, Joel, about Albert Camus.  He told me about a book by Camus called The Plague, giving a short synopsis before we began to discuss The Stranger, which I read in English class this past year.  We talked about how, even though the book has come to exemplify existentialist texts, Camus in an interview said that he did not write it as an existentialist book.  Joel mentioned how Meursault's trial is hardly even based on the murder, but more on his mother's funeral and his personality.  He found that one of the main questions in the book was whether Meursault was acting in self-defense or whether he simply murdered the Arab.  We talked about this point for a bit before being sucked into other conversations the neighborhood group was having.  Overall, I had a great time at the party, and was pleasantly surprised to have an intelligent conversation about The Stranger.

More goat pictures :)

The above cream-colored goat really

liked having his/her ears scratched!