The Happy Scientist

I met Robert, the other day at Payenes Prairie Preserve State Park in Florida. What a jovial guy!

I always enjoy meeting fellow science nerds. Check out his blog! He updates DAILY with a fun photo and a quick question.

He was even kind enough to feature me in his Feb. 25th entry.

I wish him all the best in his quest to inspire inquiring minds!!!

Intro to Hiwassee and Armstrong Bend

This area of Tennessee is so BEAUTIFUL!!! I look forward to waking up with the dawn everyday because the views are so breathtaking.

The first place I look for birds is off the Highway 60 Bridge. Upper image is the view to the North, and dead center of the shot is the Hiwassee Island landmass where the birds usually spend the night. All those sandbars in the river are usually COVERED with sandhill cranes, and the occasional whooper. Lower Image is the south view from the bridge, I haven't seen any whoopers that way, but it's worth a photo.

The next place I check is the Cherokee Removal Memorial Park. After a brief walk through rocky-bottomed woods, you arrive at the viewing platform. Those of us who are avid craniacs avoid the platform, walk around it, and up the natural steps made of stone. We have a wonderful view of the sandbars and Hiwassee Island from between the tree trunks.

If there are no cranes at the CRMP, I head down to the official Hiwassee Refuge Viewing Pavilion. Thousands of cranes will flock to this point, and sometimes a lone whooper or maybe a pair of whoopers will descend on this little pond, too.

Lastly, I head back to Armstrong bend (just north of the Hiwassee Island along the river where it bends around a peninsula). On the way, I might find trees full of Turkey Vultures, another one of my FAVORITE birds... right next to the corvid family.

At Armstrong Bend, Charles and I were lucky enough to spot ALL 7 cranes in the area congregating there. Charles has been a true friend here in Tennessee, and I consider myself lucky to have met such an avid craniac and wonderful person.

Eating everything out of the fridge, again!

This  tracking job is really unpredictable. I'm surprised I ever buy groceries... except that by the time I settle into a place for longer than a couple days it feels like a luxury vacation, and I want to eat well. However, when it's time to move, I inevitably have to finish off my reserves, because I don't want to haul food around in the van. I especially don't want perishables in the van. It's not like I can cook up a meal in my hotel room.

I'm on the move again. I gave away the remaining beer in the fridge again. This is the 6th barely touched 6-pack of local microbrew that I've given away in the past 3 months. I'm constantly leaving behind eggs, butter, potatoes, celery, and carrots for others to consume. That means by the time I reach the next location, I have to buy those things again. At least my spices will travel with me. It would be unreasonably expensive to replace the spices.

Since I'm replacing my kitchen all the time, I've made an art out of grocery shopping for the ephemeral stay:

• Potatoes (cheap, can travel, several good meals)
• Various veggies (no fridge or cooking needed)
• Eggs (cheap, several good meals)
• Bread
• Beer (in my case, it is obviously not to be consumed; just looked at)
• Mayo and Mustard (to go with the eggs. No one feels bad about leaving those behind)
• Soup (they are cheap, they keep, and they round out the veggies)
• 2 fruits per day (yum. best part of the day)
• Granola bars (these days, granola isn't really "health food" but I try to stick to the better kinds. Also, you don't need milk to eat them, unlike cereal)
• Milk (just a pint or two for a different beverage than water, also doubles up for scramble eggs and mashed potatoes)

Sometimes, I'll get a little saucy and purchase an avocado or two to make veggie dip. I've been thinking about trying avocado/egg sandwich...

Bleak January and rays of hope

I miss the Tennessee sunshine. Wisconsin's sun is a rare but welcome friend. I visited the sun yesterday while I was out with my snowshoes. It was almost too bright with the snow-glare, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

The insurance company totaled my tracking van. I'm upset that it took so long for them to come to this conclusion. If they had decided that at the beginning, we could've paid for repairs right away and I would've been back on the road weeks ago. Now they've left us with a half-repaired wreck. My opinion on insurance companies has not been improved by recent events.

USFWS, our partner in crane rearing and crane monitoring, will let me borrow their vehicle!! It's an SUV, it's a guzzler, but most importantly, it has an antenna!! hooray! It's fun to drive around government vehicles; the other cars on the road don't always know you can't pull them over, so it'll be a fun little power trip.

On a better note, the long-awaited database is finally functional! I've been entering my crane sightings all weekend. I'm almost halfway through October's observations! Yes, it will take a long time to enter all the information that I've stored up since I started tracking, but it will be worth it.

The database is so cool! It has an interactive map like Google Earth. You can store each sighting to a location on the map, and add more specific information about the birds to each location. The best part about the database is the search functionality. I can't show you how awesome it is without being physically with you to show you. You'll just have to trust me that it's the tops.

New Pics, Old Posts

I understand that the my "Release" entries were a bit wordy. I went back and added a map and some pictures from release day. I humbly thank Aubrey for bringing her camera along on one of the most important days of the project.

Chick Release Part 1: The Planning

Chick Release Part 2: The Release

Other New Pics at

Banding Day!

And now, Gorgeous picture by Aubrey of the Chickies on East Rynearson Pool, Necedah before they Migrated.

Crane Video: Juveniles on Migration

I stumbled upon this video and had to share!

Aaarrrgh

I just received bad news that my van will be in the shop longer. They found "supplemental damage," which they defined for me: more damage you find inside the wreck once you open it up to start fixing it. This means that they are waiting for further approval from the insurance adjuster. That will probably take another week in itself, at least. THEN who knows how much longer it'll take for them to fix it.

In short, the van has been in the shop for a month. Mostly, it's been sitting around doing nothing. Now, it's going to remain in the shop for an undisclosed amount of time. The wreck was NOT that bad!

I'm just frustrated that I'm not out with my birds. I miss them, I want to get back to them, and it's frustrating to have to sit here while my job is waiting for me in Tennessee.