Over the past two weeks, I’ve learned new skills and gained confidence as a field researcher. Every day brought something new. I banded a Song Sparrow, sank thigh-deep into cow pasture water, and strolled through the Trail of 100 Giants. Below are some photos and highlights.

Field Work Photos and Notes

Here is a picture I took just after rolling under a barbed wire fence at sunrise. Bird research starts early. I set my alarm for 4 a.m., rising in the dark and often heading to bed just as the last light fades.

There is something very human about rising and setting with the sun and living according to the rhythms of the birds. I often hide away during the hottest part of the day and then go outside in the evening for a little after-dinner stroll.

Surveying for the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher means walking straight lines through anything the riparian (river) forest throws at you. It sounds simple until you’re faced with either braving a swath of stinging nettle or crawling under a log covered with ants. For someone raised on Google Maps, this is my first real attempt at using a compass.

After wrestling my way through each obstacle, I stop to readjust my course. I’m quickly learning which obstacles are worth a detour and which ones just need to be suffered through. Mule fat, for instance, sounds soft and inviting. It is not.

Yesterday, I fought my way through a tangle of brittle, downed wood. After stomping the last branch out of my path and shoving my body through a narrow opening, I emerged into an endless sea of reeds towering twice my height.

I’ve developed a new strategy. I hurl myself onto the stalks to flatten them, then climb up the mass until I can lunge onto the next patch. The first few days, I experienced some frightening moments of claustrophobia, when I could see only inches in front of my face and looking up in every direction only revealed a wall of taunting green foliage. So far, every patch of reeds has come to an end, so now I am better at staying calm and taking it one minute at a time.

Once a week or so, we take a break from the surveys and run a bird banding station. Here I am holding a Yellow Warbler during our weekly bird banding day. This bird was a recapture, meaning it already had a band with an identification number. Recapturing birds gives wildlife biologists important information about bird movement and survivorship.

Trail of 100 Giants

The research station is located right outside Sequoia National Forest, so last week, I drove myself and two of my coworkers up to one of the most famous trails to check it out. After an hour of steep winding roads, we emerged from the car into a grove of giant sequoias.

The largest and oldest trees in the grove are up to 1,500 years old and over 200 feet tall. We brought our binoculars, and used them not only to gaze up into the tops of these ancient giants, but also to observe which birds called the grove home. It was a perfect afternoon, and we even got a few drops of rain — the first I’ve seen since arriving in California. It made the earth smell fresh and full of life.

On the drive to and from the trail, our car passed through a massive burn scar, torched trees reaching up into the sky, black and shedding bits of charred material in the wind. Someone muttered “climate change” under their breath, and we left it at that. No need to ruin a peaceful drive.

Montaña de Oro State Park

During my last weekend, I took a little road trip down to the coast! I met an old friend at a hike-in campsite, and we spent two days exploring the area. We watched Black Oystercatchers on the shore, poked around in the tidepools, and went into San Luis Obispo for a screening of The Royal Tenenbaums. It’s pretty rural out here in the Kern River Valley, but I’m hoping to go see the new Wes Anderson movie at the Ridgecrest movie theater in the next week or so.

Favorite Nature Moments

• Western Kingbirds: if I sit in the backyard in the evenings, I can watch them scuffle over their favorite fence perch
• Greater Roadrunner: I have wanted to see one of these for years! A few days ago I watched one catch and eat a lizard
• California Quail: they have my whole heart. Always and forever