I’ve been back home for two months now, and I wanted to share some final notes and photos from my summer. Scroll through these photos to see some highlights.
This might be my favorite photo from the summer! This is a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that we tagged and then tracked throughout the breeding season
In Conclusion
Working with endangered species all summer brought frequent moments of dissonance.
“Wow! How incredible to be listening to the kuk-kuk-kuk-kuk of a Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo! Hardly anyone gets to experience this!”
Followed almost immediately by:
“And will I ever hear it again after this summer? With this pace of habitat loss and climate disruption, who knows how much longer this population can hang on.”
The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher surveys were particularly grueling. We didn’t have a single breeding pair at any of our sites. A few decades ago, there was still a relatively healthy population, but it’s unlikely the Kern River Valley will ever see them again. Our station director talked fondly about the days when they actually studied Southwestern Willow Flycatcher biology and ecology; now all they can do is become increasingly confident that the subspecies isn’t there anymore.
Despite all this, I don’t plan to leave this field, even when the work feels bleak. This is the reality of the moment we’re in, and I’ll keep contributing for as long as I’m able to be useful.
Plus, the sunflowers are beautiful.
What’s next?
You’re welcome to hang around for whatever comes next. I’m back in school right now and working on graduate school applications, and I’ll post the occassional update here on my blog.