Squinting at the Texas Sun

Photo courtsey of fossilrim.org

Okay, so I know 2022 is the year of the tiger, but for me it is the year of the bird. Since 2019, I've been itching to land an avian conservation internship or field job. However, I've mostly been doing mammal field work. Although I've gotten the opportunity to go birding all over the country as well as handle by-catch birds, I'm beyond excited to finally have bird work lined up as I persue my goal of becoming an ornithologist. 

 In the summer of 2019, I volunteered for Project Puffin for two weeks in the Casco Bay of Maine. I was living on Outer Green Island amongst a restored colony of thousands of nesting common terns (Sterna hirundo). Here, I banded birds, practiced re-sighting, seabird identification, as well as became comfortable searching for nests of black guillemots (Cepphus grylle) and assesing productivity at tern nests. However, since I was only there for two weeks before heading to Hog Island to volunteer at the Audubon camp, I missed actually seeing the eggs hatch and monitoring fledlings.

Well, in eight weeks, I will finally get to see some eggs hatch. I have accepted an internship at Fossil Rim Wildife Center in Glen Rose, TX working with the 2022 brood of Attwater's prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido attwateri) chicks. I will be participate in daily feeding, food preparation, cleaning, as well as conduct visual assessments on the chicks as they are slotted for either future breeding or introduction to the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge by the USFWS. A century ago, there were over one million of these birds in Texas. Now there are less than 100.

I can't wait to be in Texas and provide an update during my first week there as I put all of my love and passion into caring for these birds and providing detailed observations. Until then, I am going to be reading as much as I can about prairie chicken conservation. Stay tuned for a blog post about them.

In addition, I have also accepted an internship at Hawk Mountain Wildife Sanctuary for fall 2022. I haven't heard much from them about the program yet since I won't be there for quite a few months. However, the significance of receiving such a prestigous opportunity keeps me striving toward the future. I can't wait to gain more experience with hawk watching, GIS, and conservation education. I've been reading the book The Mountain and the Migration by James J. Brett. Going to ornithology seminars and living amongst other people who are dedicated to saving birds of prey is going to be a dream come true for me.

Thank you for reading this and to all those who have supported me as I chase my dreams. Hopefully this time next year I'll be heading off to grad school to persue research that benefits our planet and especially our beloved birds.