Auditory Explosion

I can enjoy the fact that the highlight of my day off was watching the ruby-throated hummingbird enjoy his new feeder I hung up for him this week.  About a week or so ago I caught my first glimpse of him through the living room window.  Throughout the week I spotted him again at the back porch checking out the herbs in their hanging pots.  Then again as I was about to step out the front screen door but paused when I heard buzzing and unique squeaks.  Something flew past me diving down and swooping back up, the buzzing sound increasing as it swooped closer-  the hummingbird again!

As soon as payday arrived, actually that very day, I went into town and picked up a humming bird feeder and some sugar. And the very next day, in less than 24 hours he was at the feeder sipping away.  Not as quickly as while staying with Joy, she spotted a hummingbird in her back yard that morning and moments later we were driving around the town trying to find a decent hummingbird feeder.  The task was completed and just hours later while eating pizza on her back porch the hummingbird joined us for dinner at his feeder.    I wish that when people saw me hanging around in their backyards they would immediately put out a plate of delicious vegan treats and wait around for me to come by to find and eat it.  And like with the hummingbird feeder, it wouldn’t even have to be a full meal, just a tasty treat to give me a little boost but I would still continue along my way and find more meals loaded with the nutrients I need.  I just had an image in my mind of the cliche of cherry pie cooling in a window….. a drifter sniffing it out and leaving something for trade in the windowsill.

While out getting the bird feeder I also picked up some supplies to grow some of my own food since my hopes are dashed on people just leaving treats out for me.  Ok, so it may be a bit late to get started, but I really miss gardening.  With doing field work, traveling and not really living anywhere for for more than a few months at a time, gardening hasn’t been a very practical idea for the past few years.  But I decided to just go for it, and try a new method for me, of growing it all in pots.  Tomatoes, bell and jalapeño peppers, kale, collards, spinach and mixed greens are all on the list.  I’m starting all of the leafy greens (except the one kale plant I came across) by seed which I’ve had previous success with but wish I would have started earlier.  Ohhh well!

It’s almost 21:00 and I’m waiting for the whip-poor-will to start calling.  He’s not always on time.. somewhere between 20:35-21:00 he’ll be in our driveway singing his heart out.  Sometimes I’ll hear the woodcock down at the end of the road singing and dancing as well- a distinct call for each of his ascending, descending and call on the ground.  One night, upon first discovering him, Michael led the household out to our neighbor’s backyard so we could listen and watch the woodcock due is nightly ritual.  Currently the grey catbird is meowing and chattering imitated calls in the backyard.  He hangs out in the backyard most days and always has so much to say.  I’ll admit sometimes I laugh to myself hearing him meow and squabbling away, and sometimes I meow back…

Just the other day while planting my little garden I heard for the first time in my backyard (which is a forest!)… a veery.  I heard them out at our worksite the other week, but it’s more exciting to hear them while sitting on the deck.  They have the most beautiful sound, I really love thrush calls though and actually for the past couple of weeks have also been hearing the wood thrushes calling.  The veery call reminds me of the sound of swirling around a corrugated plastic straw in the air, where as the wood thrush sounds like a robot imitating a flute call….something like that.

Spring time out of the city is a an auditory explosion for me- of natural sounds.  All of the sounds above are linked to their respective bird calls that the Cornell Lab of Ornithology shares with us.  It’s an amazing collection and a great site to help you ID some (or all) of the birds in your area by searching and browsing around on their Bird Guide.

Fever and Snow in the Spring

This past week was an interesting combination of snow and vomit.  Yes, snow and vomit.  Outside the snow blanketed our surroundings for three days, it fell so heavily the first day that we lost electricity for 15 or so hours.  Snow on the ground means no field work for us and I couldn’t help but feel relieved when I awoke to find snow on the ground at 4am after battling my stomach for the past 30 hours.  We’ve managed to keep a stomach virus lingering around the house for just over a week now.  My stomach is still confused on what to do when food attempts to enter it, it grumbles and churns with doubt.  The first night it appeared, two of us crawled out of our rooms when we heard our other housemate stirring.  All three of us leaning in our doorways in the hallway, holding our stomaches, describing our symptoms and too dizzy to stand there to hold any sort of conversation.   Did you just puke? Do you have a fever?  Is your stomach aching? ughhhhhhhh.  Just when we thought it was clearing out, we welcomed Michael back to the house with his very own opportunity of experiencing this lovely virus. Sorry!

My backyard in the morning, the snow continued to fall throughout the day.

I did manage to keep my stomach stable enough to leave the house mid-week and head to Cooper’s Rock State Park in West Virginia to meet my lovely friend and Detroit nature walk partner, Holly.  She’s been exploring this area every year of her life, visiting family here regularly.  While in Detroit, Holly and I would go on nature walks through the metro parks.  We stepped it up a bit by getting a chance to explore Cooper’s Rock together.  We caught up on life and squeezed through narrow rock crevices all evening.  She brightened my week and I’m hoping for camping adventures with her this summer.

With Holly at Cooper’s Rock State Park, West Virginia

Mountain life!  I’ve been enjoying variable weather and hearing so many birds in my backyard, including a barred owl, whip-poor-will, black-throated green warblers, black and white warblers, pileated woodpeckers, song sparrows, a woodcock, red-eyed vireos and well this list could really go on for a very long time.  I’m sure I’ll do a bird update post very soon.

Project Setup

I’ve watched the sunrise everyday this week.  The search crew has to get out to the site and start searching at sunrise.  Shortly after, the scavengers will be searching for their breakfast and we want to find what deceased animals we can before they do.  This makes it sound like we are fighting with crows every morning, but the nights have been too cold for much activity and the crows use their wits, not their strength.

So wait, all of this might sound confusing.  What are we doing out here? Scavengers? Carcasses? Sunrise? You may have gathered a few things from my previous posts, but I’ll explain more.  In case you forgot, I’m working on a Bats & Wind Energy project.  Worldwide wind energy is becoming more common and I can support this, but wind energy companies and wildlife biologists need to work together to lessen and hopefully one day even prevent the negative impacts wind turbines have on wildlife- especially bats and birds.  Thankfully some companies are very willing to have this crucial partnership.  The company we are working with is allowing long term research at their sites.  They are very cooperative and willing to let us do the research needed.  Although we focus on bats and birds, they are also working to keep the habitat suitable for their wood rats, green salamanders and rattle snakes.  I actually see lots of deer and wild turkey as well.  Apparently they are planting berries for the woodrats, too.

But back to the bats and birds.  Last week we all worked together to set up our transects.  We are searching the area under randomly selected wind turbines on the site.  Our particular wind farm is on ridge tops, so many of our transects are on slopes.  The searchers walk about 21 transect lines for each plot, but this can vary depending on the habitat and slope under the turbine.  We set up and labeled stakes and used flagging to define each transect line stretching north and south.  The searchers walk at a slow pace looking 3 meters out to each side in an attempt to find any bats or birds that were killed by the turbines.

So yes, we witness the direct impacts of wind energy and see dead bats and birds.  But when I compare wind energy to mountain top removal for coal and other coal energy sources, hydraulic energy and the impact of dams, oil drilling, and in general the use of these energy sources and their long term effects, their direct and indirect impacts on the environment- wind energy isn’t perfect, but in comparison I’d say it’s a much better option for the environment.  And if it’s something we are going to head towards and use less of these other options we need to do the research now and be sure to fully understand the impacts and what we can do to prevent or at least lessen them.

I’ve decided to not include images of fatalities, as many of my readers may not be comfortable with these images and also I can’t publicize a lot of this.  I’m ok with witnessing the fatalities, even as a vegan, and perhaps especially so.  I want to be aware and I want to help these animals.  (Duh! That’s why I’ve dedicated so much to conservation!)  The research will be published at some point though and previous project information can be found here.  I’ve included some photos of the turbines (they are HUGE- about the height of a 17-story building!) and our plots, that way you have a better idea of what these things look like.  Turbines are in restricted areas so most of you have probably never seen one up close, let alone stood directly underneath one.  It’s required that we wear hardhats, protective eyewear, orange vests and steel toed boots everyday.

When the field crew members find a bat or bird, I meet them at the location to identify the species and we collect all of the necessary data and photo documentation.  This week while they were searching I was recording habitat descriptions and collecting plot information using a Trimble GPS for the GIS analysis.  It’s a bit different to go from working with live bats to dead ones, but it feels good to be a part of such important research and too broaden my experience. And I LOVE working outdoors.  More to come soon, but I have the day off and I need to go out and enjoy it!

Sunrise on site.

The crew: me, Jon, Katie, Erica, J., and our supervisor- Michael.

So tiny next to the turbine base.

Laying out a plot- measuring our East line.

Jon searching a plot.

Michael describes how we collect our data.

Tadpoles enjoy the flooded portions of the sites.

American Toad (Bufo americanus) found when we were laying out our plot.

Michigan to Pennsylvania

My two weeks before leaving Detroit were a whirlwind of events.  My sleep schedule was a disaster, each night managing to find only 4-6 hours of chaotic sleep.  On top of packing, organizing and getting rid of stuff I was also working right up to the day before I left and was trying really hard to spend time with close friends and family.  Saying good-bye is never easy, even when everyone knows you are bound to leave.  In my short time back in Michigan (June 2011-March 2012), many friendships grew stronger, others faded and new ones arose.  I had to balance my mind and stay functioning through the heavy emotional exhaustion of leaving.  I’m not really sure how well I did, and I think everyone was noticing my limits decreasing.  I did manage to get in bike rides and dinners with friends and catch some excellent punk shows before leaving though.

My last two days in Detroit were non-stop.  Thursday night was a delicious vegan dinner at Seva in Detroit with a full table of my friends that I have lots of love for and all of which are vegan.  Friday found me at work presenting 4 educational programs to 2nd graders on the adaptations of animals and shortly after I spent time finishing up projects there and saying good bye to my human and non-human friends.  I almost cried like 10 times because everyone was so sweet with their very thoughtful going away wishes and gifts…. I’m getting sentimental just thinking about it again.  After work a few of us ate the coconut lime vegan cupcakes Amanda made (which were the same ones that I made for everyone years ago that got her started on making vegan desserts weekly for everyone at the Bat Zone) and then we headed to see the Hunger Games movie that Michelle got us hooked on reading.  Thank you everyone at the Organization for Bat Conservation for all of your support, encouragement and friendships.

I had to rush off after the movie so I could meet friends for the Kimya Dawson and Your Heart Breaks show- an excellent way to spend my last night in Detroit.  Afterwards, Liz and I walked home and parted at her apartment in the rain, a block over I met Matt at my apartment where he kept me company while I attempted to finish up packing and cleaning.  After sleeping a few hours, I woke up, packed up my car with everything that I’d need/want for the next 8 months.  I drove off to pick up 2 people who had responded to a ride share ad.  (Both guys were really respectful and fun to share the drive to Pittsburgh with as they were in the middle of their adventures.)  Just before leaving, I met Andrea, Curtis, Arlo, Liz and James at Eastern Market.  As some of you may remember from my previous departure, it’s the best way I can think of to depart from Detroit.

The sun was setting behind a mountain as I reached the very small town in Pennsylvania where I’ll be living and working.  The house that I’m now living in with 4-5 other people is on a very small dirt road that’s surrounded by a state forest.  The same people I’m living with are also the people I’m working with.  Similar scenario as the project I was working with in TN/NC.  It’s a pretty amazing set-up as I get my own room and my window looks out to the backyard which is mountains and forest.  I had Sunday to unpack and acclimate to my new surroundings and meet my new housemates.  I could finally relax and not think about the millions of things I had to do before my move.  It didn’t take long to unwind and feel the anxiety and pressure lift.  Walks on dirt roads, breathing country air and working outside is an excellent cure.  It’s quiet here, I can hear the birds.  I feel comfortable.  I feel relaxed.

I’ll post more about work soon, but this was more about transition.  Today was my day off and I went on a chilly bike ride through a state park on a hike and bike trail.  I only road 18 miles, but it was 18 miles with trees on one side and a river on the other.  18 miles with no cars to worry about.  Things are so different here.  I love cities, but right now it feels really good to not be in a city.

More on adventures soon, I just really needed this transition post so I can move onto what’s ahead.

Me with Beatrice, a straw-colored fruit bat. Love her <3

Saying goodbye to some of my favorite animal friends, including Kamilah and Malayan flying fox.

I’m going to miss you Mo. Two-toed sloth.

Entranced by Kimya Dawson. (Thanks for the photo L.)

Some of the turbines at my work site.

Taking the Bumble out on the Great Allegheny Passage hike/bike trail.

Thirty

Lately the discussions I’ve had involve living in Detroit, bike touring, limiting physical possessions, and the need for traveling and adventure.  I say lately, but I suppose this always seems to be the case.  As my time living in Detroit reaches its ending point it doesn’t come as a surprise that conversations may encompass such topics.  Discussions with others who also spend a large portion of their time planning out their escape to a new adventure allows my mind to feel clear- there are others who spend as much time, if not more planning, brainstorming, developing.  Others who have an end date to their time in one location.  Perhaps not a specific date, but somewhere in your mind you know that your time in a set location will expire and when it does you will be ready to set out and explore.

Since my return in June I’ve been trying to pinpoint that end date.  I found it.  It’s time to go.  March 24 I depart and this time it will be to Pennsylvania.  8 months in the Laurel Highlands region (about an hour outside of Pittsburgh).  I’ve only ventured to this region once before for hiking and camping but I have only fond memories.  I took a crew leader position working on a bats and wind energy study for Bat Conservation International and I’m really looking forward to it.  I absolutely love working for the Organization for Bat Conservation and I’m truly going to miss everyone, humans and non-humans alike, but I crave research and working outdoors.  I also want to continue to open new doors and broaden my research experience.  So get ready for adventure stories because I’ll be living in a gorgeous region- hiking and biking galore!

The timing of everything seems rather perfect with spring just around the corner.  Where the smell of mud leads my mind to thinking only of being in the forest and hiking for miles and miles.  To add to that, I turned 30 on March 8th.  The level of excitement on turning 30 increased last month when I realized that on this day not only would I be turning 30, but I would also be celebrating with a full moon.  I also have the added bonus of sharing my birthday with International Women’s Day.

Wanting to celebrate most days of my life in the forest, it only seemed fitting to take a day trip north.  I awoke around 5:30am, only minutes after the time I was actually born on March 8 in 1982, and scrambled to put on the proper amount of layers.  Indecisive the night before about how cold it’d actually be north of here I had left out a small pile of layers to choose from, I fumbled through them half awake.  Now into the kitchen…. feed my cat Douglas who had been purring on my legs, nearly knocking me down as I tried to put on my base layers and pants.  I need food, too.  I peel a banana, toss it in my glass bowl along with a handful of strawberries and a huge handful of spinach, a splash of tart cherry juice, some hemp oil and top it all off with orange juice.  Using my favorite kitchen tool, my immersion blender, I soon have a smoothie.  Snacks…. I need snacks for our hike.  I fumble through the fridge and cupboards… a bag of carrots, a container of raisins, a bagel and some spinach.  I have just about everything…. no wait… where are my binoculars and camera.  Lace up my snow boots….it’s supposed to snow up there, but just rain here in Detroit.  I step outside and it’s already a downpour here.

Did I mention I bought a motorized vehicle? I did… and it’s time to take it out for her first day trip adventure.  I arrive in Flint just after 7am and am greeted by Jay, Meghan, Ruthie (their amazing English Setter dog), Peanutbutter Face (their super cute cat) and a carrot cake cupcake with a candle burning…. it says “30, OLD LADY” and I laugh and smile as I am reminded how much I love my friends.  I blow out the candle but save the cupcake for after the hike.  They are all ready to go and have managed to put together a more filling lunch to take for our trip.  All of us (sans Peanutbutter Face) load into the Rav4.

Close to two hours later we are driving down dirt roads, sloshing through the snow, ice and mud.  Not a single car passes us as I navigate through the ruts and what seem like tiny ponds in the middle of the road.  On the whole drive there was hardly any snow, but when we jump out of the car at the trailhead we are surrounded by snow around 6-12 inches deep with lots of snow drifts reaching close to 2 feet deep.  Ruthie charges through the drifts and runs around full speed, thrilled to be in the forest as we all are.  Snowshoes may have been useful but it was just as fun to try to step where Jay had left his prints and try to float on the surface only to think you had it until your foot sunk in, the snow reaching half way up your knees.  None of this phased Ruthie, at one point she even ran through the cat tails, half in the partially frozen water.   She looked at us, asking for help, thinking she was stuck but we all encouraged her out and Jay told her to put it in 4-wheel drive.

It was pretty quiet in the forest, sometimes the snow fell so hard it would sound like rain.  By the end of the afternoon we saw a northern goshawk (that I desperately wanted to be a snowy owl), ruffed grouse and some porcupine scat…. but not porcupines to be seen.  I kept thinking I’d find myself an assortment of animals wearing birthday party hats for me and they would jump out from a tree shouting “SURPRISE!”  handing me twigs, leaves and other forest snacks but I need to stop anthropomorphizing.

Later that evening I made sure to go out on a bike ride to a hang with a friend and I wanted to be sure to ride under the full moon on my 30th…. it felt really good.  On that note, it’s gorgeous outside and I don’t know what I’m doing inside on the computer when I should be riding my bike.

2012 International Year of the Bat

The United Nations has declared that 2012 is the International Year of the Bat.  What does that even mean?  The main purpose of Year of the Bat is to raise awareness and appreciation for bats all over the world.

The Year of the Bat is a two yearlong global species awareness initiative undertaken by The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and The Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS).

Did you know that bats are found on every continent except for Antarctica?  Bats are amazing and unique animals and with over 1200 different species we have a lot to celebrate.  They specialize in controlling insect populations that we regard as pests to our crops and comfort, they pollinate flowers, they disperse seeds in rainforests and they specialize in being awesome.  They are essential to balancing ecosystems.

I could really go on and on about how incredible bats are and how much I love them, but let’s look at some things that YOU can do to celebrate the Year of the Bat!

• Dedicate your life to raising awareness about bats and conservation.

Ok…. well, maybe we should start easy, but feel free to make that one happen.

• Learn about the bats in your area.

Do you know how many different types of bats live in your region?  Do you know what they look like?  What they eat?  Where they live?  When to see them flying around and know that it’s a bat and not a bird?

Take some time to enjoy the night sky.  Those of us in the colder regions will have to wait until spring to see the bats flying about again, but that gives you time to read up and browse some images of bats you may have munching on insects in your neighborhood.  Below is a bat found throughout much of North American, the hoary bat.  We caught/released this one back in 2009 in the NC/TN region.

Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)

In Michigan we have 9 different kinds of bats.  Those of us in Detroit- the Big Brown Bat is our most common species around here.  Respect and love this bat, especially the urban gardeners and farmers- they are eating LOTS of your crop pests and their guano is very high in nitrogen. Do you have a bat house?

•  Put up a bat house or three.

It doesn’t matter if you live in an urban, suburban or rural area, bats will benefit from a bat house.  You can build your own or buy one from the Organization from Bat Conservation (OBC) that directly supports bat conservation and that has been designed and researched to the needs of bats.

For those of you that don’t know me, I’ve been working with OBC for the past five years (minus the times they let me leave to work in the field and travel around).  Since I’ve been back, I’ve been spending a lot of time adding bat house content to their website so rather than rewriting everything here, please check out the information on OBC’s website.  Find out the importance of bat houses, how and where to attach them, instructions on how to build your own and more.

•  Attend an event near you!

For those of you around Michigan, we are hosting a lot of bat events this year, including our Annual Great Lakes Bat Festival in September and this year it’s FREE!  We also have some other awesome bat celebration events and you can visit the Bat Zone any weekend to learn about and meet bats.  Some of my favorite animals (human and non-human) live or spend a lot of time at the Bat Zone.  Perhaps I’ll add a new post all about this soon.

The Year of the Bat website also has a list of events going on around the world as well, keep checking back as they regularly add to them.

• Create your own event! 

Host a free or fundraising event offering information and facts about bats such as a potluck, art auction, bat viewing night in the park, bike ride, punk rock show… the options are endless.  And you can get free promo material at Year of the Bat as well for your event.

• Donate to bat conservation.

Become a member of OBC, sponsor a bat, or just make a donation in honor of Year of the Bat in your name or for a bat loving friend of yours.  They make excellent birthday gifts! 

• Spread the word!

There are a lot of myths about bats and just straight up false information going around that is hurting the conservation of bats.  White-nose Syndrome is devastating and killing millions of bats- we don’t need to add phobias based on false pretenses to their cause of death and misunderstanding.  They need all the help they can get, so post on your blog, twitter, social media site about Year of the Bat, share a fun fact about bats in your area or anywhere in the world!

The bats need you and we need them so let’s celebrate 2012 Year of the Bat this year and every year.

One Hundred For Haiti

It’s been two years since the earthquake hit that has truly devastated Haiti, and yet there is still so much suffering and intense struggle.  I want to take a moment to draw attention to positive action that is being taken to directly benefit the people of Haiti.

One Hundred For Haiti is raising awareness and working directly with the people of Haiti to make a difference.  They have delivered supplies directly to the clinics, taking risky boat trips to get the people what they need.  Their dedication and your support is making a difference.

One Hundred For Haiti is committed to the development, relief, and support of individuals and independent orphanages and clinics in post-earthquake Haiti.  At the core of the organization is this international community of compassionate people like you who have donated time, money, and creativity at ALL levels from $1 and up.

They have just released a new self-sustaining project, MOTO LOGISTICS, that will provide jobs, transportation and income to clinics, orphanages and other critical organizations in Haiti.  As said in their press release:

 The clinics will use these motorcycles by day to save money through being able to deliver supplies, medicines, and patients, themselves and then will be able to earn money by night as the motorcycles are used as the principle vehicles of private motorcycle-­‐based taxi services.

The profits from the taxi service will be split, with 10% going to a repair fund for the motorcycles, 10% going towards repayment of the loan for the motorcycles, and the remaining 80% going to the organization itself. The organizations can decide what percentage of that amount will be retained by the organization, and what percentage will be profit for the driver.

They need your support!!! To learn more, visit onehundredforhaiti.org and please support their efforts!

Please reblog and help spread the word!