Back in the Saddle

Well I've been hard at work getting that Lucy Challenge thing worked out (read the last post), and I'm finally able to sit and actually get something written. First things first, I'm completely behind schedule with getting those rooms done before the trip, bummer! But, I still have plenty of time, and they will be completed!

I'm mentally gearing up for my marshbird project that starts in a little over a month. Fortunately for me it looks as though some important funding is coming my way, which will actually let me get to some really great places this season (Red Slough!!!). I'm looking forward to getting out in the field again, and to be free of some of that college classwork (for at least a month!). I'll bring everyone up to speed on what's going on with the marshbird project later though.

With all the good, warm weather of late it was time to start on that garden, and spring cleanup. Fortunately that means spending some time in my backyard which I don't often do. So what's this mean to a field ornithologist? Time to find new yard birds! In between turning the compost of course.

Since I've been home the feeders have been full, so all of my neighborhood's birds are showing up again. I snapped a quick photo of some Inca Doves today. My high count this winter was something like thirteen, thus far I've had five individuals show back up. I've noticed a few other species around as well, including House, and American Goldfinches, Orange-crowned Warbler, Carolina Wren, Mourning Dove, Cardinals,Cedar Waxwings, American Robins. A few that I have seen high overhead this last week have included this flock of Sandhills heading north, as well as a Ring-billed Gull, and Red-tailed Hawk. Not too bad. I am actually thinking of keeping a yard list, I'm no lister but this kind sounds appealing to me so maybe I'll give it a shot.

Answering the "Lucy" Challenge

You ask what is the Lucy challenge? Well Cameron University's Honor Society is paying for a trip to Houston's Natural History Museum to view the "Lucy Skeleton," a week long excursion pretty much on them. So what's the challenge right? Well I am in the field so often that I am missed at home, and my wife often suffers the consequences of all of the field work I do. It's not easy raising two young children, especially when one of the adults is always gone. So when I presented her with the offer that I had recieved, to say the least she wasn't as excited as I was!

Well, being the wonderful woman that she is, she posed a challenge. Finish remodeling the two offices and the extra bathroom before the trip and you can go! Rightly so, she has patiently waited nearly a year since the time we bought the house. So how much work is this? I think the pictures say it all too well.


I have three rooms to texture, paint, put in flooring, hang shelves, lay tile, and everything else that comes along with all of that. Can I get it done? Very good question. Well, her office is actually nearly complete! All that it requires is the laminate flooring, installing the ceiling fan and finishing paint(trim). My office and the extra bathroom are the two problems. Actually it's really just my office, an old mother in-law's kitchen that I am tearing out to make space for all of my stuff! Don't get me wrong I want my office, it is just going to be a mountain of work, on top of my already large heap! Oh well...we will see what happens.

23 Days To Go