Meanwhile, I am trying to find an easier way to post pics to my blog. I am going to try to embed a couple of pics from my Flickr account. Should get a post or two in later today or over the weekend after I am done tinkering with the flickr plugins.

BTW, I have now updated to Wordpress 2.5. Wow, it looks a lot cleaner and uncluttered than 2.03 that I’d been running.

This year I also had the good fortune of being able to stay at a cabin on the neighboring Stowers Ranch. I had the opportunity to meet the owners Josephine and Richard Smith a couple of times, and while being great hosts, they were also keenly interested in conservation and wildlife management. They picked my brains about what my research was about and why I am doing it. They were much unlike the regular rancher I had seen or imagined.

I know that the season is not yet officially over, but I may not post again about this again, so I will take this chance to mainly acknowledge my funding source. Most of this years field and research supplies are funded by National Geographic Society. It wouldn’t have been possible without their support. I got ripped by gas prices being a dollar over what I had in the budget, but, the important thing is to complete what I had proposed. It still looks like it will work.

Here I leave you with a few images picked from my season. More will probably appear on Photographica soon.

A nest I found with two hatched black-cap chicks

Sunset over the Guadalupe

My final Black-cap at Kerr WMA

My first week of going solo was devoid of any charm, with my routine of lab work progressing at a trot and I was thankful for each little success. The scenery here in Lafayette was however interesting. I had never before worked right through the Christmas break and I found the campus completely deserted. I only saw one other grad student in the building on some of the days. It looked like a scene from ‘I am Legend’, minus the odd wild animal jumping out of the bush and other dark-seeking humanoids. Week two was beginning to get a little boring – especially at mealtimes, when eating alone was quite a pain. But rest assured, ’cause I ate well nonetheless. But thankfully, the new year rolled in and campus has begun to be populated once again. I don’t know if I am social enough to actually enjoy a crowded campus, but it did feel a little lonely once in a while. It also dawned on me this time what it feels like for Sharmila when I am away for long stretches during my field season. It could get miserable.

Some of my boredom has been reduced – since I luckily found a 5-DVD set of “the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” with Jeremy Brett as Holmes. Being a devoted Sherlockian, I have thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it – thanks to Brett’s defining, and most convincing performance as Holmes. Some of the stories deviate a little from the books, but hey – some of them are not easy to adapt to television. Thank you Jeremy Brett (sadly, he is no more).

The following weeks promise to be full of work – once I get my hands on those plates again. But I look forward to it. And I am ready for Sharmila to come back.

[TED ROOSEVELT ON A HORSE, AMNH, NYC]

Next I needed to go to Cambridge, MA the home of both MIT and Harvard. The Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University was my destination where I continued work in the collections. The folks at the museum were very nice and I had a great time. In my downtime, I explored the Ernst Mayr library – a veritable library where the the big and small fish congregate to check classical volumes or the latest issues of journals. I spent a few quiet, happy minutes in the journal room reading from a couple of issues. The Museum itself has a smaller library of just ornithological field guides and gazettes from around the world. However, the highlight of the trip was meeting with the curator. I am interested in Postdoc-ing there in his lab and I pitched for it – albeit at least a year and a half from now. I thought my meeting went well, but I need some publications under my belt before I can serious consider having a chance there. That is as much as he said to me. All in all, it was a great trip to Boston. I enjoyed walking across the Charles river and through Cambridge towards Harvard Square. Certainly a place I would love to live in.

[MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY]

Back in NY, I had arranged a meeting with a particular biologist of a famed Zoo nearby to get a tour of the zoo (or at least the live bird collection). My host was gracious enough to escort me around but appeared dismayed when I cleared up that I was from Louisiana and not Columbia! Not being a big fan of Zoos I was interested, nonetheless, in what the famed organization associated with the zoo was doing. The exhibit on the forests of Central Africa was pretty neat. The bird exhibits were impressive – but not having seen others like it before I may be biased. But nothing much struck me that much. I had to opportunity of going behind the scenes to see how some birds were ‘prepared’ to be on display, and was much disappointed by finding out that their acclimation to people resembled domestication very much.

[A CAPTIVE TIGER AT THE ZOO, NEW YORK]

I would have much rather seen all the animals I saw there in the wild – and having seen many of them in the wild, the ones behind the bars gave me little pleasure. I do agree that they serve as a great educational tool for people who cannot take the trip to see them in nature. But I still have a hard time justifying it. The organization says that the money raised goes towards conservation, but the massive operation that the zoo is – logistically and HR wise, I have my doubts about how much money actually trickles down to real conservation research – in the wild.

After the zoo trip, I had little else to do. I packed up the trip by taking the elevator up the Empire State building – something I had evaded during my past two visits. The night time views are supposed to be fabulous. Here’s my take.

[NYC AT NIGHT, FROM THE TOP OF EMPIRE STATE BUILDING]

My next post is very likely my rant about the latest disaster to strike Louisiana: Bobby Jindal.

Fortunately, his Hotness the Sun, has let up a little in these parts for me to dare venture outdoors in our AC-less car. It was a very pleasant evening and the drive itself took us along those familiar byways in the twilight. Once there, though it turned out that we missed the actual setting by a whisker but there was still enough light to get some interesting views and shots. A lonely Great-blue Heron waited in the shallows while a Great Egret appeared to be petrified on a rookery far from shore. My binoculars revealed a whole bunch of waterbirds close to the farther shore – but worsening light and distance prevented me from getting any details that mattered. The near-shore cypresses looked as solemn as ever and cast a near-perfect reflection on the calm waters until a speeding boat broke the image into a gazillion pieces. I was somehow in the mood for some sepia shooting and I managed to capture interesting tones in the images. Here is one with Sharmila looking on – it was staged (not the boat in it).

On the way back, it was rapidly getting dark and in the fields along the road, a cool white mist rose from the ground and the air was laced with a hint of chill. The time has come, at last, for summer to make way to more temperate weather. I for one will eagerly welcome any change in weather that makes it cooler!

Louisiana 1; California -1

The meeting itself was not the most impressive thing I had seen. I observed that while a there was an over-representation of students/faculty coming from one of the several CA universities, their research barely crested over what I have come to believe as solid science. Sorry, CA Universities – you kinda sucked.

Back in lafayette, I have tried to establish a Lifehacker inspired schedule-task management regime. Its been working well, I have to say – although at the end of the day it all comes down to wanting to be disciplined bad enough. So I am ‘getting things done’ more efficiently than, perhaps, a few months ago. Planning does help.

The most astounding news of the month has to be my winning the National Geographic Award from the Committee for Research and Exploration (Yes, thats right!!). This joyous news was amplified by many magnitudes because it came on the heels of another grant that wasn’t funded – which had left me deeply tattered and frustrated. Once I receive official documentation of this award, I will be sure to paste a copy here.
And so it goes on.. till my next post.

Heres one to those Black-caps. I thank them for cooperating with my research.