MARVELous

Obligatory Emerald City Comicon post as promised, but a quick one since real life once again taken over.

I had an AMAZING weekend and I just want to point out a few highlights:

STAN LEE: Need I say more? I got to meet THE MAN. He is such a sweetheart and it was an honor to meet him.

Clark Gregg: This man is my new favorite person. We ended up missing most of his panel, but when we did come in we heard him talking about Rocket Raccoon who I was dressed as. Naturally I had to get in is autograph line wearing my costume. I wasn't going to wear it Sunday because I was so tired, but that was the only day we had set aside for autographs so I wore it just for him. When we got up to his line he said that he had seen me the day before and wanted so badly to get a picture with me. I wish he had!! I totally would have obliged, but I am going to assume that would have caused a huge crowd to gather. Just speaking with him made my entire weekend. He is so sweet and genuinely loves his fans. I can now say that I have met agent Coulson and we had a moment. Now every time I see him in movies/tv I will squeak with happiness over our moment, ha.

Marina Sirtis: Hands down one of the best experiences I had over the weekend. I am going to be honest I wasn't ever into Star Trek and only slowly started getting into it because my fiance is a trekkie (Star Wars was always my thing). I went with him to meet her and get an autograph because he was absolutely in love with her as a kid and I wanted to see his face light up when he met his childhood crush, because he got to experience that with me a few times in the past. Her line was completely gone by the time we got there and we were the last to meet her for the day. She asked us if we were a couple to which we replied yes, engaged. She then asked us about our wedding and it was just the best. I absolutely adore her and will never forget that moment. I think just because we can we will send her an invite.

All of the people ever: I had my picture taken about a million times whilst wearing Rocket, and I adore every single person I met while doing so. It was such a fun weekend and a much needed escape from the hectic real life I live.

Comics, yo! I ran out of money to buy stuff at the convention, but took note of some stuff I want to read. My first purchase is going to be the new Rocket Raccoon by Skottie Young and Jake Parker. I actually got to meet Jake Parker (And used the last of my money to buy a print from him) and he took a picture of me at his booth! I was pretty excited about that.

There is much more to tell, but it's late and I have a million things to do tomorrow. To all the people who I met: Thanks for making the weekend great. See ya next year!!

The evolution of the orniherpetologist.

I totally made that word up. I think it describes me quite well, actually. Then again I can simply just call myself a herpetologist because birds are just feathered endothermic reptiles, am I right?

It's been a year since I've taken the time to sit down and write a blog post, and I am sure most of you are aware of the drastic shift in happenings in my life. But I'd like to take the time to write about the evolution of me the past year from aspiring ornithologist to one of those crazy herpetologists who goes out in the middle of the night to find things most people won't even go near. I have an odd obsession with salamanders and I'm itching for the moment it warms up enough for the snakes to come out.

I'll be honest--I still love birds. I always will. I grew up loving birds, but birds became very comfortable for me. I limited myself to strictly birds for awhile, and while a year ago I could have been 100% happy putting all my time into focusing on birds, I started feeling the need to branch out. I didn't want to limit myself because the job market for ornithologists is not only scarce in the PNW but also extremely competitive.

Somehow I fell into herpetology and boy has it been one crazy ride! It's really uncharacteristic of me to jump into something new with both feet without allowing myself to become comfortable with the concept. With this, however, I just went for it. This change, while scary at first, was one of the best things to happen to me. I've met some amazing people, done some amazing things, and get to conduct research. It's pretty awesome.

I still have a bad habit of bird watching behind the wheel, and I often times get distracted by sassy little chickadees while I am out sampling my study area, but I've got some pretty cool things lined up for the near future! Bullfrog collecting, random herping trips, and a summer trip to Reno, NV for a conference. It'll be great.

Short post is short, but it's bed time. I'll end with some pics from the field.

Juvenile Oregon Ensatina (Ensatina escholztii oregonensis)

E.e.oregonensis

E.e.oregonensis

Long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum)

Western red-backed salamander (Plethodon vehiculum)

Northern red-legged frog (Rana aurora)

Northwestern alligator lizard (Elgaria coerulea principis)

Garter snake (Thamnophis sp.)

Bubo scandiacus

It is November. For most people that means the Thanksgiving (or Christmas is you are too excited to wait, like me!) decorations are coming out, stores are getting ready for the annual shopping frenzy and the weather here in central Washington is getting colder and less predictable.

For me, however, November means one thing: migration. Last year I got the exciting chance to see an amazing animal that had embarked on a migratory adventure from the arctic tundra, the snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus for you science nuts.) Ever since I laid eyes on these owls I have been completely obsessed. I have been counting down the days since September and secretly planning what weekends I plan on embarking to Damon Point to scope out our winter visitors.

This year is different. My yearning for observing the owls has been satisfied and is now a desire to know everything there is to know about them. Since I am only a lowly biology senior the only thing I can really do is watch them in the field (from a safe distance. I am all about respecting their space!) and collect what little samples I am legally allowed to collect. In my case those samples come in the form of pellets. Last year I was lucky enough to find one pellet, but by the time I had found it the rain and mist from the ocean had already disintegrated it pretty good. This year I am determined to do some major collecting and dissecting! I want to know what brings these owls to Damon Point every year and a good start to finding out is figuring out what they eat!

Back at home on the tundra snowy owls mainly feed on lemmings, which are small rodents native to tundra biomes. This is a little off track, but every time I see, hear or write the word "lemmings" I think of that old computer game where you desperately try to get a group of lemmings to safety. Does anyone remember that game? It was one of my favorites. Back on topic. One of the main theories about why the owls migrate is food shortage. Normal irruptions of snowy owls are said to happen every six to seven years when there is a shortage of lemmings or other small rodents. I got the chance to talk to a naturalist last year during one of my visits and he told me that the owls come to Damon Point every year, but not in irruptive numbers like there have been the past two years. Something makes them stop at this location and set up camp until Spring, so maybe the food is good? That's what I'd like to find out. I will collect the pellets, dissect them and based off of the bone contents figure out whether they are favoring rodents or shore birds!

Another theory is population. Some biologists theorize that an overcrowded habitat causes juveniles to be driven out of the tundra during the harsh winter months. This is most likely due to the fact that the conditions are hard enough without having to compete for food, so the older owls will force the younger ones away thus ensuring themselves enough meals. This theory is interesting because during my visit last year 90% of the owls I observed were juveniles, and only a handful were adult females and males. It kind of makes me want to do some sort of statistics to see if we can accept that as a hypothesis!

I am pretty sure I will get odd looks while I am crawling on all fours down by logs looking for pellets, but I embrace the looks of utter confusion. Its all for science!

Pelicanidae

Its official. I have successfully managed to see not one but two of my life birds. I will be quick to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the brown pelicans. They are such goofy looking birds so you really wouldn't expect much grace out of them, but it was actually quite the opposite. They fly so quietly and in a small group, focused on finding a good spot to fish. When they find a good spot and catch sight of a fish they drive themselves into a spiraling stoop and dive straight into the water, only to return to the surface moments later with a beak full of water and (hopefully) a fish or two.

Beak full of fish and water!!

 Just like with the snowy owls all it took was one sighting of a pelican and I was off running in the direction it was flying. Alas, it flew over the jetty and disappeared from my sight. No worries, however, because moments later a group of them flew overhead and I was ecstatic. It was just as exciting seeing the pelicans as it was the owls. It is pretty embarrassing when BIRDS give you an adrenaline rush. I am pretty lame, I know. After about a half hour of watching pelicans fly over and a little goofing around at the beach (which involved April and I horribly trying to get a "jumping" picture) we left the jetty and made way for town in search of some much needed sustenance in the form of delicious seafood. Driving down Ocean Shored Blvd on the way to town is actually quite treacherous. Sure you're only going twenty-five miles per hour but there are, and I am really not exaggerating here, mule deer EVERYWHERE. You can be driving along happily minding your own business when out from the bushes prances a heftily sized deer with mate and baby in tow. And let me tell you these deer KNEW we were tourists because when we stopped to coo at the adorable little spotted fawn they totally stopped and ate it all up.

One of my favorite places to eat in Ocean Shores is Bennett's Fish Shack, so naturally that's where we ate!  got my usual but spiced it up this time with a blackberry margarita. Hats off to the bartender because it was pretty tasty, but it was definitely one of those drinks where you squish your face after every sip because its so strong. Needless to say I did NOT finish that on my own. I am a total wimp. If it is not completely fruity I cant drink it. Dinner was delicious, as usual. There is something about jumbo prawns battered in corn dog batter that just makes all the calories completely worth it. It was my splurge for the week and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I should probably elaborate on the beautiful room April managed to score for us. We had an ocean view and a balcony. Yes. A balcony. Totally fancy. Sleeping with the screen door open at night and listening to the ocean was probably one of the best things ever. I wish I could fall asleep to that sound every night.

Balcony! And a foggy ocean in the background. 

The next morning we were back at the jetty and I honestly don't think I have ever seen so many birds in one spot in my life. The end of the breakwater rocks was swarming, and I mean SWARMING with birds. Gulls, pelicans and who knows what else (though I really wanted to find out.)

Seriously. Look at all those birds! Ornithologist heaven!

Jeremy and I braved the rocks and hiked out about halfway along the jetty. We gave up because neither of us are very steady on our feet and I was attempting to do this in flip-flops. Probably not my best decision, but I was determined to get a better view of the pelicans. I settled for parking myself on a rock and waiting for the pelicans to fly over me to get pictures. I was in luck (better luck than I could have ever imagined) because at least ten pelicans decided I was cool enough to fly directly over me allowing me to get some pretty decent pictures.

In the middle of my photo frenzy I caught site of a bird that did not fit in with the plethora of gulls. I think I may have startled Jeremy, who was taking in the sights on his own rock, by yelling: "OH MY GOSH! That was a cormorant!!" I quickly snapped some pictures and later identified it as a double-crested cormorant. It was a good find for me because I had that bird tabbed in my Sibley guide with the hopes of spotting one on my trip. Success.

Double-crested cormorant just before it dove underwater.

The double-crested cormorant in flight.

The tide pools at the jetty were pretty cool. We managed to find a lot of neat little marine invertebrates like sea stars, barnacles and anemones, as pictured below:

Pacific Goose Barnacles

Aggregating Anenomes

Ochre Sea Star

Our last destination before heading home was the beach that leads to Damon Point, which is called protection island. The main purpose of this beach visit was to collect shells for my mom. To my pleasant surprise there was one more species at Ocean Shores that presented itself to me. After picking up a few shells I started hearing the irritated calls of a flock of birds. I foolishly assumed they were gulls and kept shell searching. Eventually Jeremy asked me, "What is that?" as one of the angry birds flew overhead. I didn't even give him an answer. I simply shoved the shell bag at him and took off running with my binoculars in hand, and as I was running off toward the birds I yelled: "Its a tern! A TERN!!" I stumbled across a flock of very grumpy sounding Caspian terns. A very cool find and probably one of the coolest sightings ever (besides my life birds obviously.)

Caspian Tern

Caspian Tern

All in all it was a good trip. I am hoping to make several more trips to Ocean Shores in the near future. I would like to make seasonal trips to see what migrating birds I can spot. I would love to see some shearwaters, pestrels and rhinoceros aucklets, but seeing as those are mainly pelagic birds I might be out of luck. I definitely plan on making return trips to see the snowy owls and next Summer I will definitely be back pelican watching. Congratulations, Ocean Shores, on your rich wildlife. Here's to hoping that never changes!

Life Bird(s)

I feel like the only person in the universe that has a new life bird seemingly every month. A life bird, in the birding world, is a rare/uncommon bird from a far away place. Sounds mystical, I know. My first life bird was a snowy owl. They are occasional winter inhabitants of our region but usually call the Arctic Tundra their home, which is why I consider them from a far away land (I mean who has the time, effort or warm clothes to travel to the tundra?) I was lucky enough to spot my life bird in February and all I had to do was drive to the not-so-far-away-land of Ocean Shores. On the very day I spotted my former life bird (which has now been renamed my coolest bird sighting of all time) I chose a new life bird. A Pelican. Ok so that is more like a life species, but I am really not picky. ANY pelican will do (American White, Brown, Pink Backed...) Once again I am in luck as I have the chance to spot a Brown Pelican in none other than Ocean Shores. They migrate to the Washington Coast from California and Southward (which is once again a far away land for me.) Two somewhat easy life birds in a row? Score!

Tomorrow morning I am leaving on a trip to Ocean Shores. From what I hear the pelicans can be seen mingling with the gulls on the main drag or diving for anchovies at the North Jetty. I would be happy seeing one, but seeing a whole bunch would make my day. Reports on that trip to come when I get back!

So if I manage to spot a pelican I will have to pick a new life bird. I already have one in mind and this time it will be a little harder for me to find since they do not migrate to Washington. To find my new life bird I would have to travel to Central and South America. My new life bird will be, drum roll please, the Blue-Footed Booby!! Go ahead and giggle, it is a very ridiculous name. I have no idea what makes me want to see this booby, but I have a feeling it has to do with how strikingly and vibrantly blue their feet are. Its pretty cool.

Here's to hoping the pelicans are out in full force so my life bird list can grow.