Vancouver

Its that time again - I have the travel itch. Yesterday was my 26th birthday (I know I am old!). In December, I have a week off unpaid from work. I figured I better take advantage of the time. So, as a gift to myself, I bought a plane ticket to Vancouver.

I have a list of things that I am interested in doing. The Vancouver Aquarium and Stanley Park. Capilano River and Grouse Mountain. Butchart Gardens. Whale watching. I only have a short time in the city, so if any of you have visited Vancouver, I would love to know what you think are the must sees!

No Coffee?

It has been a whole week.

7 days.

168 hours.

Or approximately 10,080 minutes since I last had coffee.

As you might have guessed by the title of my blog, I am addicted to this stuff. People know not to talk to me about anything important until I have had a sip or two. I started going without my morning fix because of a headache and nausea combo that I couldn't kick. Then, I just kept going as a challenge to myself. See if I could get through the day without.

It takes me a little longer to shake the cobwebs from my mind in the morning but its possible. I also figured out that I am just as much addicted to the act of my morning routine and holding my mug of warm deliciousness as the actual caffeine. That said, I am starting to think that perhaps, its time to end the current experiment. And instead of drinking 6-8 cups a day, pairing it back to 2 or 3. We'll see :)

Barred Owl Release

Went down to The Raptor Center on Tuesday for the little birds to get their beaks and talons trimmed. As a bonus, we returned with more birds than we went down with. A male barred owl had finished rehab and needed to be released...guess who got the honors!?!? Don't worry, the owl did fly off eventually :)

(I apologize for the sound ahead of time)

Secret Language of Birds

I bought this book a couple months ago now but I still think that it is worth sharing. Its called The Secret Language of Birds by Adele Nozedar. This book has more than 500 pages of myths and folklore about birds.

My favorite part of the book is the astrology part. It equates the astrological signs to bird signs and then describes the house, work life and relationships of that sign. What amazes me is the accuracy of the various signs.  For example, I am a Libra and my bird sign is the condor. Here are a few of my favorite parts of my personality description.

1. Condors are unflappable people who are able to achieve a great deal without seeming to try. (Ask my sister about this one; she'll say its true)
2. Condors do not suffer fools gladly, but rather than endure a difficult or boring person, they will simply walk away; this bird cannot bear to be bored in any way. (Yep, I've done that on more than one occasion)
3. Condors need to have a great deal of freedom in any chosen profession; they work much better if just left to get on with the task at hand. (Again, this is true)
4. Once the condor has decided that you are its friend, the friendship will last for life, and any small arguments or pettiness will be forgiven immediately. (I think this is accurate, I tend to let the little things go. But watch out if you get on my bad side!)

This book has given the interns alot of entertainment. Definitely worth the $10!

Stillwater, MN

Me pointing to Wisconsin, the homeland

I went down to the cities to catch up with a former Audubon intern today. We went to Stillwater, MN which is considered the birthplace of Minnesota. I had fun just walking around and looking in the cute shops downtown. It was also fantastic to get off site and catch up on the latest gossip!

Open House

Today was Audubon Center of the North Woods annual open house. It is a day where the public can visit and do activities like high ropes, climbing wall and paddle a voyagers canoe. About 350 people showed up to partake in the events.

I spent the day at the barn talking to people about the animals. As a special treat, this year people could buy tickets to feed our crow Mob. This was good enrichment for him and he got his favorite treats - raisins and mealworms. It was also good enrichment for me. I got many laughs when Mob started playing with the kids shoe laces and calling at them.

Nero and flat Stanley

Dakota and flat Stanley

While working the open house, I took the chance to take a few pictures of Stanley and the birds. Flat Stanley came from a group of 3rd graders in Connecticut. After reading the book about Stanley, they sent out paper Stanley on an adventure. While here, Stanley wants to learn about birds. Pretty cute, right?

Feels like Fall

Over the course of the past week, I have taught and observed a bunch of classes to school groups on site. Many of our classes have hikes in them. Here are a few of the pictures I took while out and about!

Garter Snake

Beautiful Fall colors

More fall colors

Leaves

One of my finer moments this week teaching wasn't documented with a photo. I sat in bird poo right before my raptor program last evening and had to teach with a nice circle of poop on my butt. The only good thing about this was it was a clear mute so nobody but me knew. I think this really speaks about the rough week I am having though!

A Raptor Weekend

Last weekend, was filled with raptors!

On Friday, the wildlife staff took a field trip down to the University of Minnesota for a lecture on Apex Predators but on by The Raptor Center. There were 2 speakers: Mark Martell who spoke about recent tracking research on birds of prey and Dave Mech who spoke about his wolf research. Each speaker taught me a thing or two that I can use when I teach. Both were really interesting but I preferred Mark Martell's program a bit more. It was fascinating to hear about data that had just been received in the past month and what it means for the species as a whole.

View from the observation deck at the National Eagle Center

On Saturday, my parents met me in the cities. After a fantastic Panera stop, we headed down to the National Eagle Center. I think working with raptors and in the education field has jaded me a bit when it comes to visiting other centers. I did enjoy looking at some of the education displays; in particular one where visitors could lift a replica eagle. My favorite thing was looking through the scope for eagles - and actually finding several perched in trees!
It was really nice to get off site for a bit, hangout with the family and learn a few things!!