Swimming with the Fish

I got the chance to dive at the Great Lakes Aquarium twice this past week. YAY!

Me and my dive buddy in Isle Royale 1 - I have blue fins ;)

On Tuesday, I went up with the Audubon Center. The interns were getting a behind the scenes tour and meeting with some folks. I followed for a bit and then took off to do some diving. At 11:00 when the Isle Royale show started, I dropped down into the tank and there were all my co-workers. The pictures of me diving were ones they took and I felt a bit like a goldfish in bowl. They watched me get harassed by the Lake Sturgeon and trout. Much to their entertainment, the sturgeon repeatedly tried feeding from the top of my head. We only did the first 2 tanks because of limited air (which is fine by me because that 3rd tank is brutal!)

Sturgeon!

hanging with my fav fish in the tanks

I went up on Sunday as well. This time I went by myself which meant I got to hit up some of my favorite places - Target and Starbucks. Nothing exciting happened during these dives but I did make some kids nervous. I tried waving to them while underwater and they started to back away - apparently I am a bit scary with all the equipment on. I am starting to get comfortable with all the gear and tanks which is really great. I also got some good tips from the folks this week and best of all, I got out of the bubble :)

Spring? Maybe?

Okay Mother Nature, I get it. Jokes on me. Just when I get my hopes up that spring is around the corner you prove other wise. I "love" the approximate 10 inches of snow in late March. Thanks. 

In other random news this week, we had a pair of mallard ducks come in for rehab. After an exam and a bath, we couldn't find anything wrong with them. We released them right away but they certainly entertained us with lots of quacking and even some unwelcomed advances by the male.

Female taking a bath

Male and female mallard

BAT!

I can't believe I forgot to blog about one of the craziest things that happened this week!

A week or so ago I had a dream that Isis (the American kestrel I train) got out of her enclosure and was flying laps in a hallway. Then one Tuesday I was hanging out in the barn talking to someone and out of the corner of my eye I saw something flying back and forth in the hallway. Well, immediately I thought my crafty bird Isis had gotten out but when I walked over to the window I saw a bat.

I didn't take this picture but I think this is what we had....

Isis was watching this critter fly back and forth with interest. I on the other hand wasn't amused. I know next to nothing about bats but I am pretty sure this was a little brown bat. If I had to guess, he was using the barn as a good roosting spot and when I was working I woke him up. I know that they (like snakes) are good for the environment and are not intentionally going to come after me but I was totally convinced this bat was going to lunge for me.

About a minute after I realized what was flying around, a class came. I waited until they were outside and got my bat gear on. I know you wish there was a picture but thankfully there isn't. I am pretty sure I looked absolutely ridiculous! By time I was ready to grab the little bugger, it had landed on the ground. This made it easy for me to throw a towel on top of him and grab him. I have never had a bat experience before and the noise it made really freaked me out. Once I had the bat, I went outside to release him. The class that had watched him fly in the hallway came over and watched him fly off into the woods. All's well that ends well.

A Spring Without Bees

I have continued on my non-fiction kick and my hope for spring to arrive soon with A Spring Without Bees - How Colony Collapse Disorder has Endangered Our Food Chain; a book by Michael Schacker.

This book is pretty well summed up by its title. Its a book on the importance of bees and the recent development of bee colonies collapsing. I found several things interesting in this book. The bee species that we depend on to pollinate much of our agriculture in the United States had its genome mapped. Turns out it actually has a poor immune system. Not good in a society that wants to spray everything! Chances are the pesticides that we are putting on our fields and lawns are actually killing the very creatures we depend on to pollinate them. What makes the situation more appalling is the loopholes that allow the manufactures to get away with little to no testing of some of these pesticides. One would think that if it is being sprayed on a food crop there would be stringent testing but apparently that is not always the case.

I also found interesting the comparison of pesticide use on agriculture fields to that on golf course and neighborhood lawns. Turns out that  Americans have the perception that a green lawn is the only good lawn. This means that in many areas neighborhood lawns and golf course use more water and pesticides than any food crop. Something to think about. I don't have a lawn and don't golf but is that perfectly manicured lawn really worth it? I would rather have a bunch of native plants and wildlife any day of the week.

As I got further into the book, the author did get up on his soap box a bit. I actually got a bit annoyed in a couple spots - I get it. "We should try and switch to organic farming so the bees do not ingest the pesticides. Bees are critical to our environment". Despite that, I found that this book presented some interesting facts to think about. And I think we all need to thank our little friends for how much they contribute to our daily lives.

SPRING!!!

Nuthatch

I feel like we have been trapped in a never ending winter. The great news is that temperatures are FINALLY starting to warm up and the snow is melting! YAY!

Isis in mid-call, enjoying the sun (please ignore the smudgy window).

This past week we had the return of some of our friends - the robins and (my favorite) the sandhill cranes. I feel like I should go driving around in a hunt to find them. We also had the start of maple syrup season and our little education birds were given back their entire enclosures. Isis made sure to announce that spring was here and alternated flying laps in her mew and calling "klee, klee, klee" all yesterday afternoon.

Randomness

Okay, heres a life (and by life, I mean work) update. As you saw with my previous entry, I have gotten up to Duluth a bit! YAY! Overall though, it seems like I have been a bit trapped in my bubble lately so much of my update will be work related. But the good news is that I have gotten quite a bit done.

For those of you who are wondering, we got back Nero's necropsy results back late last week. Turns out that he died from a degenerative heart condition. It looks like it was quick and nothing we could have done to prevent it. Its not quite so weird for me a couple weeks later but, every now and again, I still forget that he's not there and pause waiting to hear his little twitter.

Most of my time the past couple weeks has been spent making props for various Audubon classes. I have worked on at least 3 classes. While working on a tracking activity I discovered a really fun fact. Porcupine quills are regularly found in fisher scat - thats one fierce predator! I also put my dice making skills to good use and made a bunch for a new game we are going to try in our dirt class (see above).


In other fun news, our maple syruping season has just started with the first drops collected late last week. I will be sure to take some pictures once things get underway!

GLA Volunteering

Its been awhile since I have filled most of you in on my volunteer gig - I have been getting up the Great Lakes Aquarium in Duluth, MN when it works out in my and their schedule. I went 2 times in February and today (I also have 2 more times scheduled for this month) YAY! So much fun - I hope to have some picture of me diving before the month is out.

When I went up in February the people I dove with borrowed an underwater video camera and got some footage of us. I am in it but don't be surprised if you don't recognize me with all the gear on. As a helpful tip, I am the one with blue fins and no snorkel :) You can also see just how "friendly" some of the sturgeon get - I actually had one try to feed off my head!

Soaring with Fidel

I have been a major reading kick lately. In part because I've had a lot on my mind the past couple weeks. It also helps that I just got a bunch of books from Barnes and Noble for cheap! I had a bunch of gift cards and coupons so I got 6 books for a total $5 from my pocket. One of the ones I bought was called Soaring with Fidel. This book combines my love of travel and nature as the author goes on a journey from Cape May to Cuba and beyond following Osprey.

The book focused more on the traveling with osprey as the background. In that regard it was slightly disappointing (although I did still learn a few tidbits). What made me jealous was how lucky the author was. He was able to take decent chunks of time away from work and had a friend bankroll the trips. Many of the people he encountered along the were big birders and have had a large influence on osprey research. That said, I would love to be able to take a trip like his (yeah, I have the travel itch again!). But hey, if I can't travel I guess reading about someones trip will have to do for the time being.