Sleepy First Entry

This blog is an effort to record the processes of my first research project. Currently I attend Oregon State University as a post-bac student. My first B.S. (received in June) is in Natural Resources and my second will be in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation. My research project is an off-shoot of some research that has been done in the Midwest on early-successional forests and mature-forest birds. The two sites are at EE Wilson Wildlife Refuge and William L. Finley Wildlife Refuge. Growing up in Southern Oregon I didn't have a lot of experience with non-serpentine wetlands. The Willamette Valley used to be a rather extensive wetland. Today only about 1% of Willamette Valley wetlands are left. Thankfully both of these sites are marshy and I've come to realize that I LOVE wetlands/marshes. They provide for a very diverse array of bird species, from Western Wood-pewee, Pacific-Slope Flycatchers, Black-Headed Grosbeaks, American Goldfinches, Bewick's Wrens, a ton of Northern Flickers, American Robins, and European Starlings, Northern Harriers, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures, Wood Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Blue Herons, and Green Herons to name a few. Today I watched an adult female coyote teaching three young coyotes to hunt. They were adorable! Two of them kept staring at me, until the wind shifted and they caught my sent, then they disappeared.

We're going to the coast tomorrow and on Sunday we'll be confirming our vows. Then back next week for more school and more EARLY mornings. Speaking of which . . . I've gotta' go to bed.