PCCI Research Day 3

On Tuesday morning, I headed out for the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute. Work would not start for a few days, so I had planned to explore the property over the course of these two days. After moving in, I started walking the trails. Conditions were not the best and the rain started not long after. Even so, it did not stop me from exploring. I walked a good portion of the trails (about 3.5 miles) and was soaked in the process. It was a productive walk though. I saw Veery and Cerulean Warbler. Later in the day we all went to a sports bar for trivia. We almost won... The next day I joined the rattlesnake team to collect Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes. After three hours of searching in dense wetlands, we found five rattlesnakes, two of which were found by me. That night, my research partner and I headed over to some fields east of the institute and saw Henslow's Sparrow, Bobolink, and Eastern Meadowlark. Unfortunately the Institute property only has Song Sparrow, Field Sparrow, and Common Yellowthroat. Today we helped out with the Garlic Mustard pull until Dr. Keys came by. Once he went over a few things we started our point count survey training. The toughest part about that, is that you need to determine if the bird is singing within 50 meters of your point. It is much harder than it sounds. Property list is at 69 birds, 7 reptiles and amphibians, and 5 mammals. I'll keep you posted.

 The first rattlesnake was a male in very dense phragmites stand.

 The second one, was in a much better photography position.

 Same one

This little neonate was found by another in our group, but I thought I'd show you how small these guys are at first.

This is me with the second rattler

Pre - PCCI (Pierce Cedar Creek Insitute) Research

On April 16, we had our orientation at the PCCI. Overall, there are 18 students who received grants for research or art. We will all be living in the same house, so things will be packed. It was a very nice day at the institute and I met a lot of people. There will be a few researchers studying Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes, so I hope I will be able to tag along with them sometime in the summer. After orientation, Michael Hindy, Dr. Keys, and I did our first vegetation measurement at the PCCI grasslands. Using a Robel Pole, we measured the vertical density of the vegetation.

Since then we have been gathering our equipment for the summer. I now have the GPS, rangefinder, keys, point count forms, compass, and other gear items to get started. Today we had planned to take more measurements of the vegetation at the Gerald R. Ford airport and a field in Hastings, but final permissions have not yet been given. Unfortunately, it sets us back a whole week.

Because of today's lack of field work, I decided to go to the Luton Park prairie to see what was there. Luton Park is one of the possible locations to add to our research. It was a productive trip. 5 of our 10 target species were present. I saw Vesper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Field Sparrows.

Our research will officially begin on May 12. It has been taking its time in coming, but school is almost done... there is still hope.

A New Year

Hello there, its been a while. Obviously I'm not good with this whole blogging thing. I don't keep it up to date, and I apologize for that (If anyone is actually reading this). The last I wrote here was my plannings to go to the Peruvian Amazon. I have not changed in my determination to go there, but I believe it may take a while longer than I had hoped. I've been busy between college and work, and have only been able to gather a little under $500 for the trip. Hopefully, with continued saving, I will be able to finally make it in a few years from now. Fixing problems on my car have made a dent in the Amazon savings.

2015 ended well. In the spring I went with my family to California. I had a chance to see many new birds including White-headed Woodpecker, American Dipper, Hermit Warbler, Brandt's Cormorant, Heerrmann's Gull, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and many others. In the summer I was able to go on a mission trip to Russia. That was a really awesome experience. I even was able to get a dozen life birds as well. They included Eurasian Jay, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Eurasian Jackdaw, White Wagtail, European Robin, and a few others. In the fall I started my first full-time semester at Cornerstone University. The semester went pretty well, but I wasn't able to get much birding in.

Now that 2016 has come around, new opportunities have taken center stage. I was hoping this summer to start working in the field I was going to school for. I've been a line cook at a local restaurant for a couple years, and have been itching to start gaining experience in wildlife biology. Fortunately, an opportunity has come. This summer I will be a research associate at the Pierce Cedar Creek Institute. I will be spending the summer researching how vegetation affects grassland bird biodiversity and nesting success. The target species of study will be Henslow's Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, and Upland Sandpiper. It won't be final until the grant proposal has been accepted, but chances are high that it will. I am looking forward to May, and am praying that this spring semester goes by quickly.

Once the summer research begins, I will try to make a post every week with photos and maps describing our work. It will be my first paid research position, and I will make the most of it.