Sometimes you realize you are the only person on the island. 360 acres to oneself. Feels good.
No computers or TV to distract oneself.
Gorgeous sunsets and sunrises. And nothing to stop me from pausing to watch them.
The friendliest neighbors you could ever meet. And having them about a mile away...not too close, not too far.
And wonderful, WONDERFUL bird life.
This has been a job of many firsts for me. I am working in the northeastern US for the first time. It is the first time I have worked on a banding station as my primary responsibility. Cibola NWR in SoCal was a banding operation, but I was working on the telemetry and foraging aspect of the project. I have seen 8, count 'em 8, new species for my US life list, and 7 of these are new for the world too. Though I haven't gotten a Puffin yet.
I have seen another 4 species for the first time in the hand. I have also handled for the first time on my own large woodpeckers (not the easiest birds to handle), hawks, and waxwings. And with luck, my first shorebirds soon too.
Our operations here are going very well. Our station is up to 63 species so far, which ties the species record set at one of the other islands (Seal Island) last year or the year before. And we haven't got some of our northern species yet (namely, the finches).
Sometimes we even catch birds we don't even know what they were. Such was the case of the Bobolink we caught, and the Pine Warbler. These birds look a bit different in the fall than during the rest of the year.
I am trying very hard not to count down my time for my next trip too much...but it is hard. Especially since today I realized in 2 weeks, I will be in Australia. And that I leave my island paradise here (no palm trees or white sand beach...but it is still paradise to me) in about a week. Wow. I will really miss it here...but thankfully the next trip is right afterward, so I won't have too much time to think about it.
And yes, I really do hope I can be up here again next year. I feel very conflicted...it is very hard for me to express just how fantastic it is out here. The mild inconveniences (no running water, using an outhouse) don't faze me in the least. Doing laundry by hand is something I got used to in Costa Rica...and what else will I do with my spare time here? And I get to listen to the ocean and the gulls and other birds at the same time...so it's not all bad. At the same time, I know I would really like to get settled more.
Why is this becoming so difficult?
Perhaps it is that, right now, I can't imagine another life. Field work has been my life for the past 7 years. Wow...full time for 7 years.
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