Deja Vu


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December 18th 2010
Published: December 18th 2010
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New homeNew homeNew home

front of the house
Well, I never expected this to happen, but that just goes to show how unexpected life can be. When I left the crane ranch, I was quite sad and hated leaving because I was worried that I might never get to come back and see all those people again. Then, just a little over 2 months after leaving Mississippi, I got a call from Lauren telling me I could have a job at Bon Secour helping the biologist there, if I wanted it. So, totally unexpectedly, following Thanksgiving I found myself once again making the drive down to the gulf coast, this time to Gulf Shores Alabama.

So far it has been quite lovely. The house I am living in on the refuge is insane, there is simply no other way to describe it. It is huge, particularly since I am basically the only one living there. My room has its own bathroom attached to it. Then there is a dining room, living room, kitchen, laundry room and another bedroom with bathroom attached. That is all the first floor. Then there is a second flour with another 4 bedrooms , some of which have balconies overlooking mobile bay, which is
Dining RoomDining RoomDining Room

with back doors leading to porch (where there is a grill!)
literally in our backyard. It is simply craziness. Once it gets a bit warmer I am going to be spending a ton of time sitting under a tree over looking the bay, reading. It's gorgeous.

Everyone at the refuge is super nice. It is a much smaller refuge than MS Sandhill Crane, and it definitely has a different feel about it. It will be a good experience to have because then I can see what it is like to work on a small refuge, as compared with a larger one. The visitor's center/offices are in a very small building. Jereme is the refuge manager, and he lives in a house right next door to the one I'm in. He is super nice and very helpful...definitely someone good to work for. Jackie is the biologist I'm working for (confusing, I know) and she is also incredibly nice and wants me to be able to learn a lot while I'm here. I'll get to see a lot more of the behind the scenes of what goes on at a refuge, which may not be as fun as working in the field, but it is definitely an important part of the job and something I would have to know how to do if I do decide I want to work at a refuge. There is also one permanent maintenance staff member Jerry, who is quite the character. I had met him previously, as he was the instructor of the ATV course I took while at the crane ranch. There is also another maintenance guy Shawn here temporarily, helping out. In addition there is a law enforcement guy here on detail (because of the oil spill) helping out. And that is pretty much it.

The refuge itself is beautiful. All of the varied habitats on and near the beach are just lovely. There are four trails on refuge, three of which I have walked already, and I love them all. One leads right down to the gulf, and it is just beautiful. Partway along there is a tower where you can sit and look out over Little Lagoon and Gator Lake. I'll try to get some pics of all of this stuff soon so that you guys have an idea of what it is like. :-)

So far I have mostly been in the office doing various tasks (helping enter stuff into a data base for jereme, helping jackie get stuff together for various permits and grant requests, answering phones, helping visitors, getting ending of year reports ready for jackie - making tables and graphs and maps, etc.). However, I have also gone out in the field, mostly helping the maintenance guys with stuff... posting signs on the beach to keep people off the dunes, and on the trails marking them as hiking trails. While in the field, on warmer days, I have seen quite a number of birds, including woodpeckers, which I love. :-) I also took a UTV out on the beach with megan (intern who was here for the field season, and was still around when I first got here. she will be starting an internship at another refuge in january) in order to take pictures of the beach at certain points (beach photo points... to document how the beach cleanup is going, post-oil spill. just fyi in case anyone thought that the oil spill is all cleaned up and is no longer a problem, that is sadly inaccurate). That was quite fun to do. I like UTVs much more than ATVs. It's like driving a golf cart... brought back memories of when I went to Georgia with my best friend to visit her family when I was maybe 12 years old and drove a golf cart for the first time. :-)

As time goes on and it gets a bit warmer, I will get to do more out in the field, including helping to set up a bat study, which is super exciting! I'll also get to do work with the alabama beach mouse come march, and sea turtles if I am around long enough (may). I'm definitely going to get to learn a lot while I am here.

Let me just end by telling you about my day on Thursday. There was a Christmas party happening at sandhill crane refuge, and bon secour staff were invited (in case ya'll didn't know, both refuges are part of the same complex. both have the same overall refuge manager, maury, who started shortly before I left mississippi. In my first two weeks at Bon secour I got to see Maury, Doug, and McClellan, all of whom I worked with in mississippi, so that was lovely). We were supposed to be doing a piping plover survey thursday morning
backyardbackyardbackyard

that is our dock
and so I wasn't going to go to the party but the survey got canceled and so at 8 in the morning I found myself making the drive to Gautier! Words can not describe how fantastic it was. The last 45minutes or so was kinda like going home, particularly driving in through the gates and approaching the visitor's center. I honestly wasn't sure if I was ever gonna see that place again. Then I walked into the bunk house (because that was where the party was held) and it was literally like walking home. Super odd, but great. And then came the part where I saw a bunch of people I didn't think I'd ever see again. When Lauren walked in, it was a super wonderful moment. She is so fantastic, and was such a great boss, but also a good friend and so it was fantastic getting to see her. Probably the greatest moment for me though was when Emily arrived! I wasn't sure if she would be coming, since I know she isn't working now, as she just recently had a baby. But she did come, and she brought Magnolia ("Maggie") along! I was so glad to see
mobile baymobile baymobile bay

from our back yard
her again and to get to meet little Maggie (who is just precious; I got to hold her a few times which was great). Food was insanely good, company was fantastic, and it was just a wonderful few hours. Only bummer was that I didn't get to see Scott, who spent the day in the field. However, I'm looking forward to getting to see him next time I visit, which I am hoping to do in the near future. I want to go up and spend a weekend with Lauren and Emily. Should be fun. 😊

Phew, so there is its. Brief (or not) summary of my first few weeks at Bon Secour. I'm really enjoying it so far and feel that it will be a good learning experience for me, until I find my next adventure (which will hopefully involve bats!). :-)


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18th December 2010

thanks!
Thanks for blogging! :-) Loved reading your post as always.

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