First Triangulation Attempt and much more

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On Wednesday we didn’t do too much. Just drove around some more learning more of the driving routes. Ingrid also got her first practice with trying to triangulate a bird. It was tough because the bird was probably flying at the time plus we kept being in places with lots of interference. But yeah. Then after lunch we went out with Scott for more driving. Stopped at another landowner’s place to talk to the couple. They were very cute. Probably in their early 80s. They have 18 grandkids! Crazy! And their first great-grandchild will be born this year. Insane. They had two very cute dogs and many cows, including some calves (adorable! I wish I had my camera on me - they came right up to me). They also often see cranes in their yard. Then, as if on cue, 2 cranes came walking out of the distance into their far pasture area. Haha. So we were able to get that visual observation. That was it for Wednesday. The weather was MUCH nicer, which made all the difference. Was much more awake, all day long. After work I walked the trail on refuge a few times, which was quite nice. Then I cooked dinner! Yay! Cooked quinoa (so tasty! Ingrid has totally turned me into a huge quinoa fan. It is delicious, much easier to cook than rice, and has a lot of protein in it!), green beans, eggs, and avocado with a soy sauce/lemon juice sauce. We both liked it, so yay! Also had a delicious salad. It was a good day. 😊

Probably the most exciting thing about Wednesday was when Lauren informed us that there is a weekly farmers market in downtown Ocean Springs year round (woo!) AND that includes local goat farmers who bring their goat cheese, among other things! I am so very excited about this. We are going to go this Saturday, before our other grocery shopping. It seems that I may be able to eat kinda how I wanted to while down here. Woohoo! 😊 Oh she also told us that there is a Red White and Blueberry festival later this spring, which sounds awesome! That includes a local blueberry farm bringing their apparently delicious organic blueberries. Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! 😊

Today was another fabulous day! Sunny again which was lovely. Went out almost right away. Drove for a bit trying to listen for a certain bird, and attempting to stay near where Scott was because he was trying to trap a bird and if he was successful he would need our help. Anyway, I got to take my first stab at triangulating a crane. It brought back memories from Australia, except this time I was standing on the side of the road in the daylight instead of the middle of the night. I had to take 5 points before I actually got a reasonable triangle, but still, I think it went ok. 😊 After that more driving through different parts of the refuge occurred, including Ingrid triangulating another crane successfully. Yay us! Back at the office we got to try to enter the data we each had gathered into their database. I was able to do it without too much assistance but I definitely think it will take some time. There are a lot of codes and things that are hard to remember. For the time being I am using a ‘cheat sheet’ to help me. Hehe. Anywho, after lunch we went out to one part of the refuge. The plan had been for us to work on setting up a barrier around a potential nesting site (to keep predators out) after Lauren showed has how. However, when we got out there, Lauren decided it was a bit too windy so instead we helped her to move some of the poles that would be the outline of the barrier. This involved getting to walk through a really neat area. Tons of water (we were wearing gum boots and the water came up nearly to my knees at times) and cypress trees and old nests from cranes from last nesting season. It was actually really neat. It was the first time we spent any significant amount of time actually outside (and not in the car) on part of the refuge. At one point near the end I was getting one of the poles to move it closer, and the water got just a tad deeper, enough to top my boots, which Lauren told us would probably happen. So then I had nice cold(ish) water go down my leg and then cover my foot. Hehe. It actually felt kinda nice. Sort of. Anyway, I know I’m going to have to get used to it ‘cause I know that will probably happen a lot. Lauren said they usually have extra clothes at the office to change into if necessary and that she often has flip-flops in the office for when her socks inevitably get wet. Haha. I think this is going to be a fantastic internship. 😊

Once we finished that we pretty much were done for the day. She just told us the plan for tomorrow and left it at that. After work I went to the library for the first time. Got a library card (yay!) and tried to use their wireless but did not have any luck. I hope next time works better. In the mean time, I did check out one book and one dvd so that was nice. Plus, I have recently discovered that I can get to this blog from my office computer, and so I may just go in sometimes at night to post entries. 😊

Cooked up the leftovers for dinner and added chickpeas that I had cooked the night before, more green beans, more avocado, and one more egg. It was just as tasty as last night. Post-dinner we were going to watch a movie but it was too long, so instead we watched the first episode of Gilmore Girls. She has never seen it before but had wanted too, so yay! It is going to be fun to watch it with someone who has never seen it. 😊

Attempting to get to sleep earlier but I don’t know if I will succeed. Have to get up extra early tomorrow to go sit in one of the blinds and watch for the cranes for a few hours. I am actually quite excited for tomorrow as we will be by ourselves basically the whole day. Alone in the blind and then we will join up to work on the barrier together around late morning. It may mean a very early start which is obviously tough at first, but that also means we will get out early. Probably around 2ish which will be super nice.

Overall, this has been a fantastic first week and I am super glad to be having this experience. 😊

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