Keeping things brief, and, forgive me, vague this time around. Today was a good, fulfilling day, other then at least one hiccup, which is also one of the reasons there are no pictures this time around. I actually managed to misplace my camera sometime during the last hour of my shift. It turns out that it ended up in the wash, and went through an entire cycle. Oops. The camera is reportedly okay, and still able to take pictures. I'd expect no less from something that claims to be water AND shock proof, but hey, it's an old, fairly inexpensive camera. I guess I can't be too mad if it finally met it's end. In any case I wont be getting my hands on it again until next week.
On another note, I'll be going through an external source now, before I post my entries to my blog, so whether or not they're written the day of, they may not be added for a few days after the fact. Since I'm writing about events happening at Sarvey, it seems that in a way I am also a representative of Sarvey. I would hate to misrepresent something, or phrase something in a misleading way unintentionally. Were my little past time to negatively influence Sarvey in any way I would be crushed. Therefore, my entries will be going through a second set of hands before they're published, just as an added precaution. I'll continue to log my days events as they happen to keep things somewhat fresh, but you may not see them right off the bat. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
Oh! Just as an aside, I thought this was a pretty darn cool, and very informative video. I learned something new today!
So I figured that since there won't be any awesome reporting this week I'd fill up the empty space with rambling, and maybe even a few articles I find kind of cool. They... may not be related to rehabilitation or birding, but I'm a sucker for an interesting subject.
On another note, I'll be going through an external source now, before I post my entries to my blog, so whether or not they're written the day of, they may not be added for a few days after the fact. Since I'm writing about events happening at Sarvey, it seems that in a way I am also a representative of Sarvey. I would hate to misrepresent something, or phrase something in a misleading way unintentionally. Were my little past time to negatively influence Sarvey in any way I would be crushed. Therefore, my entries will be going through a second set of hands before they're published, just as an added precaution. I'll continue to log my days events as they happen to keep things somewhat fresh, but you may not see them right off the bat. I'm sorry for the inconvenience.
Oh! Just as an aside, I thought this was a pretty darn cool, and very informative video. I learned something new today!
So I figured that since there won't be any awesome reporting this week I'd fill up the empty space with rambling, and maybe even a few articles I find kind of cool. They... may not be related to rehabilitation or birding, but I'm a sucker for an interesting subject.
Since I can't post this video directly to Blogger, (it isn't hosted on youtube, boo,) I'll link you to it instead with a short synapses. The essential idea is that there is a female tiger shark in Dubai, that although she has never come into contact with a male of her species, has managed to produce offspring. I'll let the video itself do most of the explanation, as I'm sure it will be much more eloquent than my ramblings.
Also, since I love to promote things, and people for that matter, that I think are awesome I urge any casual passersby, who might just happen to be as unnaturally interested in Great horned owls as I am, to join the lot of us that regularly frequent a Great Horned owl breeding cam hosted out of Minnesota. Even casual owl lovers should stop by, even if only for a bit. It's amazing how much you can learn about a species just by watching them for a while. Not to mention the regulars who frequent the chat are all great people who just so happen to love owls. The cam is located here,
and it is run by Karla Bloem, who just so happens to be doing an extensive vocal study on Great Horned owls, as well as having lived with one for quite awhile now. Her blog is a great, informative, and often quite amusing read if you're interested.
Alice the owl's vocalizations are actually featured in several places, including one of my favorite resources, http://www.owlpages.com. As you can see I apparently have way too much time on my hands to have figured this all out in the span of a couple months. I started this in late October I believe.
If you've read my previous posts, you may recall me mentioning that I planned to start a field journal of sorts. What I actually ended up doing was purchasing a recycled book off of Etsy. (Just in case you didn't know, www.etsy.com is an awesome place to spend a LOT of money,) Essentially what a recycled book is, in this case, is an old book that is gutted, lined with artist quality sketchbook paper, and in the case of the book I purchased, infused with the occasional smattering of original pages from the former book. The artist binds it all together, and voila! One completed sketch journal. I did a lot of browsing before I chose the book that suited me most. So far I haven't regretted the decision. Hopefully I'll be able to photograph bits of it soon, you know, when the camera issue is resolved. I've actually compiled pages, and pages of physiology, and diagrams, and illustrations. All owls so far, but I plan to move on to other local species of raptors. I may even do a second one in the future for other native birds to Washington State.
I've managed to finish all of the physiology for general owls, and am currently working on filling in individual native species. I've found that this has actually been a fantastic way to learn, and cement knowledge, and the book itself is small enough as to be portable. I can take it with me, and reflect on it when necessary. The best part? It's something I'm creating myself, and that just feels awesome. I've actually pondered the idea of doing a series of skeletal and muscular diagrams to compile together, for local birds, mammals, and reptiles. A HUGE undertaking, I know, but I think I'd enjoy it if I could find the resources to make it happen. The idea first occurred to me when I was wandering around book stores, and the dredges of the internet trying to find just this type of book. I suppose I'd have to do it in volumes, much like my personal sketch journals. It might even be something I could theoretically have published, although, that's an awfully small niche to cater to. At least I'm not doing it for the money. Maybe I'll just publish them online for free or something. That'd be an awesome resource for aspiring wildlife biologists like myself.
You know what? I'm proud of how far I've come, and the new passions, and interests I've developed. This is a huge step for me, even though it's minuscule in the grand scheme of things. I haven't felt this passionate or enthused about something since... well, ever, now that I think about it. Now I've just got to work on the maturity bit, and the part where I get discouraged easily. Insecurity can be a difficult hill to climb. I want to feel like I'm affecting things, and really experiencing every moment to the fullest, but I'm also well aware just how long, and hard the journey to where I ultimately want to go will be. In the meantime, here's to fantastic experiences, and holding on to the things that bring me joy.
If you've read my previous posts, you may recall me mentioning that I planned to start a field journal of sorts. What I actually ended up doing was purchasing a recycled book off of Etsy. (Just in case you didn't know, www.etsy.com is an awesome place to spend a LOT of money,) Essentially what a recycled book is, in this case, is an old book that is gutted, lined with artist quality sketchbook paper, and in the case of the book I purchased, infused with the occasional smattering of original pages from the former book. The artist binds it all together, and voila! One completed sketch journal. I did a lot of browsing before I chose the book that suited me most. So far I haven't regretted the decision. Hopefully I'll be able to photograph bits of it soon, you know, when the camera issue is resolved. I've actually compiled pages, and pages of physiology, and diagrams, and illustrations. All owls so far, but I plan to move on to other local species of raptors. I may even do a second one in the future for other native birds to Washington State.
I've managed to finish all of the physiology for general owls, and am currently working on filling in individual native species. I've found that this has actually been a fantastic way to learn, and cement knowledge, and the book itself is small enough as to be portable. I can take it with me, and reflect on it when necessary. The best part? It's something I'm creating myself, and that just feels awesome. I've actually pondered the idea of doing a series of skeletal and muscular diagrams to compile together, for local birds, mammals, and reptiles. A HUGE undertaking, I know, but I think I'd enjoy it if I could find the resources to make it happen. The idea first occurred to me when I was wandering around book stores, and the dredges of the internet trying to find just this type of book. I suppose I'd have to do it in volumes, much like my personal sketch journals. It might even be something I could theoretically have published, although, that's an awfully small niche to cater to. At least I'm not doing it for the money. Maybe I'll just publish them online for free or something. That'd be an awesome resource for aspiring wildlife biologists like myself.
You know what? I'm proud of how far I've come, and the new passions, and interests I've developed. This is a huge step for me, even though it's minuscule in the grand scheme of things. I haven't felt this passionate or enthused about something since... well, ever, now that I think about it. Now I've just got to work on the maturity bit, and the part where I get discouraged easily. Insecurity can be a difficult hill to climb. I want to feel like I'm affecting things, and really experiencing every moment to the fullest, but I'm also well aware just how long, and hard the journey to where I ultimately want to go will be. In the meantime, here's to fantastic experiences, and holding on to the things that bring me joy.
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