photos 2

June 30, 2008 7:34 p.m.

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To the marsh! Where the cattails are huge, the sawgrass vicious and the trails extremely wet!

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My clandestine speaker, mounted on a pole and designed to systematically enrage whosever territory it was on.

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This male had a great trial and didn�t mind that I hung around to take his picture afterward.

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What happens when good waders go bad�see hole to right.

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And what happens when you have to march around in knee-deep water all morning. Poor socks�they didn�t sign up for this abuse.

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Sandhill cranes hung around one of our field sites for most of the season. I didn�t think I�d see them again after Florida and was thrilled when they flew overhead on our second day out. (photo by Rob)

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Water snake hanging out on the edge of the marsh, before it got annoyed at me and dropped into the water.

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�Ignore me. Ignore me. Ignore me.�

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Rob occasionally kayaked into the marsh to record remote populations and took me out on a gorgeous ride after we were done with work one morning.

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The channel itself was too wet for swamp sparrows, but the willows and trees on either bank provided enough structure for a few males to set up shop.

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So did several beavers, judging by the number of dams we passed.

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Hanging out on dry ground as we waited for Rob to show us some of the many new territories he discovered.

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A visit to Hank�s afterward for old-school soft-serve cones.

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According to their FAQs, they�ve used the same machinery since the business was started in the 1950s. Note the Mennonite (?) family at left, ordering themselves some dairy goodness.

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More costume party photos. Not sure who they�re supposed to be exactly, but I can say we each spent about ten bucks apiece for our get-ups. Long live Salvation Army and garage sales.

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Linesville native mixes it up with Mennonite vixen? (photo by Rindy)

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Here we have the night sky we never see, an �80s has-been artiste and Predation itself.

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Rob enlightens us uncultured Americans with British TV shows featuring song, dance and 70/30 man-fish splits. �The Mighty Boosh� was such a hit that two people showed up as Old Gregg. (photo by Melissa)

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I think you have to watch the show to figure out what the hell�s going on. (photo by Adrienne)

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This is us when we�re normal, though freezing our buns off at Hank�s in 50-degree May weather. Yeah okay, we�re pretty awesome. (photo by Rindy)

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So ends another season in the field. It felt so sudden to leave by June�maybe because my last job lasted four times as long, maybe because the birds were only beginning to wind down when I finished, maybe because no other lab had any intention of leaving until August. Either way, I�m done, and the next step is massaging the data to see if there�s anything the birds want to tell me. I guess I�ll have to ease into that routine now that the numbers are in. Plus, there�s that conference I have to make a poster for, and the upcoming classes, and the papers to read�

But first, the longest stretch I�ve been home since last summer, and hanging out with my dad and with friends I haven�t seen in months and years. I�m looking forward to recharging.

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