Tern Census

Today was great! I finally got a chance to do some field work, and I definitely hit the ground running. I participated in the Tern census, where we count every egg/nest we can find of the Common Terns that nest on the refuge, as well as any other birds in the area (but there aren't nearly as many, so it's not a big part). I had so much fun! There are about 14,000 birds that live on the island, and it's almost scary because they do not like intruders, so they try to dive-bomb you when you get close...but I thought it was pretty fun! It's also super loud in there, with literally thousands of birds screeching and squawking around you! Here are some pictures...

The nest...

...Pipping...

...and chicks!

These other guys are called Laughing Gulls, but they sure weren't happy to see us!

World's Oceans Day

Working at the New England Aquarium was really great! I ran a booth with the other intern that arrived that weekend (as mentioned in my previous post), as well as another visitor's services intern from a refuge nearby. We got to talk to a lot of different people, and we took turns going around to the other booths and learning what they had to say! Also, there were demonstrations going on throughout the day of cooking sustainable seafood, so we got to try lots of yummy snacks. Afterwards, we got to walk around the aquarium for free!

The view of Boston from our booth

Anemone

Cowfish!

Jellies

The flat guys...a flounder and some kind of skate(?)

Myrtle, the turtle they've had since the 1970s. She's huuuuge!

Here she is by another turtle for comparison. She was bigger than me!

Penguins! African (black band) and Little (no black band)

African penguin

I want this guy's job!

Sadly this picture didn't turn out, but I wanted to include the Rockhopper penguins!

"I'm a pir-ah-nah!" (If you don't know that reference...go watch Finding Nemo)

a pile of seahorses

Sea lions! they were so playful all day...until I went to take a picture

Boston has some really cool buildings!

We got stuck in "traffic" on the way out!

Sorry it's been so long since I have been able to post! I can't believe how quickly the past two weeks have flown by.

I'm quickly settling into a routine, and work-wise, things are still chugging along. We finished the posters that I had been designing since I started (with good timing...the event is next weekend!) Since then, I've been working on my trail guide speech for when I lead tours, as well as coming up with activities to lead all summer - some of my favorites include a trivia day with facts about the refuge, as well as bringing back the photography contest from last year.

A willet!

The willet, with its mate.

This hole is the nest for some belted kingfishers!
The birds are super cool, but unfortunately
too fast for me to get a good photo of them.

At the cafe, I've apparently been doing well enough that she had me training a new girl yesterday! Also of note, we got a new cash register that only looks about 10 years out of date, instead of the one that was probably about 30 years old...haha.

However, my off time has been much more interesting! The kids at the house have all been wonderful, and we've been having a lot of fun. This weekend we went dancing one night in Provincetown (the very tippy top/end of the Cape), and the atmosphere there is so much fun! Everyone's super friendly, walking their dogs, and it's so gorgeous. The next night we went to the house of one of the full-time biologists, where we had a campfire and just sat around and talked. We go to $1 bowling on Monday nights, and we've taken to going on group bike rides on nice evenings.

This upcoming weekend should be interesting! My other visitor's services intern should be arriving tomorrow night, and on Sunday I'm going up to the New England Aquarium to run a booth in honor of World's Ocean Day! I'm so excited, it should be really great! (I just hope I don't get in trouble for wandering too much...I want to check out the aquarium so bad!)