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!)

This week was relatively uneventful. Both jobs went well all week, nothing too interesting to report. The worst of it was that I had a couple come in this afternoon, and the husband was complaining about the refuge (and government/wildlife management in general) having too many rules. How dare a small portion of the beach get roped off for a few weeks so endangered birds can successfully nest, when people want to drive their cars on the beach? Why can't taxpayers camp inside the renovated lighthouse, even though it's so rickety inside it's a hazard to be in there? Why can't people go fishing on the specially protected land even though we are on the coast and there are miles and miles of beaches to fish off of? Fortunately, the refuge manager overheard, and finally stepped in to rescue me. It's not my fault, people! Other than that, I spent my week mostly still working on the anniversary posters. The first one is finished finally, hooray!

Here are some more photos! I accidentally forgot the cord to my camera at home, so my wonderful family just mailed it to me - thanks guys!

Wild strawberries! (Fragaria virginiana)

Another herring gull. They're everywhere!

A Gray Catbird, they really do sound like mewling kittens

A pretty butterfly, according to my Google sleuthing it is a Red Admiral!

Beach Plum! (Prunus maritima)

Horseshoe crabs...almost stepped on my toes they got so close...

Jealous?

Beach Rose (Rosa rugosa)

Starflower (Trientalis borealis)

The salt marsh area of the refuge

Forget-me-not! (maybe?)

:)

Not much to update right now, I'm mostly here to share pictures!

A herring gull, I watched him flap about and
eat for quite some time!

This weekend went pretty well, I was on my own again but I've gotten the hang of it a little more so it was more comfortable. The ferry for the seal tours started on Saturday, so I was a little busier, but most people didn't bother to come inside so it was mostly the same as last weekend. However, being mother's day, the ferry didn't run on Sunday, much to the dismay of many of my visitors. I had some pretty interesting people, including a German couple, and a guy who thought that "the ocean ruined the beach" since the last time he visited, about 20 years ago...okay then.

Some pictures I took on the beach Sunday afternoon:

I'm not sure what these cute flowers
 are...must investigate!

You can't see it, but it said "mom" and "love" above,
but "Smile" is my favorite part anyway :)

Today I started my second job, working at a cafe for some extra cash. It went pretty well, although it's interesting working for a small shop, as I've only worked at coroporate/franchise-type places before!

To the left is a little bunny who was sitting outside when I was about to walk in!

As hoped, Sunday went well. Again, I was on my own, and it was a little busier because of the nicer weather, but still slow most of the time. I mostly worked on research for the even with the schoolkids. Something really exciting happened, but I'm not sure if I'm allowed to disclose it, so you will have to wait in mystery until I can tell everyone!

Monday and Tuesday were my days off, so I mostly hung out, watching TV, visiting with the housemates, and the like. Monday we've established as Bowling Day (it's $1 bowling, woo!), so we did that Monday evening. I am horribly out of practice, but had lots of fun! We also tried candlepin bowling, which is pretty cool - the pins are much thinner and less curvy, and the balls are about the size of a softball! It was pretty neat.

Wednesday I spent again working on the presentation, but as it turns out, it got cancelled because it was raining! I'm not sure which is worse, scrambling to put together so much information and working so hard, or not getting to use it at all! As others have pointed out to me, at least I have the experience down, and I'll have the handouts and the like ready for next time.

Today was cold and rainy all morning, but it cleared up around lunchtime. It's still windy, but very nice outside! I mostly spent my day working on the 300th anniversary presentation...the poster is turning out really well! I can't wait until it's finished.

Today I ran the Visitor's Center by myself for the first time today! Until the other intern gets here next month, everyone else is on a M-F schedule, and thus, I was alone.

Nothing very notable happened...there was a grand total of 24 people that came in, and I was able to field most of the questions, and got to play the "sorry, I'm new!" card for the ones I couldn't answer! Everyone was super nice, and it was interesting seeing how far away everyone was from. A tour group came in (as it turns out, there's a man who does a guided walking tour of the area, including some of the refuge), including a couple from England, and an Asian couple (I couldn't tell what language they were speaking!) I found it pretty funny that the first two people of the day were from cities near where I grew up.

Lets hope tomorrow goes just as well, as I'm on my own again.