I can still taste the formic acid
In the Marzluff Lab there are many graduate students who all work on fascinating projects. This means that I get to do the coolest bird things. I have submitted vegetation data for Lauren on her Black-capped Vireo project, crow trapping with Jack on his crows and sanitation project, holding dead crows for Kaeli Swifts project, woodpecker trapping with Amber, and many others!
One of my favorite projects was the Pileated Woodpecker project with Jorge Tomasevic. Along with the tasty Pepsis I got for jinxing him in the field, we did some pretty wild stuff! Measuring trees and vegetation, tracking collared individuals, trapping for ants, and drilling trees. I have to say I have never before sucked ants in through a tube contraption. I can still taste the formic acid. I never actually caught a Pileated Woodpecker with Jorge, so I have to give a brief plug for the bird banding volunteering I have done in the Seattle Area. I keep a list of all the birds I have ever caught for science, but I don’t need a list to remember catching the Pileated Woodpeckers. So fun! Also a quick shout out to the Stellar’s Jays that we caught, Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel, Hummingbirds, and countless Dark-eyed Juncos for the winter banding study. |
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