16 May 2012
The second day was far more trying, as it took three to four
hours to walk through forest with muddy spots that would eat you alive, a marsh,
some more woodlands, another marsh, a small island of trees, and more
marshland, just to get to the farthest edge of our farthest plot. There were times when I felt ready to give up
and as if my feet could go no further. When
these “stories” inched their way to the forefront of my mind, I had to pause
and breathe, in order to quell the mounting frustration and avoid making the
situation worse for myself. I especially
struggled in areas where the vegetation was about half the size of me, trying
to lift my legs over it without tripping myself.
I welcomed the beginning of the survey, as we had to slow down
and take our time, so that we might spot females flushing from underneath the
layer of plant litter or hear their alarm calls at our approach. I appreciated having a GPS unit there far
more than in a car, since it was so easy to get turned around in an environment
with relatively indistinct features, while simultaneously scanning for birds
and trying to stay upright, feeling where my feet would fall. I couldn’t keep a constant eye on the GPS, so
almost as soon as I would look away, I would start walking off in a slightly
off course. I think that I tended to
head in the direction, in which I was looking.
So, straight lines from point to point on the map didn’t really happen.
I flushed some birds, but they never came back, so, perhaps
there were no nests or they were not females.
The others primarily flushed female Aquatic Warblers, but also did not
turn up any nests and one kept hearing alarm calls. We worked well as a team and finished the
site slightly earlier than expected, which was good, as darkness came quickly
on this cold, cloudy, rainy day. It was
twilight by the time we reached the car, which we had left about eight hours
prior. We made it home, hung our things
to dry, as all of it was damp, cleaned up, wolfed down dinner, and now, everyone,
with the exception of me, is fast asleep.
We get a bit of a lie in tomorrow, so that we might wait out
the morning rain showers before trekking to our final survey site.
Birdwatching is one of my favoritest things in the world!
ReplyDeleteYou should come volunteer then! More help is needed! I'll see if I can post the whole internship description here...
ReplyDeleteAQUATIC WARBLER NEST MONITORING VOLUNTEER (3) needed from 15 May to 31 August 2012, to help with nest finding and monitoring of the globally threatened Aquatic Warbler in the Biebrza National Park in eastern Poland. The Aquatic Warbler is threatened by overgrowing of sedge marshes on breeding grounds, and the work will assess the benefit of a landscape-scale conservation project to increase the productivity of Aquatic Warblers. The Biebrza National Park offers amazing birding with >180 breeding species. Duties include nest finding, nest monitoring, transect counts and data entry. Aquatic Warblers have a peculiar breeding system, and nests are difficult to find as males do not visit nests. The work requires long hours of walking, waiting, and observing birds in wet, boggy environments with a high density of biting insects. Applicants must be in good physical condition, must have good bird identification skills (both visual and aural), must be able to navigate through open swamps, and should have previous nest monitoring experience. Supervision will be provided by Polish and Belarussian field experts, and either Polish or Russian language skills would be beneficial (but not mandatory). Accommodation and a daily allowance for subsistence will be provided, rail travel from Central Europe may be provided if applicant is highly qualified. For more information on the project contact MAGDALENA ZADRAG (EM: Magdalena.Zadrag AT otop.org.pl), at the Polish BirdLife partner OTOP in Warszaw, Poland. To apply, send a statement of interest, CV with previous experience, and contact information of 2 references to Magdalena Zadrag. Position is open until filled.