So its been about 8 months since I've posted anything here.....since that first post I have: traveled to St. Paul Island, Alaska to work as a tour guide for the Tanadusix Corporation. St. Paul is a tiny island in the Pribilofs, a group of islands out in the middle of the Bearing Sea (closer to Russia than to mainland Alaska) where several unique species of seabirds nest and which houses the largest Northern Fur Seal rookery in the world. After seeing many good birds (including my 600th ABA lifebird, a Slaty-backed Gull) and meeting and guiding many tourists, I left the island in August and headed back to Pennsylvania.
After a week of packing I finally loaded up the car and headed to my new home in Tucson, Arizona. During the fall I didn't work much, but did manage some field work in the beautiful Pelloncillo Mountains in New Mexico. Home for the holidays, I was about to return to Tucson when I found out I needed to have my appendix taken out. 10 days in the hospital, what fun! So now its almost March and I'm still stuck here in PA. I'll be heading back to Tucson soon though to figure out where I want to take a field job for the summer. Until then, Bird On.

Little more than a week away from my departure to St. Paul Island, Alaska, and I'm getting more anxious by the day. I just read this evening that Scott and Cameron had found the Pribilof's first Black-tailed Gull, as well as a Brambling and Wood Sandpiper (all of which would have been lifers for me). Speaking of, I now stand at 592 ABA and hope to return with over 600. Still have to finish out this week of Louisiana Waterthrush surveys.

Now that I have figured out how to add images, here are some pics from my friend Joe and I's recent attempts at mist-netting some birds at our current field station on Old Mine Road in Worthington State Forest, New Jersey.This beautiful male Chestnut-sided Warbler shared a net with another sub-adult male, and male Blue-winged and Yellow Warblers.

First timer and plans for the summer

Hey, so I've decided to start one of these things just like everyone else, mainly for myself but hey maybe some of you will find it interesting too. Its four am here, EST so while I should be sleeping I just decided to write some stuff on here instead. I've been working as a field technician lately, surveying Louisiana Waterthrushes in the Delaware Water Gap National Wildlife Recreation Area in northeastern PA. On June 16th, I'll be leaving for St. Paul Island Alaska where I will be a tour guide, mainly for birds, until mid-August. After flying back to PA, I will be packing the car up and (finally) making my much awaited move to Tucson, Arizona, where I will hopefully finish my undergraduate degree and be done with school for a while. While I try andfigure out how this all works, I'll try and post some recent pictures of birds we banded here in PA this past week.