Mr. November

I hope everyone had the chance to see a little bit of Barack Obama's inauguration this morning! Here in the Swamp Sparrow house, as we affectionately refer to it, we saw his speech on our old, grainy-picture TV. It truly was inspiring; and for the first time in a long time I feel like the country is in pretty good hands. To celebrate, some of us went for a walk in the freshly fallen SNOW!


I have to admit, maybe some change isn't so good. We went from nice 50 degree days to snow! While the landscapes are beautiful, the weather has thrown a wrench into our work schedule. We can't do any banding when temperatures drop this low - the birds get too cold too fast. But the past two weeks of work have been a real blast. It's fun getting out into the marshes before sunrise and working by headlamp to take the little sparrows out of the nets. I'll try to get some pictures of the birds up soon!


I'm also getting settled in our section of Hyde County. We've been out to eat at a couple of local institutions. Both places (The Feedhouse and a restaurant run by Hot Dog and Edna) don't exactly cater to the vegetarian diet, but they make tasty grilled cheeses.

During our last break I drove over to the Outer Banks. What a great spot! I went to the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge and met some birders who have been with the refuge for over 40 years. And, go figure, I met a Rhode Islander who was volunteering there. She even referenced the old Outback Steakhouse in Warwick in an attempt to give me directions! Aside from birding, I stopped by the Bodie Island lighthouse which looked great on such a crisp, clear day.


I had to include a picture of Lauren's (one of the banders here) pet quail. They get to run around the house, but are pretty much scared of everything. This is the usually camera shy Theophelus making an appearance in the living room!