Asheville and Points North

It's good to be home! I've been in RI since April 8th (Lauren's 21st!) and it's been so nice. Pat kindly fixed up my computer, and now it's time to blog! Our sparrow research in eastern Carolina finished up great. We said goodbye to our old haunts, and on our last day of netting were pleased to catch a Sharp-Shinned Hawk (that's the scared looking bird above). Needless to say, I think we all had a great few months.

Looking at my digital camera, the above is sadly the ONLY picture I took in digital format while in Asheville. It's Erin after Teddy had a very traumatic visit to Uncle Mike and Aunt Chris's house. I did take some 35mm pictures, but what good is that when blogging? After leaving the Swamp Sparrow house I took the 8 hour drive west to visit family and friends in Asheville. It was such a good time. There was plenty of pickin' on the banjo, a hike in the smokies where I took us dangerously far off the trail, and an unexpected cello concert at a restaurant called Picnics.


I had to sneak in one more bird picture. Here are a couple of Cardinals, male and female. They have the most vicious bird bite. Who would have thought?

After Asheville, I drove through the impossibly long stretch of highway in Virginia. Fortunately the Foelsters took me in that night! We caught up a bit and I had some delicious vegetarian soup. I even got to play a little fetch with their dog Penny! I dusted off the picture below to show that my Phillies pride dates to before their World Series win.

A new addition to the blog is the "Thanks for Helping" sidebar over to the right. It'll provide links to business, websites, and blogs that have shown Bike and Build some love over the past couple of months. Thanks so much to all of them, and all of YOU for the support!

Below is a little clip of us releasing that Sharp-Shinned Hawk. You aren't mistaken, it flies directly into our net after being released!