The Ornithological Life

Alex's research made Time's Top 10 list!

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:24:57 GMT

The World's Biggest Snake - The Top 10 Everything of 2009 - TIME

The article talks about how when they first found the bones, they thought it was a crocodile. Yeah, Alex was the one who first realized it wasn't a crocodile, and his labmate figured out it was a snake.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I know some of the people behind 2 of the top 10 New Species list. (The curator of herpetology at MSB, technically my boss this semester, has written papers on the pink iguana from the Galapagos (#4)).

I need to learn Spanish, but finishing my manuscript is more important....

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:12:52 GMT

To my office mate: will you please stop listening to your Spanish cds out loud? There's a reason head phones were invented!

A little consideration for others, people. Please.

First publication

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:32:19 GMT

I'm beginning to realize that perhaps my frustrations with getting my first 1st-author manuscript ready for submission aren't unique. I'm not sure why I thought they were - chalk it up to me thinking that my ability to screw up surpasses that of others.

I think (I hope, anyways) that it's normal that the first time you are a first author on a major project, the writing process takes forever, and that it's a serious learning experience (so the next time around it won't take quite as long?). I've had this thing read so many times by so many different people, and after each round of comments I have to redo my figures, re-analyze my data in a slightly different way, completely rewrite how the results are presented, etc. People bring up very good points that I hadn't thought of yet in regards to the validity of my sampling method, how the data are analyzed, etc. I just hope that next time around, I think of these sorts of issues from the start, preventing the stress and frustration of analyzing the same data a hundred different ways a hundred different times.

It's hard to be motivated to re-analyze the data yet again, when my key results haven't changed after the 99 other re-analyses. But it's possible a reviewer would slam me for not analyzing the data in this particular way, so I have to at least mention that I looked at this particular issue and analyzing it in a different way doesn't change the results (or maybe it does... we'll see).

I just have to remind myself that every manuscript won't be like this one. They will (generally) get easier to write, as I learn to predict the possible problems with the paper before other point them out to me. Please. Otherwise, I'll never get anything published. And then I'll never get a real job. And part time jobs for kick-ass birds skinners are hard to come by, and don't pay much, so I'll have to moonlight as a stripper, which will only work for so long before I get wrinkled and gray-haired, and then can only perform for the very limited set of men who prefer their strippers to have wrinkles and gray hair, and eventually I'll end up poor and on the streets and not get to study birds. .......... there's got to be a better back-up plan.

truckin' on through

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:16:02 GMT

Thanks for all your support lately. I'm doing well. The motivation comes and goes, but I have been reminded lately why it is that I want to do what I'm doing.

Have I mentioned that my favorite day of the week here is Friday? It's not because it's the start of the weekend, but rather because I spend all day in the prep room skinning birds with other members of my lab, we have lab meeting, and then we end the day by going out for drinks together. It's by far the most social day of my week, and I spend it talking about birds, evolution, biogeography, and the tropics with other people. It always reminds me that I love what I'm doing, and it is reinvigorating.

My labmate Michael loaned me A Parrot Without a Name, a book about LSU's collecting trips to Peru in the late 1980's. The goal was to discover new species of birds, and they discovered a beautiful little parrot. The book reads almost like a novel - it's a great adventure story about what I want to spend my life doing. It's an adventure story about the kind of work my lab will be doing this winter break. It's an adventure story about birds, science, discovery, and the crazy hardships of working a few hundred miles past the middle of nowhere. I can't put it down. It is providing motivation by reminding me that I love what I'm doing, and that I love what I will be doing this winter. It's also cool that my mentors over the years are/were close buddies with the stars of the book.

I went to my knitting group meeting last Thursday, which was fun. It's mostly older women, and I don't necessarily have a lot in common with them other than knitting, but I'm enjoying the company and the knitting tips and patterns. I'm currently working on a Gator blanket for my nephew, who will be born this December. I'm also making hats for him. So far they're pointy at the top, so he'll look like a gnome. Good thing babies look adorable when you put them in ridiculous clothing.

departmental seminar

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:35:11 GMT

I am giving an hour seminar to the entire biology department in one week. My new department, where people don't know me yet and I have a chance to create my reputation by either impressing everyone or looking like a moron. When did I start writing my talk? 15 minutes ago. Yikes. I should plan better.

On the plus side, I actually like thinking about island adaptations in birds, and so I am somewhat motivated to work on this. That's a good feeling.

It's 45 degrees and raining. I have zero desire to ride my bike to school in this weather. Unfortunately, I have classes starting that I really should not skip, and staying home all day is not good for my psyche right now. I miss interacting with people. So, into the rain I will go. At least I have a rainjacket now.

bath and body works

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:21:35 GMT

Entering Bath and Body Works during a sale is extremely dangerous, and I was reminded today why I don't dare enter that store more than once a year. I went in for one item only: bubble bath (I deserve a luxurious, soothing bubble bath every once in a while, especially after a collecting trip or long week at school). Unfortunately, there was a buy 3, get 3 free sale on all their yummy scented lotions, bubble baths, shower gels, etc. And then their big 3-wick candles were 2 for $20. And they had one of my favorite scents on clearance. And with all the flu going around on campus, I needed anti-bacterial lotion for after using the germ-filled computer lab.....

Now I can't afford to buy food for the next week and a half. Brilliant, Natalie, brilliant.

balloons! ...and other things

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:28:38 GMT

~Albuquerque is having its annual Balloon Fiesta, which seems to involve hot air balloonists from around the world coming to the city and basically playing in their balloons for 10 days straight. The really cool part of this is that I can see hundreds of balloons from the bike path on my ride to school. It's quite the sight!

~I am no longer in constant pain from my bike accident. It's nice to be able to sleep all night without waking up from pain in my ribs. If I stretch in the wrong way or forget myself and try to run or jump, it hurts, but less than it hurt a week ago. Progress is nice.

~I have been working on a draft of a manuscript (chapter 1 of the thesis), and I emailed it to my advisor today. After lab group comments, it goes to Dave for final editing, and then I submit this damn thing! Can't wait to be finished with it.

~I had a couple guys from my lab over on Saturday to watch college football. It was fun. It's really nice to have friends to hang out with, and to be able to invite people over to my place. I like playing the hostess. Plus, college football = happiness.

~Lesson learned today: a burnt tongue (due to my over-eagerness to eat delicious homemade soup) and cajun trail mix do not mix. Ouch.

I feel like I was run over by a truck

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:39:16 GMT

....but it was really just a little white car that hit me. I was riding my bike to school this morning, as usual, minding my own business on the far right side of the road on campus, going about 18mph in a 25 mph zone, when the car driving alongside of me decided to turn right into a narrow side street/driveway. Without bothering to check for cyclists (in an area of campus just filled with pedestrians and bicycles), signaling, braking, or otherwise giving me an indication of what was coming. I had about 0.3 seconds to brake before slamming into the side of the car. Turns out hitting a car with your body at 15+ mph hurts.

I don't have any broken bones, but the entire lefts side of my body, which took the brunt of impact, is super sore. Even though I didn't hit my head, I've felt dazed and out of it all day today. I gave up trying to work and came home at 2pm. I've been icing all the sore spots, but I'm going to have some nasty bruises. I think I'm going to fall asleep very early tonight. I just hope I have enough time tomorrow to do the homework I was planning to get done today... I guess if I don't finish it, I have a pretty good excuse.

Has it really been a month since I posted?

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:28:35 GMT

...it feels like a year. Maybe two. In the past month I have:

~packed up my apartment
~said goodbye to Florida's beaches and many dear friends
~drove, along with my parents, 3 friends, and 2 birds, from Gainesville, FL, to Albuquerque, NM
~unpacked my apartment and purchased all major furniture items deemed necessary by my mother
~flew to Philadelphia and spent a whirl-wind day with Shosh
~rode a bus to NYC, where I spent a fabulous 5 days with Alex, staying with a student of mine who had a summer internship at the American Museum of Natural History. Alex and I did some work in the various research collections there, and my student gave us fabulous behind-the-scenes tours. The fossil hall after hours is amazing.
~Rode back to Philly for the American Ornithologists' Conference, where I saw fantastic talks, met famous ornithologists, caught up with old ornithological friends and made new ones, and got some great feedback on my research.
~Flew back to Albuquerque to start grad school. I'm still not sure what time zone I'm in, how to find my way around campus, or what's going on. I think overwhelmed is the word that best applies.

Life update

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:38:24 GMT

After defending my thesis, I've been:

~revising it & re-formatting for submission to the grad school
~trying to finish labwork for the side projects on fossils from Abaco, Bahamas, I've been studying
~getting rid of crap, organizing, and packing a lifetime's worth of belongings. Not so much fun.
~spending as much time as possible with my friends in Gainesville before I move
~going birding & enjoying my favorite parts of Florida with Alex before I move - we've been to the Jacksonville zoo, watched 4th of July fireworks from my parents' boat on the St. John's river in downtown Jacksonville, saw dolphins playing (or terrorizing schools of fish, depending on your perspective) off the coast of Cedar Key, looked for (but failed to see) skimmers, and saw frigatebirds steal fish from gulls.

I keep meaning to post photos of my recent adventures, but I keep running out of time. Like now - I should have been asleep an hour ago.

Le Tour

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:41:33 GMT

I'm watching the expanded coverage of the Tour de France on Versus. I had forgotten how much I love the Tour, since I've been in the field for the Tour the past several years. There are several Americans currently doing well, with the potential to take the overall win, and several others helping to control the race, including heroes from my childhood through high school days - George Hincappie and Lance Armstrong among them. Plus, one of the best sprinters the cycling world has ever seen, Mark Cavendish, is racing on a very strong Team Columbia with George Hincappie.

I love watching the way the peleton moves through the countryside, the attacks, the drama of the race.

Before tonight's coverage of today's stage, Versus showed stage 13 from 2001, the stage they called "the Lookback." It was one of my favorite races when I first watched it happen 8 years ago, and I was reminded how exciting it was again. Lance was duking it out with Jan Ulrich on one of the early mountain stages, and just left him behind.

Wherein I gush about bird bones

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:15:50 GMT

I've been working on a side project on some bird fossils from the site in the Bahamas I went to over spring break. These bones are amazing. I'm holding in my hand the ulna (wing bone) of a meadowlark that lived 2,000 years ago. I can see each point where a secondary (flight feather of the wing) attached. On many of the other bones, I can see and feel the indentations of scars on the bones from where muscles attached. The Burrowing Owls from this site have the same muscle scarring on their femura, and I can trace the path the tendons controlling the toes took to get from the muscles, located on the thigh, along the tarsometatarsi, to the toes. These birds were going about their lives, eating, singing, reproducing, and ultimately being eaten by a larger owl thousands of years ago, and I am the first person ever to study them. How incredible is that?

Burrowing Owl photos, as promised

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:53:11 GMT

It's a pet-eat-pet world

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:36:40 GMT

.... at least in my house today.

Cast of characters:
Lucy, my roomie's cat
Darwin, my budgie
Hermione, my cockatiel
Chirpee, a cat we're babysitting for my friend Jess

I was cleaning Darwin's cage today on the back porch, and foolishly opened the door wide enough for my arm to reach in and clean his mirrors, which get covered in budgie spit from all the kisses he gives them. Lucy, who loves to sit on the porch and watch the wildlife of our yard, was watching half-heartedly. Until Darwin made a run for it. Out he flew, into the porch screen, bounced off, turned around, and flew into the screen on the opposite side of the porch. After repeating this several times (his aim is not so good), he finally landed on a potted plant. Said plant happened to be right next to Lucy, who became instantly on alert. As she was pouncing, mere inches from little Darwin, I grabbed her with my left hand and Darwin with my right. Lucy looked up at me, all innocence, wondering why I had just yelled her name. Darwin nearly gave himself a budgie heart attack, but seems to be fine now that he's back in his cage. I thought the excitement was over, but Chirpee is now watching Hermione with a very predatory look. As if she has figured out that Hermione is a feathered chicken nugget.

I can't handle any more excitement today. None.

Tattoo

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:22:00 GMT

The tattoo I got yesterday. It doesn't really look like any particular hummingbird species, but the artist designed it from Amazilia tobaci, one of my study species for my master's thesis.

Sunshine and daisies

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 01:31:57 GMT

Today Alex asked me what the rest of my week looked like. My response? Happiness. Sunshine and daisies.

It's amazing how much better the world seems now that I've passed my defense.

Day of Reckoning

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:43:05 GMT

My defense is at 2 pm today. To say I'm nervous is an understatement. I was so jittery while practicing my talk yesterday that I couldn't finish a simple sentence about my birds. I keep thinking about all the little things and big things that are wrong with my thesis, that I know I will have to revise. And I worry that combined, all the little things will be enough to keep my committee from passing me. And I think that if only I had spent less time bird watching, or on being a better teacher, or sleeping, and more time working on my thesis over the past 3 years, it would be so much better... I imagine almost everyone feels this way when they go up for a defense or an oral exam. And I have heard one of my committee members express the opinion that it's the committee's job to know if the student is ready to pass her defense / orals, and if the student won't pass, delay the exam and help fix the problem. I know Dave and Rebecca wouldn't let me defend if they thought there would be a problem. Logically, I know I'm going to be fine. So why I am still so terrified????

Holy crap, I've only got 4 hours until the defense. *hides under the kitchen table*

Thesis defense

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:16:58 GMT

I've been stressing out a lot lately about my defense. It's a big, scary, oral exam of how well I know and can defend my thesis and any related topic. People keep telling me I'll be fine, but, like every grad student before me, I'm still terrified.

I realized something yesterday, though, that I keep trying to remind myself of when I start to get nervous: Rebecca, one of my committee members, just announced that next Thursday, she's throwing a celebratory party for me and another lab member, Jordan, who just passed her defense. Let me rephrase. My committee member is planning a party to celebrate me passing my defense. This makes me feel much better:-)

The thesis

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:48:15 GMT

I sent the thesis to my committee Saturday evening. Yay! :-) Now all I have to do is defend it, revise it, and submit it.... The defense is a week from today. I'm not thinking about it yet.

I celebrated submitting my thesis by going to see Up (the new Pixar movie) in 3D with Alex. Awesome. It features a fabulous bird named Kevin, talking dogs, and typical Pixar visual brilliance. Of course I loved it. Sunday we went to FLMNH butterfly rainforest to enjoy the butterflies and then drove to the middle of nowhere to look at Burrowing Owls. They were adorable, especially the fledglings. I'll post pictures once I load them from camera to computer.

My goal: get through the the next week, which includes setting up and proctoring a practical exam, grading said exam, preparing a 15-min talk for my defense, and actually defending my thesis; without killing, maiming, or seriously bitching out anyone* and without giving myself a panic attack or otherwise freaking out.

*unless they really deserve it.

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:42:35 GMT

I appear to be allergic to everything in the state of Florida right now. No idea what's in the air, but everyone (including me) is sneezing and sniffling and looks like they've been crying a lot. Awesome funness.

Back to writing about genetic divergence in island birds... almost done... I must submit this to my committee by Monday, and I've got a goal of 6pm tomorrow, so I can go see Up tomorrow night with Alex, and spend Sunday laying in bed and then watching Burrowing Owls. It's nice to have a fabulous reward planned for myself once this hellish paper is (kinda) finished.

Letter to my neighbors

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:42:14 GMT

Dear neighbor Blue Jays,

While I love that you have adorably young offspring, enjoy watching you care for them in my backyard most of the day, and appreciate the difficulty of trying to keep them fed and teaching them to fly and forage for themselves, could you please not park them in the tree directly outside my bedroom window at dawn? Their incessant begging wakes me up an hour before my alarm goes off. I must gently remind you that I include your favorite food, peanuts, in the bird seed mix I offer to all the neighborhood granivores. If I don't get some sleep, I won't be functional enough to purchase more peanuts.

Thank you for your consideration.

Mockingbirds recognize individual people

Tue, 19 May 2009 01:14:29 GMT

My friends/labmates just published a paper in PNAS demonstrating, for the first published time in a non-lab setting, that wild birds recognize individual people. What's incredible is that they do so after only 2 30-second exposures to a person, and they pick the person out from among the ~15,000 people walking by their nest each day. They think this ability to quickly recognize individuals and categorize them as threat vs. harmless is one of the reasons mockingbirds do so well in urban areas. It's part of my friend's on-going research into what makes a bird an "urban winner."

a NY Times article on the study

a video of mockingbirds attacking someone they recognize, but ignoring four other people walking close by their nest

unexpected bird

Mon, 18 May 2009 11:45:46 GMT

There's a Greater Sand-plover in Jacksonville

I went with my friend Seabird to see it yesterday, and it was well worth the drive. It's a beautiful bird, with striking markings on the face, a salmon-colored collar, and long, elegant legs. We watched it running around eating fiddler crabs on the beach, surrounded by Ruddy Turnstones and Wilson's Plovers. This is only the second time one has been recorded in the Western Hemisphere, so the twitchers are coming out of the woodworks for it.

Pet sitting

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:57:30 GMT

Me: Hi Ani, hey, Magpie.
Magpie (a cat): meow (translation: pet me!)
Me: how are you all?
Magpie: meow (why aren't you petting me right now?!)
Me: let me put my stuff down, and then I'll fix you dinner.
Magpie: meow meow! (NO! pet me NOW!)
Me:My hands are full, Magpie, I can't pet you right now.
Magpie: meow! (but I need you to pet me)
Me: ok, here we go, quick little scratch.
Magpie: meeerrrooooowww (oh, feels good.....)
Magpie: meow! (why'd you stop?!)
Me: I have to fix your dinner.
Magpie: meow... (well, ok)
Magpie: meow! (wait! why are you fixing the stupid dog's dinner first?)
Me: Because you still have food in your bowl, Maggsies.
Magpie: meow (but, but, you're supposed to love me the most)
Me: of course I do, Magpie. But your sister needs to eat.
Magpie: meeeoooow (okaaaaay. but I still want my dinner now)
Me: you haven't finished last night's dinner.
Magpie: meow? (who me?)
Me: you just ate the canned food off the top of the dry food.
Magpie: meow (I think the dry food is stale. Andy must have forgotten to put the lid on tightly. you should just give me wet food.)
Me: nice try.
Magpie: meow? (please?)

And so it goes.... Magpie is very much a talking cat. Ani is fairly silent, as far as dogs go.

Underwater fossil digging!

Thu, 07 May 2009 22:43:07 GMT

Today I went with a group of paleontologists from the museum to a river fossil site. We used SCUBA gear to collect the fossils, even though the river was only about 5 feet deep at that point. It. Was. Awesome.

The river was teaming with life. Huge numbers of small freshwater clams, sunfish, mosquitofish, other fish I couldn't ID, invertebrates, and plants. It was so neat to be finding several million year old fossils among such a diversity of life. I would be digging up matrix, and among the piles of dark brown clams shells, spot a dark brown object that was not clam shell shaped, and realize that I was looking at a snake vertebrae, or part of a turtle shell, or an armadillo scute, or a shark tooth. Meanwhile, a sunfish would come very close to my mask (within a foot) to investigate what exactly was going on in his territory. He'd surprise me, and I'd look up to see that there were dozens of fish nearby, all checking us out.

When I was above water, the area was filled with bird song. Ospreys flew over, calling, parulas, wrens, and cardinals were singing, several species of woodpeckers were woodpecking and calling.

I loved the entire experience, and I can't wait to go out again next week.