This week was challenging but not because of my work or research. Being sick made me feel isolated and disconnected. Working on my research and creating my elevator speech was very slow going due to my lack of energy and focus. I was bummed to have missed our weekly meeting on Wednesday. I’m happy to report I am finally on the mend and was able to return to my field research team on Friday & today (Saturday) of this week. I also want to mention that Renee was very communicative this past week, which was extremely helpful in keeping me updated on the program’s assignments. Thank you, Renee!
This week our research team checked chickadee nest boxes in the Sugarloaf area. We found one nest that had 4 dead nestlings. Ants were preying upon the dead nestlings; it was a sad, grotesque sighting. It was hypothesized that the parent birds either died or the nestlings did not survive shortly after hatching. There are other nests with healthy, thriving nestlings at Sugarloaf. We will be banding the nestlings of this area at the end of next week. I am thoroughly enjoying the field research and look forward to continuing my learning and experience.
