A Busy Bee

Hello to everyone who still reads this! You are few, but you are treasured! I haven't written for a while, but I've got some updates, so I figured I'd broadcast 'em.

Tomorrow is the first day of school for the year! I'm taking one class, Mammology, which is only on Mondays from 2-5 and Wednesday nights 7-10 (so we can go on field trips and see mammals when they are most active: at night!). I'm also taking a credit of research, which I will explain below.

But first: My New Job. George and I had both been thinking for a while that a little extra income would help a lot, mostly because George was getting very few hours at Zelda's over the summer, although that situation has changed now that students are back in town. Nonetheless, extra income is always a good thing, so I got a job at the Reference Desk at the Bucknell library. I went in to have a chat last Tuesday (right after the in-laws left) with the librarian in charge of it, and ended up staying all day (and all week) for training. My first day is also tomorrow. I'll be manning the ASK desk, where people can come up to me with any questions about their research, or how to use the library, or where the bathroom is (which is probably the most common question!). It should be pretty neat. I've already learned a lot about the library so it has been educational already.

As for my research, it's a long story... I had decided that my field work was over right before George's family came to visit because the birds were moving on, and they would be keeping me really busy. I had plenty of samples, so I was ready to call it quits. So if you remember from a few blogs ago, I was comparing the color of their under-tail feathers (the red ones) to the Corticosterone (stress hormone) levels in their tail feathers (chosen for convenience, feather size etc.) under the assumption that these feathers were grown at the same time and thus I could connect the color of one to the cort level of the other. Well, after re-reviewing my catbird papers, I discovered that while they grow both of those feathers in August, they grow their body feathers (and thus their red under-tail feathers) again in March, which destroys the link between color and stress, rendering all of my samples pretty much completely useless. I can know things about their color, and I can know things about their stress, but I can no longer connect them, and really I have nothing interesting to publish or present anymore. I have a 4-page report due to the people who gave me money this summer in about 3 weeks, and not only do I have no results to present, I now no longer have a question. GREAT! (Please read that with a hefty amount of sarcasm).

So while I thought I was done with field work, I have returned to the very early mornings, on days when I don't have work at 7:30am, to catch the last few remaining catbirds before they all migrate south for the winter.

So I've gone from field work, to in-laws, to job, to classes and back to more field work. No rest for the weary!

Oh and I forgot to mention, that I am also working in the museum again this semester in addition to grading exams for an intro to animal behavior class. It's going to be a very busy semester, but I'm looking forward to it!

Lets see if George has anything to add: a blank look. Maybe later.

Love you all! Feel free to comment and ask questions!