Greetings from Algonquin

Hi!

So I thought I was going to start a "blog" to keep you all updated with my field work experiences, but this is actually easier b/c I can compose an email and then just hit "send" when I log in. Blogger (the website I blog through) is slow lately and would be even worse on dial-up, the only connection to the internet here at the Wildlife Research Station.

I picked this list of people because I thought you might be interested in what's going on. I will *not* be offended if you email me back and say "hey actually... I'd rather NOT get a weekly email about your bird-watching, can you take me off this list?" Or maybe you can't check your email very often and so it's perfectly reasonable to not want to get repeated emails. I support that.

Here goes the first email:

For one month, I am going to be a field research assistant studying white-throated sparrows in Algonquin Park.

We arrived up at Algonquin Park on Thursday. We got out of the car in tee shirts and it was warm enough to do so. Last night, the pipes froze in the bathroom and yesterday it snowed/hailed. We are all sitting in the cookhouse with multiple layers and several blankets. We had a fire earlier, also. it's COLD. I am currently wearing 2 sweatshirts and I was wearing a toque. Brr.

Dr. Ramsay, my supervisor, has not arrived here yet and I'm running out of things to teach the 2 new girls. I'm a little afraid he'll think we didn't do very much but we don't have a permit yet so I'm hesitant to run around with sound recording equipment in case someone stops us. He will be arriving tomorrow (monday).

The food here is amazing. We get 3 meals a day cooked for us and they sure know how to cook vegetarian food. i want to steal recipes from them.

I don't have much else to say. I'm trying to redesign the Wildlife Research Station website but it's slow-going because my web-design skills are rustier than I thought they were.

Talk to you later!

-Nicole

the picture is of the "upper lab"...the lab we were working out of. behind the lab is the lake, and that's sunset.