Dog Days of Summer

This will be the last post in this "Summer in North Carolina" blog. Seeing as how I have now moved from North Carolina and started a new position in Minnesota, I intend to recall as much information as I can from the summer months and will later start up a new blog featuring my current adventures. I apologize to my readers whom have patiently waited months for this blog to finish. This post may be longer or shorter than expected, since I am struggling to remember details. The final days in NC were spent figuring out my next move in my career, the logistics of a move, and of course doing my best to spend as much time as possible with my fellow co-workers/friends. Enjoy.

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The beginning of July started out like every summer goer's paradise; at the beach! Myself and many of the other interns grouped up and head to the salty Atlantic sea to catch some sun and work on our tans. Unfortunately my tan did not exactly come out as planned (and still has not completely gone away) but the weekend ventures to Nags Head (more so the cabin at Alligator River) always resulted in relaxation. To this day I can still imagine myself standing in the ocean while the waves crash over me, both tiring me out but also removing my gathered stress. The summer sun is definitely much stronger than that of Ohio; as expected yet was unprepared for mentally. Though it did it's best to wear me out day by day, I still gave it my all to enjoy it all. I am not referring to just the beach either at this point, but the entirety of my internship and all the adventures involved.

Aside from the beginning of July spent with good company and loads of fun, I was able to see the fireworks with said friends in Manteo. We listed to a glorious band at the Downtown waterfront, whom sang songs such as Sweet Home Alabama, and had a blast! I believe it was around this time we started to play Pokemon Go as well, so of course there was that as well! To this day the taste of the tuna melt I had from a local restaurant, the sound of the band, laughter, and the sights, smells, and happiness I felt still gives me a smile wherever I think of it. This is what life is all about!

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 With the of another great weekend came another week of awesome work. For the first week or so of July, the awesomely-cool Biotechnician and myself hopped onto the refuge's boat and head out the East and West sides of the lake. A good chunk of the day was spent taking bathymetric data of the lake sides. Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake (or ocean floors). In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. By accumulating a series of points all over the lake, generally in a "grid-like" fashion, you are able to paint of picture of how deep the entire lake or body of water is. If you compare this data to previous years, to the present, you are able to see how the body of water is changing over time. For a lake such as Mattamuskeet, whom is seeing a decrease in submerged aquatic vegetation, any and all information regarding the lake is important to understanding its function. 

Here's one of the more recent articles regarding the lake and its vegetation/quality.
"The most recent issue of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine features an excellent story explaining how the NC Wildlife Resources Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working together with partners to understand what factors impact submerged aquatic vegetation in Lake Mattamuskeet. Read it here: http://bit.ly/2ef8MtX "

Taking a canal to the lake itself.

Secchi disk (black/white disk), used to measure water transparency in bodies of water; and a depth pole.

Normally the lake is choppy, but one of two particular days it was as smooth as glass.

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Of course, when I was not out on the lake with the Biotechnician I was usually attending to other duties both inside and outside. The inside portion I will highlight later, and therefore will try to focus on the outside portion. Now working in the great outdoors is fun and dandy, but that does not mean you cannot be too careful. Whether it be exploring, hiking, working, or simply fishing or hunting - always be aware of your surroundings. Especially when using equipment!

One particular day I was outside doing, or trying to at least, some maintenance on our board walk trail. My task was to cut back limbs and vines to open up the trail enough for the public to access it and enough for a Zeroturn mower to enter. While walking the trail, I ran across this lovely snake. As in, I was within 10 feet of it before I realized he was sitting in front of me. Due to a few venomous snakes existing in the area, I was not taking a chance with the reptile and took a few steps back. That was when I snapped a photo and turned around. Poor dude (or gal) was just sun-bathing; I imagine he or she was more disturbed than I was. Either way, I almost walked into a snake. On the bright side, I gave it my best shot to cleanup as much of the board walk as possible. Which included some cattails thrown on the boardwalk by, probably, otters.

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One day I was sent out to acquire some measurements on our stationary sonde unit, with the Biotech and a volunteer, situated at the Bell Island Pier. A sonde is an instrument probe that automatically transmits information about its surroundings underground, under water, in the atmosphere, etc. Typical parameters associated with a sonde are: pH, salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, etc. The sonde has different sensors in it that each measure at least one of multiple parameters; all important for water quality. With sea level rise being a concern, for at least a decade, taking data on the water's depth and the various parameters are very important for a multi-year study. There are similar stations in the lake sides which thus gives information on the lake compared to the sound, important as well due to the connection the two share (canals).

This particular unit was in need of a pipe replacement (since barnacles accumulate and potentially affect readings) and therefore we were taking measurements to make a new pipe. Later, in August, the biotech, myself, and volunteers were able to individually assist with finishing the pipe for installation. The photos featured below did not occur on this day, but I wanted to give you an idea of what the Bell Island Pier looked like (first photo).

 

Later in July/August I also happened to see my first water spout (a few occurred around this time of the year) while I was driving into town for groceries (second photo). This photo does not do it justice for it was much larger. When I first saw the spout I was immediately thinking "tornado" and could not figure out why there wasn't any warnings regarding it. Sometimes my part of Ohio gets straight line winds and tornado threats, therefore why I panicked. However after stopping to talk to some locals I quickly found out it was over water and therefore not as much of a threat (unless you're in the sound or sea). The spout vanished before it got close to land. Remember what I said of always being aware of your surroundings? 

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At the end of July, I head home for roughly a week. During this time I met back up with a friend (now boyfriend) which began a new journey for our relationship. A mix of long distance that would later result in him moving with me to my current internship in Minnesota. Aside from this I got to see family, and my mom and I went to a Breaking Benjamin / Disturbed concert. Believe it or not I got to meet and shake hands with the drummer of the BB! It felt like a life goal was complete! I took the time to truly relax when I was not going places with my family, but the week certainly went fast. Before I knew it I was visiting my boyfriend again and back in North Carolina to finish out my final weeks. Pictured below is some of my favorite views from the trip. I missed the mountains, being that NC is flat where I was stationed, and also got to travel through tunnels (my favorite). Virginia and West Virginia were fun to travel through! Another shocking surprise was seeing a car on fire on the side of the road.... yikes

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The return back to North Carolina left me feeling rather... sad, seeing as how I missed my family and such. I loved NC, the staff, volunteers, and friends made, but I longed to return home as well. This changed relatively quickly when the staff put together a feast! One of the volunteers hit their max when it came to crabbing, so we all got to chow down. The volunteers taught me the best way to tear into a crab (she looked like a pro when she did it) and the night was full of laughs and a good time. This definitely lifted my spirits and helped me finish out the remainder of July and August!

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During the following weekend, upon return, my friends and I finally managed to find time to go to Corolla / Carova Beach! The beach where wild horses live! Yes we saw some, but no I did not take photos because my phone actually died. So you'll have to go see them yourself :)!
Information: http://www.carovabeach.info/

That being said, we had a great time at the beach! The Atlantic was a bit strong today so I got knocked down and submerged once by a wave. On top of that, I freaked myself out (as per usual) thinking I touched something in the water. Aside from that we saw some pretty cool looking mole crabs, skate egg casings, and some awesome shells. One I collected looked like a heart but unfortunately broke in my bag. Aside from this we checked out some local shops (someone bought a hammock that I am still jealous of haha), I got to try Duck Donuts for the first time (now open in Columbus, Ohio too), played Pokemon Go, checked out a museum of the area, and had a great time! We surely know how to make memories!

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Aside from working at Mattamuskeet, I was still assisting Pea Island with monitoring turtle nests and trying to find new nests. Unfortunately I never had the chance to find a nest all summer, nor watch one hatch, but I did get to help with a release (which is way more stressful than it sounds!). The hatchlings had made it thankfully, despite ghost crabs trying to pick them off! I got to also meet more new people, watch a couple of sunsets, listen to the ocean at night, learn a few new star constellations, and also watch the Perseid meteor shower. It were as though we all had the best spots to watch the meteor shower, the stars bright and the meteors far brighter. The beach comes to life at night thanks to the ghost crabs (which I learned to safely catch thanks to a volunteer).

Sunset over Pea Island NWR (not the ocean)

Ghost Crab

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One small chore outside was watering the garden around the visitor center. I recall it being pretty hot this day, like most of the days, and we had not see rain in a while of course. What made this fun was getting to see all the dragonflies and bees buzzing about the watered flowers. I also got to see this little anole hanging out on the hose holder. Granted, I had seen anoles before, but this one actually let me take a photo of him in his brighter colors. You would sometimes see the males occasionally chasing a female quite a bit. On this particular day, I was inside working on different materials (again, I'll explain in a bit).

Green Anole

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  Of course food has to be mentioned at least once in my blogs, because, lets face it, I love food. This was the result of the biotech and I heading to the store to get groceries and Chinese take out! YUM!!! Best and cheapest Chinese take out I had come across. I believe we played Pokemon Go a bit as well haha. This happened a couple of times over the summer!

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Come August, I do not recall going out on the boat much. We finished bathymetry and a second round of Osprey productivity surveys in July. However, we did have one last survey, involving invasive species. For this survey we were looking for Phragmites; a large perennial grass found in wetlands. This meant using those muck boots to walk in some mud (sometimes deep mud) and water. We measured spots previously sprayed to see how much phragmites was left over and to, therefore, help the biologist and crew decide the next best step at removal. For the most part we did not find much, which is great news! This plant spread relatively fast and is hard to remove once established, but the pesticides applied were certainly doing their work and we noticed waterfowl and mammals were taking advantage of the areas where removal occurred. I recall seeing black bear tracks, white-tailed deer, and plenty of waterfowl tracks. The heat certainly took its toll on this particular day, towards the end at least, so I could not help the biotech finish the last point or two. I still feel rather bad about this and often wish I were able to adapt to that southern sun better than what I was. But as she said, I belong to the north, where subzero temperatures feel like almost nothing. Despite this heat, it was fun to conduct this survey and the day was absolutely beautiful!

Pictured below is a praying mantis doing its best to camouflage itself. Can you find it?
As you can see, camoflauge is very important for blending into your environment. Prey and predators may not notice you hiding, helping you live to see another day and catch your food in the process (especially if you're a carnivore, insectivore, or omnivore).

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One cool thing I got to do periodically was assist the biotech with checking the air quality monitoring station on the refuge. In this station, filters absorb certain parameters from the air. During the check we remove these filters to replace them with new filters. The old filters are then sent to a lab after a few weeks of data collection. I admittedly cannot recall where they are sent, but the lab that receives them obtains samples from different locations all over the United States. I imagine they can look at trends at specific locations, multiple locations, etc to see past and present data and how air quality is changing over time. Who doesn't love clean air?

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Every week, from arrival till the end, I both assisted and independently took water quality samples from every canal utilizing a hand held Sonde and Secchi Disk. This data was recorded and entered into a computer to which the biologist and other staff could later compile the data to observe the quality of water in the canals, compare against the lake, and compare against the pamlico sound. A good chunk of my summer was spent around water, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

 

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Now, as mentioned, I would talk about the inside portion. During my time at Mattamuskeet, I got involved in a lot of educational materials and designing programs. After Dragonfly Detectives ended, I crafted a dragonfly program for the refuge to later use if necessary. All materials designed were given to the biologist to assist with future dragonfly detectives programs and any other endeavors they may pursue. The biologist purchased totes, after acquiring materials from the deputy manager and using said totes I was able to help organize different programs in each tote for later use. I dabbled a bit in trying to craft a Native American program alongside the biotech and a volunteer; after a prior volunteer took the time to sort through information from various sources (books and people). A volunteer's mom worked for the library and was said to have access to sources which he later brought in. With the help of a few we generated some ideas and presented them to the staff; whom aims to continue looking into the topic further. Unfortunately I left before seeing anything come out of it, but I am sure something will come out of it.

Aside from attempting to create new programs, I did manage to create a few things by hand as well. First, a scavenger hunt for the visitor center which included two versions: one for younger crowds and one for older crowds. This is meant to draw interest towards looking at the different panels presented in the visitor services area, and thus learn more about the history of the refuge and the species you may see within the refuge. 

Despite all this, the creation I am sincerely proud of is what you see below: the Junior Refuge Manager Activity Guide. Granted, other refuges have Jr Refuge Manager guides as well but the fun part is they are all unique! I designed the main cover of this page via hand-drawing, scanning to the computer, and subsequently using Microsoft Word to darken all lines.

The idea was for the first page to be black and white so that kids will color the page in as they deem fit. There was roughly 18 pages and loaded with activities designed to encourage kids, and their families, to explore the refuge and visitor service centers. Its meant to be a "work at your own pace" guide where families can come back at different parts of the year and/or multiple days.On top of this, kids do not have to complete every activity in the guide. What is considered "completion of the guide" depends upon the age of the kid; younger kids required to complete less pages than older kids. Of course kids are encouraged to complete the whole thing however, because hey it's meant to be fun for them and the family! It gives people an excuse to go outside or go explore their refuge and all its unique features! Once the kid has completed the guide, they would then be rewarded with a special prize that only they can achieve (not sure what was decided, but one suggestion was a particular stamp) and a certificate. This certificate is located inside the book and would be signed by a refuge staff member of volunteer, preferably manager is available!

A few of the activities inside include a unique blue crab related word search,  wildlife species word scramble, swan origami (due to the number of swans that visit the refuge in winter), a bird watching activity, wetland walk bingo, and much much more. If you are genuinely interested in seeing the guide, especially if you wish to design your  own guide, feel free to leave a comment below or message me via facebook and we'll get in touch. Granted I prefer we avoid plagiarism, but I am definitely open to the idea of seeing this guide used as a "source" for a creation of a guide at your facility, refuge, personal use, etc. After all, I did use other guides as my source for the creation of this guide (not all activities are the same).

Lastly, besides spending a heck of a long time creating this product, having it edited by the Biotechnician, biologist, deputy manager, and manager, and creating other products mentioned - the last bit of inside work I did was assist the Biotech with QA/QC, or quality assurance, of waterfowl surveys. Something else I had done periodically over the summer, and, thankfully, got to do one last time before departing as well! It was one of my favorite surveys!

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They unfortunately did not have Mattamuskeet window clings, but I LOVE the one I got! Black-crowned Night Heron! It currently hangs in the brightest window of our cabin! In the little baggie is a "500 hour" pin with the USFWS symbol.

In review, the summer was a hot one and sometimes felt long. Yet, when I look back, it seemed exceedingly short and packed full of SO MANY adventures. Every weekend I was able to spend time with either Mattamuskeet staff or the the Alligator River interns (and sometimes mattamuskeet staff joined along). There were so many new places I visited, new experiences I got the opportunity to do, and I will absolutely never forget how much I truly loved it. I miss everyone greatly, those still present in NC and those I left. Yes, I do still talk to a few people or at least follow others on Facebook and Snapchat. I was apart of a family at the refuge, or at least that's how it felt, and one day I do plan to return to pay the place (and staff) a visit. I definitely intend on visiting the three interns from Alligator River at some point, even if they may be states away. If I could do it all over again, I definitely would, just so I could live it out once more.

 

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blogs and thank you to the wonderful staff, volunteers, and other interns who made this an unforgettable summer. 

 

In summer, the song sings itself.

While driving to Mattamuskeet, after a thunderstorm.

With orientation completed, I hit the ground running with the Bio-technician by aiding her with a variety of tasks. Weekly water quality monitoring utilizing the Hydrometer and Sonde I mentioned in the prior post, taking a boat out on the East and West sides of the lake for Osprey Productivity Surveys, and driving around each impoundment around the lake to conduct Shorebird surveys. I was able to see a few species I had not seen before, such as the Glossy Ibis! This refuge was founded for the purpose of providing migratory bird habitat, emphasizing why we conduct surveys for birds and take care to monitor the water quality of the lake.

Osprey Productivity Surveys

Although these surveys may not sound like much, it actually took a decent amount of time/effort to complete everything we needed to during the two and a half week time span but it was all necessary for our data collection efforts. When not working on these three tasks, I had miscellaneous other jobs. These included preparing for the week long outreach program, Dragonfly Detectives (mentioned below), and assisting the crew wherever I was needed. We helped out with an Air Quality Monitoring station on one day (technically I was meant to help on two days but I ended up getting a terrible sunburn after going to the beach a weekend prior which resulted in missing a day of work, oops). We just switched out the filters and jot down data for the another scientist to later examine.

One task I was given alongside the SCA intern and Biotechnician is taking pictures and typing out posts for the Lake Mattamuskeet facebook page. You can actually scroll through and see some of of the pictures and posts I had written up (some were edited). [Click]

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On the weekends I found myself helping out the other refuges on occasion. During my trips I would sometimes take packages to/from one refuge to the next. Don't worry mom, it was not out of the way so I didn't waste gas. 

Dare Days - I am the red wolf.

One weekend, I dressed up as a red wolf (above) for a little while for Dare Days! It was a good time and an awesome festival, I ate fried pickles and looked around at a lot of booths with the other interns. Cannot forget those delicious pickles.

As you can see from the pictures above, I attended Pea Island's annual Crab Rodeo. A group of us went and caught a bunch of blue crabs. Some of us bought corn, mussles, clams, shrimp, and potato salad. As you can also see, we had a delicious feast!!!! I took a thanksgiving nap after this.

 

The aquarium finally opened so we took the time to visit that. Very well done and I loved the interactive displays that had recently installed. There is a Sea Turtle rehabilitation center attached to the facility so we got to see a few sea turtles up close. Interns assist with monitoring turtle activity in the outer banks area, making this experience a treat.

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A very memorable experience was when I assisted the biologist with a week long outreach program known as "Dragonfly Detectives". I admittedly did not know much about dragonflies - beyond their life cycle, diet, and how they're different from damselflies - so preparing for it was top priority for me. I read numerous articles, looked through the field guide a few times, and dug through all the agendas and resources that were provided to us via the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, NC State Parks, NC Center for Afterschool Programs, and the program educator and scientists.

The six week long program was condensed down to 5 days for us with a basic layout that easily carried us throughout the week. Together, the biologist and I helped the kids collect real scientific data during the one week program for three citizen science projects - Dragonfly Detectives, Pond Watch, and Dragonfly Project Swarm. If you're wondering "what in the world are these about", click the links below to read up before continuing in this post, otherwise stuff may not make sense:

Dragonfly Detectives
Pond Watch
Dragonfly Swarm Project

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Day 1 was admittedly rough, but that's because we had to have the students (3rd-6th) fill out a few forms for the project and had to go through basic terminology to set them up for the rest of the week. Name a child that enjoys paperwork despite it being necessary. Thankfully we managed to find some time outside to practice our field studies, which they very much enjoyed, and this set us up for the remainder of the week! Making Day 2-4 a breeze.

Every day the students arrived and filled out a required journal entry, that each were given on Day 1, and had time to look around the visitor center before we started. They were then rallied into the conference room where we gathered all of our supplies for field work - journals, pencils, field guides, water bottles, bugspray/sunscreen, Kestrel (an instrument for wind speed/direction, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure), and a light intensity unit (for gauging the intensity of the sun's rays) - and head out to our nearby boardwalk trail.

Once we arrived in the field we started off with observing a defined area for Pond Watch. This was done for 10 minutes while looking for four of our five dragonfly species: Green Darner, Black Saddlebag, Spot-Winged Glider, and Wandering Glider. They could point out any dragonflies they saw and used their personal field guides to see if they could identify any species they weren't sure about. Unfortunately we never saw any of these species, but we at least were able to explain why during Day 3's lesson! Dragonflies migrate like birds! Did you know that? Our species were present in the spring but apparently vanished, suggesting they moved on. The kids weren't sad though and honestly this was good data! After all, the purpose of Pond Watch is to study migration patterns and this merely aids the scientists in seeing that the dragonflies were not present in this area during this particular week.

After Pond Watch was over, we started working on Dragonfly Detectives data. The group was separated into two groups for this. Group one would spend two sessions, which lasted three minutes each, sitting quietly as they sought after our fifth required species - the Common Whitetail (which was changed to Eastern Pondhawk day 3 and 4). Meanwhile group two spent their two sessions with me doing weather data collection. They used to the kestrel for this and would observe whether or not it was raining, wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and light intensity. They would collect two sets of data with me while the other group would observe for dragonflies for two sessions, then both groups would switch. This way both groups observed weather and dragonflies two times each; providing us with four sets of data per day.

Once data collection was finished, we would let the kids try to catch dragonflies with their net. On day 3, we starting marking any dragonfly caught to see if we could recapture any species - and we actually had! Markers do not hurt the dragonflies wings, which are very durable and tough, making capture and marking quite fun for both myself, the staff, and kids. They started learning how to identify each species they caught using their guides. We never saw our five species, minus the eastern pondhawk which we added on, but we saw at least a dozen others that each of them were able to ID on their own! There was plenty of damselflies noticed as well.

Every day after data collection, we would head back inside for lunch and follow that up with a lesson.

Day 2's lesson included: dragonflies vs damselflies - the differences between each and how they can be confused, life cycles - dragonfly life cycles and information about each stage, and learning how to identify aquatic insects. The aquatic portion was done by having them dig through a bucket of micro-invertebrates I had collected the morning prior and placed them in containers for them to view the unique species. They used blue binders with field ID pages to try and see what species was what, special facts about them, and later drew their favorite species in their journals.

Damselfly species.

Day 3's lesson included: dragonfly behaviors, migration, water quality monitoring with micro-invertebrates, and how to capture/mark/release dragonflies with a sharpie. Dragonflies exhibit different types of behavior I had seen but didn't know much about. Females lay eggs by dipping their tails into the water (link). Males with hover in place to patrol their territory. Males will attach to the female during mating and females typically deposit eggs shortly after, they create a sort of circle at times (link). How dragonflies see the world and why it can be hard to catch them sometimes (link). How dragonflies catch their food in the air (link). How the larvae eat (link).

The later half of Day 3 was spent teaching the students how to assess water quality based on what aquatic species they found. We collected them that afternoon from the canal. After assessing each species, the quality came back excellent and the kids had a blast!!! Literally, we couldn't keep them out of the bucket.

Day 4's lesson was actually joined in with Day 3, so we spent the morning collecting data and then the afternoon was spent kayaking the canal. So they gained more kayaking experience with the fellow staff members. I was too much of a chicken to actually go kayaking so I spent time copying journal entries, collecting data per student, and other necessary paperwork for the citizen science project. By the time they had finished the day was almost complete for them and I had most of my paperwork done - so we finished it off by playing their game "Bug Crushers Tag". It was the group name they had chosen and a variation of tag. We would dedicate two people as dragonflies and the rest were insects. The dragonflies could follow three directions: normal (walk normally), hover (fly in one spot), and propel (run to catch insects). The insects were allowed to walk normally and run when propel was yelled. Last two students left were dragonflies or we hand picked those so create a fair environment. They wanted to play once or twice a day, making their week that much more fun and giving staff a good laugh on some occasions too when they had to be insects with the students!

Finally, day 5. We did not collect data on this day but, instead, I made linear regression equations utilizing scatter plot graphs in excel with the data they collected. The linear regression line shows whether or not there are positive or negative correlations between the two items they were trying to study. In this case we compared the number of dragonfly flights against each weather parameter: wind speed (locally and regionally), temperature, light intensity, barometric pressure, humidity, raining. We then predicted which of these parameters proved that an increase in flights was because of an increase in x parameter (or decrease due to a decrease in x parameter). If this doesn't make since look at the graph and comment on this post with your question.

Specials thanks to Rob Hopkins from Uni. of Rio Grande for teaching me how to do this with excel!

As temperature increased, we noticed an increase in the average number of dragonfly flights (based off the trendline and linear regression equation associated with said line).

Aside from looking at the data, we actually helped the children understand the scientific method by going through the process itself. The purpose of this was to create a poster at the end of the day that they can actually present at Bug Fest in Raleigh, NC. This is held in September if anyone is interested in attending! Day 1 they made a hypothesis on how they think dragonflies are affected by weather activity and on Day 5, we utilized their individual hypotheses to create six new ones that could be used for the poster. There were so many due to the amount of data we had collected. Mind you, this was all just for the dragonfly detectives portion of the project - counting Eastern Pondhawk species and collecting weather - not the pond watch data.

After they determined their hypotheses, they then wrote up a "Methods" description. This involved the equipment they used and how they studied the dragonfly flights. We skipped the objectives section which normally goes between hypothesis and methods - it wasn't required by the citizen science project I promise! After methods was determining their results and conclusion sections based on the data they had discussed earlier. This may sound hard to grasp but the 3rd-6th graders had it! They worked together as a team to write everything out, understand the data, and at the very end of it all they made a wonderful poster seen below!!! I know it's hard to read what was written but it looks nice right?! Creative kids indeed and I hope they all go to BugFest to present this poster.

When the program was finished we all said our goodbyes and they were allowed to keep all their materials from this week - bug nets, journals, water bottle, tweezers, and field guide. Some spent time after their week was over trying to catch dragonflies at the refuge. Of course, being a refuge, they could not keep any specimens without a permit but some were excited about catching species at their house! To think, on Day 1 these kids were shy, quiet, and weren't sure about dragonflies. They were definitely enthusiastic upon leaving and the parent surveys suggested that they were definitely learning! This is something I very proud of and yet another reason I believe I have chosen environmental education as my career path.

Yep, you read it right, I think I finally decided on what I would like my career path to be!


You can also check out more information about the project by Clicking this Link
There's a blog available as well! Our group will be featured in it eventually so pay attention!

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After dragonfly detectives had ended, I spent the weekend at Alligator River once again. Surprisingly I have a little side story to include for this particular weekend; and it involves a Northern Flicker.

On the way to Alligator River, I came across a Northern Flicker lying in the road. I actually swerved around and stopped, not dramatically, but noticed it was still sitting in the same spot. My first thought was maybe it was a juvenile and so I was going to move it off the side of the road - till I noticed blood on its wing and felt around. I believe it had a broken bone but I could be wrong. Looking back, the bird probably was a juvi, but the blood on the wing still concerned me all the same. Long story short, he ended up going to a local rehabilitation facility in Hatteras and a group of us had delicious seafood in Buxton. It was a great weekend!

They might hate me for this picture.

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Pelicans in flight

 Finally, something I have long waited for since I first heard of it - Pelican and Tern Banding! I had never imagined having this opportunity so I had been anticipating on attending both banding sessions for weeks!! When the chance finally came, I put up my thrift shop clothes and head out the door around 5am with the Alligator River interns and our SCA intern I mentioned prior. We met up with the Pea Island/Pocosin interns, staff members, volunteers from USFWS and the Park Service, and the actual bird banders at the Coast Guard docks around 6:30-7am and were out on the boas in no time. I got to rid in the Coast Guard boat, which absolutely made my day! They were nice folks and I think we gave them a good laugh when I helped an AR intern off the boat and through the water, we had to tread, via piggyback; she couldn't get her foot wet. We started on a good note to say the least!


One by one we had to carefully grab the birds and hold them to where they would a) not injure us or the bander and b) so the bander could put a band on. Teamwork and communication were key! When we finished with pelican banding, the banders estimated that in roughly 3 hours with 33 people, we banded 2 adult Brown Pelicans, close to 1,000 pelican nestlings, and 3 Double-crested Cormorants hatchlings. That's a lot of birds banded but we even saw more birds! A few eggs, some newly hatched pinkies, and more. There were chicks of all ages and sizes. I was lucky to get the chance to grab the beak of one of the adults, seen above, and was thankful for a picture as well. By far one of the best experiences! Part of the evening after pelican banding was spent with the Mattamuskeet bio-technician, biologist, and SCA intern. We discussed what we had completed in the month of June and what our schedule would look like in July. I have a list of duties to complete and boy am I excited to complete them! I hope to talk about them more in my next post!

Day two of the banding days was spent on a different island but with terns instead. Tern day was cleaner than pelican day so the thrift shop clothes were left sitting outside due to their pelican-y stench and I was able to wear a t-shirt and shorts. Adult terns are generally smaller than the pelican chick featured above, so you can imagine how small their own chicks were. In case you aren't sure, just check out the picture of me holding one. Fear not, the bird was not hurt during the banding process. Which, something different from pelican banding was the fact each of us were actually able to band the terns ourselves! I lost count after banding 50 terns and can't even begin to give an estimate besides "a lot of birds". Overall, I heard we banded 1673 royal terns and unknown Sandwich/Caspian but also saw an estimate of 600 Royal tern, 100 Sandwich Tern, and 4 Caspian Tern. The biologists were the only ones to band Sandwich and Caspian, I believe, but no matter the number - it was a lot of birds.

Flock of Royal, Sandwich, and Caspian Tern

Sine some of you have already seen some pictures and have asked "which was your favorite", I figured I may as well post it here too. Honestly it was a hard call between Pelican and Tern banding, but I think I enjoyed Pelican banding more. The pelicans were messy and the tern were smaller, fluffier, and absolutely adorable; but I think I enjoyed how challenging it was to grab the pelicans. However, as I had said, both were very fun and I definitely will never forget the experience!!!


The remainder of the week was spent tackling July items of business, which were discussed at our meeting we had after Pelican banding was finished. I will talk about this stuff more in the future :)



If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or message me on FB. Thank you for reading!

Journey to the East Coast

My absolute favorite sundial found at the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, NC.

Alright alright, I promise I am listening!

There's a been a number of people appearing in my inbox asking me if I was going to write out a blog for this internship and so, here I am! Due to the fact I am about 7 weeks deep into this position, a lot of this will likely be highly summarized versions of events. I still hope everyone enjoys reading my posts as much as you had during my prior two internships (see end of post). Just know that this one may be a little rough, but I hope the quality improves in time :)

Buffalo City

 The overall quality of the drive from Ohio to North Carolina was fairly smooth.

My favorite part of it was the fact that I got to drive on 35 again, the highway I would take to get to/from college and other places around the area. The highway runs past my old college so of course I had made plans to stop and possibly visit a friend. It gave me the chance to pick up one of my favorite cheeseburgers at Zack n Scotties while I waited for a friend to message me back about meeting up for a later lunch/early dinner. As I always expect, Amy had been working the desk and I was able to reminisce about my recent graduation from college while we struck a conversation about current events in the area. At this point it was only a week ago that I had walked across the stage to receive my Bachelors degree in Fish and Wildlife Conservation and Management. For years a BS degree had seemed like a dream, but of course dreams do come true.

For those avid readers who had the chance to read my Minnesota blog, where I worked at the Wolf Center, it has been two years since you have had the opportunity to see me write. I had attended the University of Rio Grande (yes it is in Ohio, not Texas) to obtain the degree mentioned above and at last it had paid off. The reason I did not write a blog last year was due to being unsuccessful at obtaining an internship, but that's fine! I got the chance to work at Little York Pizza and Tavern with a group of wonderful staff members. The job taught me more discipline, time management, communication, and much more. It gave me a chance to be home for the summer and to see my friends, family, and past boyfriend at that time. All of which made the summer quite wonderful! But back to this story, right?

I was able to meet up with my friend at China One, our usual hot spot since we were designated chinese buddies while at Rio. It was splendid evening and truly a great way to leave Ohio; literally I crossed the bridge into West Virginia once goodbyes were said. We laughed, ate, cruised around Rural King - something myself and many other friends always seemed to do - and soon enough I was on the road again with hope in my heart and a glimmer in my eye about what the future held. Saying temporary farewells to my friend and family was hard, but I could feel that something positive was just around the corner and could not wait to explore it.

Pamlico Sound at the Elizabethan Gardens, North Carolina

My first official overnight stay was in Virginia, a state I had actually never been in before. The hotel I slept at was very quiet and nice, making the journey to the east coast that much more easier. I wasn't exhausted thankfully but I could tell my stress level was slightly elevated. West Virginia was rather sketchy in most places along the turnpike, especially when driving at night. Although I love roads with twists and turns, WV sure gave me a fun and exciting challenge. Once I had a good night's sleep, it was back on the road again the following morning and soon enough I was in yet another state, one which I dreamed of visiting but never expected to see, North Carolina. Some of you may even remember me mentioning in the Wolf Center blog about how I wanted to see the red wolves in NC, well guess where I am now - exactly where I wanted to be! See, dreams do come true!

After traveling a few hours, I finally arrived at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge around 5pm EST. I was expected to stay at a nice cabin in the woods (see pic above) for roughly two weeks for orientation and training. I settled in quickly and spent the next two hours both relaxing, looking up things to do in the area, making some phone calls to family, friends, and a full time employee, and wondering when my temporary roommates would show for work as well. This kept me busy till 7-730pm, where I jumped back into the vehicle once more for the evening to attend a Howling Trip for Red Wolves. Glad I did too! I got to meet two of the interns from Pea Island, a volunteer, and the staff member I had called - all wonderful people.

The interns and I were able to talk with the volunteer about the area, good spots to eat, his suggestions for the summer, who to meet within the agency, what some staff enjoy doing - like wind surfing!, and some special events we may get to participate in with other staff members. We saw a black bear, howled with the red wolves, and watched a thunderstorm roll in over the open farm fields before darkness set. I head into town nearby to pick up a few things to drink/eat for the weekend and prepared to settle in for the night.

Of course it happened to be eventful too, I actually may have heard a bear or raccoon scratch at the side of the cabin! I panicked some of course, messaged my mom a lot haha, and ended up sleeping with a light on for the night. On the bright side, I was able to sleep well but boy was I freaked out for a hot minute or two.

Roses from Elizabethan Garden, Manteo, NC

I was able to sleep in and still no interns had arrived yet, so I made use of my time by traveling into town to sight seen like any tourist would. My first town, and probably the closest to Alligator River,  was Manteo - which sits on the infamous Roanoke Island. The reason I say infamous is because it was where the first child - Virginia Dare - of English parents ever born in what Europeans called the New World of America and where the first colony had attempted to settle these lands. If you recall reading in your history books about this colony, you will recall that they are known as the Lost Colony for they went missing, yes this was the place! Let that not be a sign for me of course...

My reason for remembering all of this was because Fort Raleigh, in Manteo, dedicated to Sir Walter Raleigh whom brought over the colony in an attempt to settle the New World before it went missing. Christopher Columbus was the first to find the "New World" by mistake but Raleigh was one of the first who wished to try to settle it, making this place not only significant to the area but for all of us who had ancestors that moved from England eventually.

Truly one of my favorite parts of new internships is not just the job itself, but also having the opportunity to learn about the local heritage and history as well. New places can teach us a lot!

Featured in the Fort Raleigh exhibits about attempting to settle the "New World"

Anyway, if you could not tell already, Fort Raleigh was one of the first places I visited. I enjoyed viewing the various exhibits and reading all about the history of England, English, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Lost Colony, and more. I walked to the fort itself and around a nature trail, enjoying a spot on a small beach which faced the Pamlico Sound. At this point I still couldn't pronounce Roanoke and Pamlico so it was a struggle trying to ask questions sometimes - but I made it through.


 
 

Elizabethan Gardens, Manteo, NC

Prior to my visit to Fort Raleigh, I had actually visited the Elizabethan Gardens. It was a pleasant walk filled with many different forms of art sculptures and landscaping. A few corners within the gardens were very quiet and I took many pictures of the sculptures and what I had seen. You'll have to look through my North Carolina Album on Facebook to actually see them all but a few are attached to this post (see above and below). I would love to visit this place in spring when more flowers are blooming, but honestly it was gorgeous enough even without dozens of flowers everywhere. My favorite part was the rose garden, where I found the sundial I showed at the very beginning of this post, and beautiful lion statues (not shown).

Elizabethan Gardens, Manteo, NC

The Gateway Visitor Center, operated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, was the next placed I visited after the Elizabethan Gardens and Fort Raleigh. Gorgeous banners of the local refuges hang from the ceiling and the whole building was beautifully designed and built. I read about the various exhibits they had to offer regarding different topics - sea level rise, the red wolves, local flora and fauna- and took a "trip" to the other refuges via pre-recorded plane ride videos. There was much more that the center had to offer, like a gift shop and art exhibit, but I wanted to save all this for another visit. I chatted with yet another volunteer for a while then head to Nags Head for a quick bite to eat. Seeing as how I was in the coast, I wanted some tasty seafood! Unfortunately I could not remember, at the present time, what the volunteer on the howling trip had recommended but I still had a great meal at Pamlico Jacks (still couldn't pronounce Pamlico yet so I avoided saying it back then haha). Have you ever eaten by yourself? It's actually kinda fun! Seriously, try it sometime! It's not as lonely as it sounds!

Crab, Mussles, Shrump, and Clams mixed with noodles and more! Pamlico Jacks, Nags Head, NC

After eating fresh seafood, I crossed the three bridges back to the cabin in Alligator River where I finally got to meet one of the three interns. She had just arrived but we still chatted for a while about the usual stuff - where ya from, whats your degree, etc. In no time the other two interns rolled in and we all chatted prior to bed, which came fairly quickly since it was already 10/11pm. The following day marked the official start of the internship.

Did I mention earlier that I had to keep myself busy most of the day anyway because I accidentally locked myself and one of the other interns out of the cabin the night prior? Oops, haha!

Volunteer Name tag!

The first day of orientation involved what you would expect on the first day of any job, some paperwork and meet-n-greets. It was nice to finally see all the interns for the first time and get to meet a few new staff members. Thankfully I met one already from the howling trip so I wasn't completely lost! We were briefed on any important subjects related to rules and regulations on the refuge, history of Alligator River and Pea Island, and more. Each of us were given bags with our volunteer gear and other very useful supplies - such as gloves and eye protection! The day was fairly short as far as I can remember but the rest of the two weeks would certainly be busy!

During the first week all the interns moved as a group. We were treated to Darrell's for lunch, met new staff members almost daily, toured Alligator River NWR and Pea Island NWR, checked out the maintenance facilities, practiced operating maintenance equipment (which was a breeze due to my prior experience at Five Rivers Metroparks as a Grounds Maintenance intern), were given a presentation on Lake Mattamuskeet by the biologist I now work for, and spent time with the biologist at Pea Island learning about sea turtles and water quality monitoring while simultaneously assisting her with such tasks. I was able to view more black bear, turtles galore, snakes, and a few new bird species I had not heard nor seen before! Many of which were shorebirds. Since my arrival I have been trying to see an actual Alligator, yes they're around Alligator River, but no luck yet!

Water Quality Monitoring at Pea Island

Week two involved going canoeing so that the interns at Alligator River could be briefed on their scripts they would be giving throughout the summer, ATV/UTV certification training, and learning about the local flora at Alligator River and Pea Island with yet another wonderful staff member. I was impressed by how much he knew about the local flora in the area, despite the diversity in habitat! He even managed to tell the Pocosin interns and myself what our refuges may have. 

Now you can expect that when we weren't working, each of us were trying to intermingle as a group. At night I recall visiting many of the local shops and some restaurants between Manteo, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, and Kill Devil Hills. One of the interns knew how to crab so we actually bought supplies and went for the first time! We caught a few but didn't have long enough nets to pull them ashore. Still, I said in Ohio that I would go crabbing and I did!

Great Egret, seen while crabbing.

 I was able to assist the wolf caretaker intern with her duties, giving me a chance to see the red wolves up close - a true highlight to this adventure that I will never forget. After all, the red wolves were one of the biggest reasons I was trying to come to this area in the first place so of course I was excited about it. One weekend we all went to the beach and I actually swam in the Atlantic ocean for the first time; not just the gulf of Mexico! Might I mention I was buried in the sand for the first time as well. I must say I think I would make a great sand mermaid!

Yes, I did get sun burned but you can look in my album for those pictures as well :P

The two weeks of training flew by so fast that it all honestly seems like a blur now. I had a ton of fun and loved meeting all the people I had, but it was time to move on and start at the refuge I was actually stationed at - Lake Mattamuskeet NWR.

After my two weeks were up: I packed up, said goodbye to my apparent Barred owl friend (you'll have to ask me about this story), and head south. It was there that I met my two roommates I would live with for the remainder of the summer. They were, and still are, very nice! Although we were all quiet at first, partly due to how exhausted I think I was the first week being at Mattamuskeet, but we've lived up since that day. Unpacking was a breeze and before I knew it I was already in bed.

 

My first day at Mattamuskeet was met with more orientation, which was honestly great! I was getting acquainted to the refuge I would see the most of while spending time with the staff I see a lot of. The biologist gave a presentation over the lake and history of the refuge, discussed their current goals they hoped to accomplish this summer and others that they would love to tackle if time allowed, and handed myself and another intern protocols to review. We were given notebooks to take notes with, which has truly come in handy, and I was even given my own desk for the summer! It looks a little more used than what is shown above. I share space with another intern hired through the SCA (Student Conservation Association), water quality equipment, and some tools necessary for calibrating said equipment as well.

In the afternoon we were given a tour of the east portion of the refuge, mind you this place is rather large, and were shown how water quality is performed utilizing the Sonde and Hydrometer at one of the four water structures. This is the water quality equipment I mentioned before, seen in that blue bucket. The morning session inside and tour in the afternoon soaked up most of our time, resulting in a wonderful day well spent. I met more staff of course and was so happy that all my questions about what I may expect this summer had been answered in person. I highly looked forward to the following weeks ahead and, due to how late my posts are, I can say they've been splendid so far!


If you follow me on facebook, you already know that I much more to talk about since orientation and therefore will try to have the next post up asap! I typically do not have internet on weekends, since I am almost always at Alligator River, but I will do my best to catch up where I can!

Thanks for reading!




In case you missed out on my prior internships, here they are!
Wisconsin Blog: http://wiadventure.blogspot.com/
Minnesota Blog: http://mnwolfadventure.blogspot.com/