Leucistic Carolina Wren

Today we caught this beautiful leucistic hatch year Carolina wren:



For comparison, this is what a normally pigmented adult looks like:


FYI, for those of you not familiar with the term leucism or leucistic, it simply refers to a reduction in pigmentation, whereas albinism is the absence of melanin. It's not uncommon, and I believe Eagle Eyes and I even spotted a leucistic robin at Foggy Bottom, but never caught it in a net.

Wood Thrush Biting Me

I was initially too embarrassed to post these photos but now they make me laugh. I tried so hard to get a good shot of a wood thrush when I was at Jug Bay but all I got were these ones of it biting me:



And finally succeeding in fitting my whole thumb in its beak, an impressive feat:


Like robins, who are their close relative, wood thrushes are spazzy creatures. I finally got this shot, which was the best I could do:

The National Zoological Park

Today I visited the National Zoo. I don't generally enjoy zoos (it makes me sad to see animals caged for people's pleasure), but seeing as I have been based out of NZP all summer, I decided it was worth a visit. Plus Eagle Eyes keeps telling me zoos these days are doing a lot more conservation so they are not just about displaying animals anymore.

At first, I regretted it. It was hot and crowded and people were not respectful at all of the animals, whistling at them and yelling at them, which really irks me (and I even said so to one woman who was practically yelling in my ear).

The first place I went to visit was the cheetah exhibit, as it was such a pivotal place for me in ninth grade (see my first post, Full Circle). I wasn't impressed, but then again I've been five or ten feet away from a live cheetah and so seeing the back of one lying thirty feet away on the grass is no longer nearly as exciting to me.

Next I went to the bird house (I'm predictable). At first I also found it depressing. My low point was seeing a caged burrowing owl. These are one of my favorite birds, and their numbers are plummeting in San Jose. I had the privilege of helping to rehabilitate one in San Jose a few years back and was present when C released it at the airport, which is the only place left where they are present in Santa Clara county.

I'm including a picture of the burrowing owl so you can see what it looks like, for those of you who have never seen one. The minute my plane lands in San Jose, I will be scanning the runway looking for them, as once when I was taxiing on the runway I did spot one! (OK, OK, I'll admit it publicly, I have this totally unrealistic fantasy that someday I am going to see the one C and I released while taking off or landing, even though I don't remember the color combination of its bands other than that one was blue, and anyway I would never be able to see the bands clearly enough to identify that particular bird while hurtling down the runway at over 60 mph. Don't tease me please-- it's bad enough that my seatmates find it perplexing that I am glued to the airplane window and when they ask why I explain I am looking for burrowing owls, I am sure they think I am nuts as most don't even know what a burrowing owl is).

When I looked in the cage, I expected to see the burrowing owl on the ground, where they usually are in the wild, but I guess there was no good mound for it to stand on or it was stressed, because if you look closely it is perched in the top right corner.




I finally began to enjoy my visit when I got to the outside part of the bird house where it was much less crowded, and saw the cranes. Below is a Stanley crane, which has an elaborate mating display that involves tossing twigs.



In the next cage over was a Wattled crane, with signs posted proclaiming, "Aggressive crane!" Maybe that is why it came right up to the bars and made it so easy to get a picture.



As I rounded the corner, I was very excited to see a Double-wattled Cassowary, which adorns the cover of one of my favorite books-- Biological Exuberance-- due to its homosexual behavior. Eagle Eyes says they are ferocious birds to handle, and I can see why. I certainly never imagined they were quite so large!

More Museums: National Museum Of Medicine And Health

This afternoon I visited the National Museum of Medicine and Health, tucked away on the Walter Reed military base. I would have never known it existed but for a tip off from my old roommate, Mosquito Man (thanks, man). It was incredible. The best part by far was the display of embryos and fetuses, at all stages of development and even showcasing uncommon deformities! (Keep in mind I have a thing for embryology). I got to see preserved fetuses showing cyclopia, sirenomelia and anencephaly. I'd read about these conditions but seeing them was much better.

I also got to see a special exhibit on leprosy, which in correct medical terminology is called Hansen's disease. I didn't know leprosy was caused by a bacillus similar to tuberculosis in certain ways (Mycobacterium leprae)-- in fact it was the first bacteria to be identified as causing disease in people. Or that the antibiotics that are used to treat it were first used at an unusual marine hospital called Carville in Louisiana which was devoted entirely to caring for patients with leprosy. I think I might have known at one point in my laboratory animal vet tech class that armadillos provide a good model for leprosy, but I never fully understood that armadillos are so far the only reservoir that has been identified for leprosy and that a high percentage of them exhibit the clinical signs of the disease in the wild. In fact, it is probably not unrelated that most of the very few human cases of leprosy that are endemic to the US occur in the Louisiana region for this reason. However, it is a mystery how leprosy is transmitted from armadillos to people, if that is even the case.

I thought it was also interesting that the one of the most debilitating things about leprosy in addition to its creepy disfigurement of the face and hands is that it causes peripheral nerve damage not unlike diabetes in its effects. If leprosy didn't cause irreversible peripheral nerve damage it would be just a skin disease and not nearly as remarkable medically.

There was an extensive exhibit tracing the evolution of microscopes that made me think of my dear friend L back in CA, for I know she would really enjoy seeing it.

And last of all, I saw an exhibit on battlefield medicine. It touted an innovative new stretcher that features a ventilator and defibrillator, basically all the key components of a modern ICU compacted into a stretcher. They also showcased a new kind of bandage for severe bleeding in battlefield situations that achieves homeostasis in roughly a minute by having the proteins that compose fibrin clots embedded in the bandage. Alternatively, for gunshot wounds, they are working on developing a spray like WD-4o that can be used to fill the hole made by the bullet with these same proteins and stop internal hemorrhaging that cannot be reached quickly using sterile technique and conventional bandages.

I could have spent a lot longer in this museum than I did. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area, too bad it is so hidden.

Funny Moment

Tonight I went out with Eagle Eyes and two of my other roommates and co-workers, Mississippi Kite and Crested Caracara (he's the one who was with me the day I caught the pileated and I've dubbed him Crested Caracara because his next field job involves observing these birds). Of all of us, I think Crested Caracara is the most quintessential biologist.

Conversation when we passed an ice cream store:

Crested Caracara (deadpan, completely serious): "I like the large ungulate ice creams."

Me (very confused): "Large ungulate???"

Eagle Eyes (with a duh intonation): "You know-- caramel caribou, moose tracks..."

Sometimes I feel pretty slow with this crowd. Duh. (I mean, I've had some pretty weird ice creams in my day-- garlic ice cream in Gilroy, CA and I'm the type of person who likes that, but I was thinking, I've never heard of buffalo flavored ice cream?)

Final Ratings On Ethiopian Restaurants In DC And Other Good Food

So once I had this lofty goal of sampling food from every Ethiopian restaurant in DC. Ha ha. There are way too many to do that in just a few months. But I have hit the ones that are highly rated or in my neighborhoods and here is the scoop:

Top Three:
Meskerem (Adams Morgan)-- more expensive due to touristy location, good service and food
Nile (my old neighborhood, Georgia and Eastern)-- the staff does not speak English but it attracts the locals and has the best subtly spiced mashed chickpeas of any place I tried
Dukem (U St)-- best atmosphere with music and dancing though I felt a bit like a tourist watching from the sidelines

The Rest:
Madjet (U St)-- NY insisted this one was the best but it is poorly lit, small and the food is not remarkable
Addis Ababa (Fenton near my current location)-- food was bland but great outdoor seating
Etete (U St)-- highly rated by others, the food and service were disappointing and the modern decor did not impress me as much as the authentic neighborhood hangout feel at Nile, however, the Yetibs Fitfit with injera mashed in with it was deliciously spicy.

If I had more time in DC, I'd spend it exploring the other restaurants on U St, which are highly rated and interesting-- Oohs and Aahs (soul food) and Chix ("eco-friendly take out), to mention two.

Interactive Blog: Pop Quiz-- How Well Do You Know Me?

As I transition from this project to vacation then back to CA, I am not sure what to write about as originally the purpose of this blog was to write about my work. The new natural subject would seem to be... me! So I am going to write a little more about myself in the coming weeks (some of you may wonder how that is possible, but I have written a fair amount about birds, just not science or the research on this project). I got the idea for a quiz as I know two people who did a quiz about themselves for their 30th birthdays this summer (my good friend and new father D, and NY's friend SH of National Mall scavenger hunt fame).

Today I went to the National Mall.
1. Where do you think I headed first?
a. The National Gallery of Art
b. The National Museum of the American Indian
c. The National Museum of Natural History

2. Which museum did I enjoy the most?
a. The National Gallery of Art
b. The National Museum of the American Indian
c. The National Museum of Natural History

3. What exhibit did I visit in the National Gallery of Art?
a. Small French Paintings (Impressionists included)
b. Dutch Cabinet Galleries
c. Richard Misrach: On The Beach

OK readers, there aren't too many of you who write comments (but I appreciate every one of you who does), so don't feel shy. I will warn you question 2 is very tricky as I actually walked past one museum and then turned around and headed back to it, surprising even myself, but that is the place I enjoyed the most. I'll post answers in a few days.

Fortune Cookie

I got my first fortune cookie of the summer at the restaurant Char Koon in Glastonbury this weekend:

"Sometimes travel to new places leads to great transformations."

It couldn't be more apt-- I have gained so much confidence this summer, it's like I have finally come out of my shell. And of course, this experience has only made me want to travel more. While I love California more than anywhere I have ever lived before, I am ready to leave if my career takes me elsewhere. There's a lot else out there to explore, and even though I have no intention of settling in a city permanently, I enjoyed my summer in DC and would live in a city again in the future for a short time.

I'm excited about the upcoming adventures in my life instead of feeling nervous or apprehensive. I think this summer was just the beginning of my travels, not the end.

The 10 Minute Move Part II

At the beginning of the summer, when I moved between houses on the project, I was thrilled with how little stuff I had and how easy the move was.

This week, I felt stressed by the prospect of packing up my stuff to go back to California. Eagle Eyes reassured me that I really don't have much stuff, but somehow it seemed hard to believe.

Well, when I began packing to go to Glastonbury, I realized she is absolutely right. It took me less than ten minutes to pack practically everything I own. I am leaving my cold weather clothes and most of my summer wardrobe too in Glastonbury to lighten my load as I travel around the East coast for the next three weeks. All I have left in DC is one dress, one nice outfit and my field clothes, which I will donate or trash before leaving as they are fairly thrashed.

I really, really still like not having many possessions. I think I will keep paring down my belongings when I get back to San Jose. I feel so much less encumbered when I can move all my stuff in less than ten minutes. I feel so free. I know it's an illusion, but I feel like owning so little and being so mobile will somehow prevent me from being trapped in another bad relationship or keep me from falling unconsciously into a conventional lifestyle.

Melissa The Second Time Around (Warning: Long Post)

Last night I went to my second and final Melissa Etheridge concert of the summer. It was at MGM Foxwoods in Connecticut and I went with my fabulous Aunt K. I wasn't quite so blown out of the water by Melissa's spiritual and emotional awareness this time as I knew to expect it. Instead, I really enjoyed her playing and the energy of the crowd.

MGM Foxwoods is quite an experience. It opened about a month ago and is huge and rather surreal. There we were, driving through the bucolic New England farms when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, there were two giant skyscrapers of casinos towering up out of the fields. It is really quite a disconcerting, jarring sight. I didn't get much of the casino experience other than walking through it. The smoke made it hard for my aunt to breathe and having never gambled in my life I didn't have much interest in it.

One of the best parts of going to a Melissa concert for me is the crowd. My ex (the emergency clinic graveyard nurse-- I haven't come up with a good alias for her yet other than M) said that going to a Melissa concert is like going to a lesbian convention and that is so true. A lesbian convention unlike an Indigo Girls or Ani or Melissa Ferrick show because the lesbians are older and middle-aged, mostly coupled, quiet, mellow. It's a more peaceful, content feel than the younger crowd.

It's always affirming to me to be in a setting where the majority of people are lesbians. I tried to explain this to my aunt, and I think she kind of gets it. I relax a little, no longer feel invisible, and let my eyes wander freely over the beautiful women there (yes, checking women out is one of the pluses of a Melissa concert though most of them are obviously partnered).

This time I had the added pleasure of getting hit on a few times. Right after I arrived at the casino, a woman passed me and commented, "I have that shirt but it looks better on you!" I like getting noticed, who doesn't like that kind of positive attention, really? It has struck me this summer that I attract a lot more attention than I have ever before in my life. At first I thought it was DC, but then I gradually realized the change was not in location or cultural, but in me. I don't think I look any different than I have in my life, same haircut, perhaps slightly girlier clothes, and though I am in decent shape it's not like I'm ripped or have a six pack. So if it's not my looks, what is it? I think it must be my energy. My aunt agrees. In college I was depressed a lot of the time, downright miserable some of the time. When I was married I was isolated by my controlling husband, and still depressed. Having come out a second time, feeling free of the shackles of marriage and like I have every opportunity in the world is such a high for me that I am full of energy. I'm more at peace with myself at thirty than I have ever been before, more hopeful for the future, more self-aware, more independent and more comfortable in my own skin. Somehow, all of these things must be conveyed in a glance in the way I carry myself and smile because, all of a sudden, people do notice me and I love it!

Back to the concert. Melissa played a fairly different set than the DC concert. The crowd up front brought a lot of signs with various comments and requests (Melissa remarked, "You folks do a lot of arts and crafts before the show!") They got her to change her set list and play a second song about her days in Leavenworth, Kansas-- "Nowhere To Go" (note for future: Melissa says she is a sucker for any concerted effort by people with signs in the front rows). It is my ex M's favorite Melissa song. I remember her explaining to me how it captured the feeling of being out in the woods with her high school best friend/crush/lover and how no one saw what they were doing and they were so out there, alone:

I know a place down past an old shack

On a road that goes to nowhere, ain't nobody coming back

We can go there tonight, we can talk until dawn

Or maybe something else, I'll leave the radio on

The radio on

There's no one to hear, you might as well scream

They never woke up from the American dream

And they don't understand what they don't see

And they look through you and they look past me

Oh, you and I dancing slow

And we've got nowhere to go

The loneliness of being gay in high school is such a universal theme, be it Kansas (Melissa) or California (M) or North Carolina (me). Amazing to finally hear this song live.

Melissa went through the trajectory of her life again, how she thought she knew about love back in high school ("but it was mostly drama"), talking about arriving in California in 1982 and not immediately getting a record deal ("Everyone was wearing spandex so they got noticed before me, but I wasn't going to wear spandex so I just waited"), doing "two week relationships," followed by an open relationship that made her miserable but made for great music, and then going after Julie Cypher. She talked about how it took her 10 years to realize that the relationship with Julie wasn't working, commenting "Some of us are slower learners than others!" That certainly made me feel better, as in retrospect it was obvious my marriage was unhappy from day one but it took me a few years to come to grips with that fact and get out of it too!

She spoke about how when she and Julie broke up she finally began to look inside herself-- "If it's not you that's the problem, then it must be me," and also the realization that she didn't have the power to change anyone else but herself ("I don't have an all-encompassing power to change you, just me!") These are lessons that I have learned the hard way too, and they are so simple yet so powerful and transformative. I think losing a great love rips you open in a way that makes change possible, makes it possible to look inside yourself and learn the lessons to try to prevent from ever being that destroyed by love again. As Melissa kept saying, "We live and learn, don't we?"

Losing M, who I loved more deeply and was more bonded to than any other adult relationship, was the impetus for me to look inside myself and take stock; her loss, in combination with my divorce, was the catalyst for intense personal growth.

Melissa talked about her own personal growth following her break-up with Julie. How the beginning of personal growth is pain. Facing the fear of being alone, "because even though we don't admit it, when it comes down to it we're all afraid on some level of being alone." How when she was alone she didn't eat well "ice cream, pop tarts, another pop tart, cinnamon on top, because, well, there is no one there to tell you that's not real food." And then, emerging from the pain, she "asked the universe for someone of my own persuasion, because that's just what's natural" (I think here she is referring a bit obliquely to the fact that Julie's sexuality was more heterosexual than lesbian and Melissa realized she could not change that about someone). How she wanted something stable this time around ("you'd better be very careful what you go after and make sure it is not just the chase, not just the drama"). And then her friends dragged her out to the bars, and she was nervous and wary of meeting someone else straight, and told herself she was just looking to have fun when one night a beautiful woman came in-- "I thought she was straight but we were in a gay bar..."-- and this woman asked her to dinner ("no one had ever asked me to dinner before") and so she put her number into her phone and the rest is history. She has found her true love, her happiness, and she says it is amazing. I love the song about her initial confusion over Tammy's straight looks, how Tammy passes as straight (my ex M said this song always reminded her of me so I like it even more)-- "Secret Agent:"

Smooth as cream

She's every young boy's dream

She's like a hot roller coaster

On a video screen
She's off the hook, take a look

Let your imagination cook

She don't play by the rules

She don't go by the book

All the boys wanna know

If she's got something to hide

All the girls are relieved

She's working for the other side

She's a secret agent

You can believe it or not

Melissa talked next about her struggle with cancer, how it taught her about balance. That pop tarts are not a food. That when your body wants to sleep you need to listen and go to bed rather than working through it thinking "I can sleep when I'm dead because you will be dead and sleeping!" (oh man, that is one lesson I clearly have yet to learn as I have been more sleep deprived this summer than any other time in my life bar none), how it is healthy to reduce stress in your life. And why was she telling us all this-- "I want you to not get cancer!" I love how she tries to pass on the most important lessons of her life in a concert, even though she knows that these hard learned lessons come from going through the fire of pain and fear and cannot be easily conveyed, yet she still tries and does a terrific job of conveying them.

She talked about her awakening to the crisis in the environment, but by this time I was really fading fast, having gotten very little sleep this week I was no longer up out of my chair and dancing but slumped over trying to hang onto every word and not miss any precious moment of the concert. I didn't want it to end, but after three hours of continuous music I was exhausted, and surely Melissa must have been too!

I rallied for the encore, hoping she would play "Piece Of My Heart" again but instead she played "Like The Way I Do" which, while not quite as breathtaking, was still incredible. It's like she didn't want the show to end, she just kept playing and playing and rocking out. I loved it.

My aunt really enjoyed the show, for some reason I was worried it would be too loud or too late or too gay or something. She had some good observations of her own. She liked Melissa's comment about how when you are in your twenties "you can not sleep at all and just eat a candy bar instead," but how when you are older that is not possible (oh, I am not looking forward to the days everyone tells me are ahead when I won't be able to function on four hours sleep). My aunt also like how Melissa drew the crowd in, how personal her songs and story are, and how intensely she sang.

Well, I could go on and on. I hope she tours next summer, because if she does I will certainly be there!

Presa Puppy Impressin' Me

Some people like muscle cars. I like muscle dogs. When I was at the grocery store today there was a guy standing outside with this heart stopping, stunning Presa Canario puppy (yes, it is only eight months old and will be significantly bigger full grown). At first I wasn't sure if it was a Presa or a Cane Corso, but I immediately knew it was a South American guard dog and so pulled over to say hi as they are pretty rare and I've seen less than half a dozen in my entire life. Lots of other people also came over to admire this pup's good looks. (Interestingly, the woman I dated this summer, who I called NY on this blog, called the grocery store I frequent a "ghetto" grocery store, and I must admit a lot of people I know would have been put off by the owner, the dog and the crowd they eventually attracted but not I!)

I probably wouldn't choose to own a Presa because of the liability involved-- a few years back there was a horrible case in San Francisco where two dogs of this breed mauled to death a woman (which made the news in part because the dogs' owners seemed so vile and in part because the deceased woman's partner took the owners' of the dogs to court in a wrongful death lawsuit which had no legal precedent since she was not legally married to her partner).

These dogs are super strong, I always think of them like pit bulls on steroids and pitties are plenty strong to start with. The other thing I've noticed that I'm not crazy about with these breeds is that the Cane Corso I worked closely with in a vet clinic (and from the little bit I saw of this dog too) is that they are exquisitely perceptive about sensing fear in people. I was afraid of the Cane Corso we boarded at one of the clinics I did an internship at and as a result I had to stop working with that dog because he knew I was afraid and took advantage of it to the point I was worried he might attack me. This puppy was a bit nervous, but basically very sweet and I think I look pretty relaxed in the picture, though initially the owner was reluctant to let me close because he was afraid the dog might be aggressive towards me but he eventually agreed to take the photo above. (I'm the only person on the project who does their shopping in field clothes, oh well, they can make fun of me in the photos.) I guess I've finally learned to trust my instincts around dogs after several years in vet med, and this time round I wasn't scared so I went for the photo op. It's nice to finally have some confidence (though I know I can always get better) and I think it shows!

Pileated Bliss Part II

You can imagine my utter shock and delight when I saw not one, but two pileateds off our back deck early Sunday morning (there are some advantages to waking up at 6 am after three hours sleep, and this was definitely one of them-- got my mind off of everything swirling confusedly through it that early morn instantly). I didn't discover them. Eagle Eyes was sitting outside reading her book when she heard their loud noises and came and got me.

As I've written before, I thought I had been hearing a pileated woodpecker calling around our house on and off all summer, but sometimes wondered if I imagined it and it was actually a yellow-shafted flicker because our neighborhood is very residential and not what I think of as typical pileated habitat (the calls of the pileated and flicker are very similar). My boss had confirmed that it was a pileated calling, but still it somehow seemed like it might be a figment of my imagination. So after feeling like these birds had been teasing me all summer with their calls but not one glimpse of themselves, I was beyond ecstatic to see them in my backyard.

The best part is that when I crept within about ten feet on the back deck they completely ignored me so I was able to watch their behavior from up close. I expected them to be skittish, so I tried to use the back deck as a blind, but they were not in the least fearful of me even when I stopped trying to hide. They stuck around for about half an hour, so that was a whole lot of up close, uninterrupted, blissful pileated observation. Their behavior was fascinating, and I still don't know what it means. The one on the right in most of the photos, and by itself in the fourth and fifth photos below is an adult male, identifiable by its red mustache below the eye, close to its beak. The other bird is either its offspring, a hatch year, that was begging unsuccessfully for food, or its mate, an adult female. (Neither makes entire sense to me as why would the hatch year hang around if it wasn't getting fed and why would the male and female still be courting when they have, to the best of my knowledge, already raised their young this year-- some kind of post breeding courtship???) Either way the non-male bird followed the male around the tree as they circled up and down, pecking gently at the trunk occasionally. The non-male would frequently throw its head back and make a low, clucking-like vocalization entirely unlike the ascending call that the adult pileateds usually make. It was completely fascinating and I watched mesmerized and taking photographs the entire time they were within my view. Enjoy.

Blauwe Reiger: A Blue Heron Weekend Turned Into Social Butterfly Goes Out With A Bang (Warning: Discombobulated Post)

That's Great Falls in Maryland. Saturday morning Eagle Eyes and I went for a hike there on the recommendation of my Aunt L and Uncle G. It was incredibly beautiful. And hot. I made the interesting (well, to be honest, just plain stupid) decision to carry my camera instead of water (there's only so much one can fit in a backpack). I was sweating so much on the unshaded C&O towpath that I opted to take a side trail into the woods to get out of the sun. Before we knew it, Eagle Eyes and I were scrambling over the big boulders on Billy Goat trail A, once again in full sun. I guess I might've looked at a map before we set out hiking but it turned out well in the end. It was fun, and I didn't get too dehydrated to enjoy it-- no lethargy or dizziness, the early signs that I know so well after being outside all summer.

Friday night Eagle Eyes and I had made a trip to a little farther south, to Virginia, to visit my Aunt L and Uncle G at their house on Janelia Farms. Janelia Farms only became a science institute recently and has lots of forested land surrounding it, so there is also a lot of wildlife, from deer to Eastern bluebirds to bobcats (and lest I forget, much mentioned pileateds though I did not see them). The event was a barbecue, with delicious tuna steak and tomatoes among other things. For dessert there was specially ordered ice cream from Ohio, which featured flavors such as goat cheese and blackberry. My aunt definitely knows how to entertain.

Back to Saturday. I saw not one, not two but three blue herons at Great Falls, which are one of my favorite birds as they are the bird that got me hooked on birding when I lived in the Netherlands (blauwe reiger is Dutch for blue heron-- yes, the Dutch I have retained best is the bird names, it's just the way my head works):





Saturday night I went back to northern Virginia to go to a bar with South Carolina, a woman I met for dinner once back at the beginning of the summer (On our way to the bar we drove pass the road marked Janelia Farms, what a weird sense of deja vu as I had been there less than twenty four hours prior). I definitely regret that I didn't see more of her this summer as I had a really good time. We went to what was supposed to be an Irish bar, but the music was all covers of mostly American hits. I didn't mind as the atmosphere was relaxed and I got to dance without anyone laughing at me. I stayed out pretty late, getting on the metro near Vienna just after one am and arriving back in Takoma park at two fifteen am. I was pleasantly surprised that I felt really safe-- there were lots of people on the metro even at that late hour on the weekend, unlike some of my more sketchy late night experiences I've had at earlier hours on weeknights. What a city girl I've become, when I arrived I would've been terrified of being out that late on my own, now I barely think twice about it.

Sunday I went out to my last Takoma Park farmer's market, which was very sad for me. I got lots of jams to bring back to California with me, some rainbow Swiss chard and heirloom and brandywine tomatoes.




Then I went out to lunch with Eagles at Udupi Palace, an excellent vegetarian South Indian restaurant around the corner from us that I have been wanting to try all summer. They had the best carrot and turnip masala that I have ever had. It was so subtly spicy and flavorful.

I don't usually eat out twice in one day, but I had dinner plans to go to out with a woman I met last week at Pirate's Cove Marina on the Chesapeake bay. I couldn't pass up a chance to have crab cakes once more before I left, or eat someplace with such a cool name. And though it was not easy to find, the drive once I got off the highway was very scenic with white spired churches and corn fields. My companion for the evening, who I will refer to as The Ethical Sailor, was interesting to talk to and kind. It's always fascinating for me to hear about someone else's life journey and experiences. I saw eye to eye with her on a lot of stuff such as not owning a house or many possessions, the importance of friendships, honesty and integrity. It was a lovely evening and on the drive back I rolled down the window and drank in the sounds of the cicacadas buzzing, the sight of the few fireflies, the feel of the humid summer night air and the long dry lightning show before the brief downpour. I felt at peace, and in some part of my bones a summer night in the South still feels like home.

This is Pirate's Cove, although I don't really think this photo does it justice as it is much prettier:


It's the end of my last weekend in DC. It was another packed weekend and I am satisfied I made the most of it. My belly is full of crab cakes, my heart is happy with briefly crossing paths with South Carolina and The Ethical Sailor, and in this moment I am happy and totally content. I hope I can hold onto this feeling or re-create it when I get back to CA because this winter I rarely had this much fun or felt so peaceful.

My Itinerary aka My Mad Dash Around The Country Trying To See Everyone I Love

I have exactly two weeks left in Washington, DC as of today. I leave the morning of Aug 2, first dropping off Eagle Eyes at the Baltimore airport at 6 am as she will also be leaving that day on a vacation. Here's my nutty itinerary:

Sat Aug 2 Washington, DC to Durham, NC driving. Spend the night with my mother and dad.
Mon Aug 4 Raleigh NC to Jacksonville, FL by overnight train to see my sister and brother-in-law
Tues Aug 5 Arrive Jacksonville, FL at 7 am
Thurs Aug 7 Tentative car trip scheduled to Orlando, FL to visit my grandmother and grandfather's brother and sister
Fri Aug 8 Jacksonville, FL to Hartford, CT by plane to visit my Aunt K (as cheap as it would be to drive from Jacksonville, FL to NY, NY with my sister that weekend, and as much fun as it would probably be to see the Eastern seaboard that way after much debate I decided to treat myself to a flight to CT so I could spend more time with my aunt)
Fri Aug 15 Hartford, CT to Seattle, WA by plane to spend a weekend with my oldest childhood friend, J
Mon Aug 18 Seattle, WA to San Jose, CA by plane arriving back home and finally, finally getting to see all my homies from the emergency clinic and my beloved cats

There will undoubtedly be some other trips within this schedule, hopefully to see my aunt N and T in Boston and also maybe my sister for a day in New York city. I'll see how it all turns out.

Eggs, Eggs and More Eggs

My entire life I have found songbird eggs particularly pleasing. I don't know exactly why-- but I do know I like their shape, smoothness and size (chicken eggs are too big to be fun to hold). When I was seven or eight years old my dad gave me a present of a small, carved red Easter egg (we were living in England at the time and I'm not sure where he picked it out, perhaps some flea market that he liked to frequent), which instantly became one of my most treasured possessions (in fact, I was willing to part with all my jewelry but not this tiny carved Easter egg which I still consider one of my most precious possessions all these years later).

When I lived in the Netherlands, I often found eggshells along the bike path that I traveled every day to and from school. I would pick them up and cradle them in my hands, gingerly balancing and biking one handed the whole way home. When we left the Netherlands I packed my collection of eggshells into a small tin box that had been used to hold candied cherries, and packed in the foam they have survived intact to this day (though at this point I question why I continue to hold onto something like that for purely sentimental value...)

So it's no big surprise that when I started this project in DC I was enraptured with the birds' eggs we found nest searching. I only took eggs from those nests that had been abandoned for several weeks or depredated. Mostly I just took pictures. (I did bring my dad a present of four perfect robins' eggs for father's day and though I broke one cleaning them for him, I believe he liked and kept the rest.)

Below is a cardinal's nest that we came across at our Chevy Chase site. It has two cardinal's eggs in it and two brown headed cowbird eggs in it (for anyone unfamiliar with the cowbird, it is a brood parasite that lays its eggs in other birds' nests for the other birds to raise; it is detested by many birders but I think they are really amazing birds and once wrote an article about them for a wildlife magazine).


Here's a close up of a cardinal's egg (the larger, more streaky one on the right) and a brown headed cowbird egg (the smaller, more spotted one on the left). You can see why the cardinals have trouble picking out the cowbird eggs, can't you?


Below is a brown headed cowbird egg next to two robin eggs. American robins don't generally fall for the cowbird's attempt to parasitize their nests.


And here is a banded female brown headed cowbird. Not much to look at it. The cowbirds have a nice, very distinctive call though that sounds like a high pitched tinkly, gurgly waterfall to me.


Also at our Chevy Chase site, I discovered a nest in a wreath on a door with two sets of eggs in it, each distinctly different from each other. (On a different note, the owners of this house had no idea that they had a nest in the wreath on their door which I must admit stunned me. I like to think I'm not that clueless but I know that in reality there are plenty of things I am completely oblivious to in life, though they generally have to do with pop culture and people, not nature).


And just in case you can't see it either, I've circled the nest in the photo below for you:

When no one incubated the eggs in this nest in the wreath and they were still there two months later, I pilfered them for my collection, unbeknownst to the owners of the house (I figured if they didn't know the nest was there in the first place they probably wouldn't miss the eggs either).


Here's a close up of the eggs-- I'm not sure which species they belong to, though I was initially convinved the streaky one was a cardinal's egg.


I became intrigued with identifying these eggs, and wondered whether the spotted one might not be a brown headed cowbird egg, so I took my cowbird egg out of my collection and compared it to the other two. The known cowbird egg is the one in the middle in the photo below. I believe it is smaller and a different shape than the two eggs from the Chevy Chase wreath nest. I guess the identity of the species that laid these eggs will remain a mystery to me.


And finally, a comparison of the mystery eggs to a robin's egg-- they are much smaller.