I'm feeling pretty miserable. I don't know if it is the lack of sunshine, something that happened yesterday, not being able to run because of the rain or what.
Today was pretty frustrating. It continued to rain so we ordered supplies and did some data entry. Then we did some nest searching in the cold and rain but didn't find anything. To top it off, in a short break when it went from raining heavily to raining lightly I went out to check on the nest in the tall blue spruce that I was so thrilled after climbing last Monday. My advisor warned me to be careful because it would be slippery. I climbed it again, in the rain, and upon reaching the top found the nest to be empty. It is possible that the nestlings fledged already as I estimated their age last week at 5-7 days and they typically fledge on day 13. We'll never know. It was just one more letdown on an already bleak day.
If I feel cold and discouraged, I can not even imagine what it feels like to be a robin or another small passerine bird out there trying to survive-- stay warm, find food and possibly feed a bunch of hungry nestlings or fledgelings. People say wild animals are more used to inclement weather, and perhaps that is true to some extent, but I am sure that if they had the opportunity to take shelter in a house or go get food at the grocery store they would take it for I'm sure they suffer, they just don't have an alternative.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment