Nate's a Blog Hog

At your request, this is a little about the goings on with Cas. Nate is gone at Falkner banding chicks so now's my chance. Had my friend Jaime over last weekend to the island from NYC. We fished and ate the fish, tanned, talked, watched fireworks and sailboats, painted on driftwood, had a bonfire, and all kinds of super fun. We plan to visit her in NYC soon. My sis Chandra lives an hour from here so I get see her and the kiddos often which is great. My bro Chad keeps winning money in singing competitions and now he is playing a 40 min. set in Polk City at the summer festival, so go give him support and hire him to play your wedding. My friend Katie is about to pop with an Independence Day baby which is exciting. I'm painting and sanding and plastering, not in that order, the Outer Island kitchen this week, so check back for before and after pics. Jaime really loved the new guest room. Come and try it out. Love!

Who Says YOU Have Intrinsic Value

    Terns are very important creatures.  They have to be right?  I mean that must be why I'm out here dragging 2x4 frames and sheets of plywood across slippery shit covered rocks to rebuild a blind that will be used to observe their wily ways.  The blind got itself blowed away the other day in a storm, so here we are.
    Now, it is possible to become confused when working on a project such as this.  You see, on our island we have signs posted to let visitors know what areas are off limits to protect nesting birds.  The bird that is exampled on the signs is a Black-Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax).  However, if one was to visit Falkner Island a scant three miles to the East, (which you can't) you would find decaying Night Heron corpses littering the shore.
    What, you gasp?  Nycticorax nycticorax, you see, is mortal foe of Sternidae and is therefore persecuted most grievously by the guardians of  "The Falk."  The other primary use of said blind is to conceal oneself for ambush of the credulous "quarks."  Thereby rendering the diversity of our little templum greatly reduced, homing itself to little more then Dumetella carolinensis and Quiscalus quiscula.  Damn you Quiscalus quiscula...damn you.

Do They Call Me Nate the Barn Builder?

No, they don't call me Nate the barn builder. But that's just what I did. (Ok, not a barn but it's going to be used for school kids so is it so different?)  The pavilion was designed and, for the most part, built by Vermont Frames.  Why they built this beautiful structure only to tie it onto a dumpy little cottage, I couldn't tell you.  But it was an interesting experience putting it up with few power tools and no crane.  It will be an outdoor area where classes can come to study marine life and high school kids can throw parties when no one is looking.

My Turn!

I done catched me a fish!  Paralichthys dentatus to be precise.  I am fairly certain that any success I have fishing is purely a product of God ordained intervention.  Every time I cast I have absolutely no idea what I am doing and have given up on the delusion that I might ever be able to consider myself an angler.  It was tasty none the less and I'm going to head out here in a bit to try again.

What to do, what to do

    I'm trying to come up with stuff to post but when it comes down to it, there's really only so much to do on an island.  Candice has been plastering the walls that have a lot of moisture damage, and I'm doing some plumbing inside and at the outdoor composting toilet.  There's yard work to do, and visitors to greet.  But over all not a lot to report.  So, if there is anything you folks would like to hear about go ahead and post a comment.  I'm sure a lot of what we do I am taking for granted and will be more interesting to you.  It's weird how that works.  You talk to people with incredible lives and to them it's just a job.  Don't get me wrong, we love it here and are totally grateful for God's blessings, I just don't know what to write about.

Count'n Terns

  
    The other day the first tern hatched on Falkner Island, that means it's time to go count eggs!  We wait to count until they start to hatch because that means they're pretty close to wrapping up the laying.
    Counting tern eggs is a bit of a process.  You need to wear the appropriate attire to venture out among a few thousand birds that use feces as a weapon.  The refuge was kind enough to supply us with jumpsuits after we supplied them with sizes.  I told them large for each, but Candice took offense to that and changed hers to a medium.  I now wear the medium and have Tommy Boy running through my head the whole time.  Love ya hun.  Along with the suit is a sombrero, without it the terns would impale your skull and crap on you while they do it.
    Terns lay their eggs all over the Island.  A popular spot is on the beach that is covered with rocks that look a lot like tern eggs.  So, you make a line across the width of the beach taking slow deliberate steps yelling out egg numbers to a recorder who is walking behind.  The island is broken into plots and the numbers are recorded for each plot.  Sounds easy enough, but bare in mind there are nests everywhere, you have maybe a half dozen people yelling simultaneously, the terrain is rough and of course there are the terns.
    All told it is quite an experience!  I would recommend if you're in the area some time in early June you should volunteer for a count.  I would not however recommend volunteering to live on the Island for the summer unless you're one of those crazy bird people!