After I finished my survey for the day, I drove north to the town of Vernal, Utah. The people of Vernal like two things: dinosaurs, and Jesus. A pink, long-necked dinosaur with prominent eyelashes holds a sign welcoming you to the dinosaur state. A 30-foot-tall t-rex with a bandana around its neck and a lasso …
If I had to pick a favorite vegetation community, and I hope I don’t, it might have to be sagebrush. I love the way the withered branches twist in on themselves and the fissures in the bark that make them look ancient. I love the delicate silver-green color of the leaves. Most of all though, …
The last time I drove to Utah had been in the heart of winter, when I went on a winter camping trip to the San Rafael Swell with a group of old friends. In December, white snow blanketed the ground to every horizon, only broken by the unending line of pavement that ran west, ever …
I was awake long before my alarm out of excitement at going out to do a bird survey. I got dressed in the dark and drank a full liter of water with electrolytes before starting my hike to the transect. I was embroiled in a long-standing feud with a Dutch pediatrician since childhood and never …
The field season was off to a fantastic start. Training had gone well, and I was feeling strong and confident. I had gone for a satisfying trail run on a new trail system and spent quality time with a lizard—an excellent day by any measure. It was a real shame I was going to die …
After everyone said their goodbyes, the training week was done, and my latest field season with the Bird Conservancy had finally started. I was a horse with the bit in my teeth, a sighthound let off the leash, a falcon launching myself off the wrist. It had been 6 years since I last worked as …
The days during the training week followed roughly the same format. Mornings were for practicing birding and plant identification in a variety of habitats. In the afternoons, we descended on the local library and took over study rooms for presentations on protocol, field safety, and software for data entry and expense reports. These presentations were …
Birders are weird. For one thing, they’re reckless drivers. One moment they’ll be happily toddling along the road, the next they’ll yank their steering wheel to the side and rummage around for the binoculars that are wedged into the cupholders of the car because they spotted a raptor on a telephone wire. For another, they …