what you've all been waiting for...

OK, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I kept putting it off because I knew it was going to take a lot of time, and as I kept putting it off, well...you get the idea. The snowball effect. If I've talked/chatted with you sometime this fall, you probably already know most of what will be in here, so you may be excused from reading this (possibly) extremely long update! =)

So, here we go. I promised moving stories, so here's a blurb. Moving went ok...one of the most stressful 2 days of my life, and unfortunately, however much I wish I never have to do that again, that's not going to happen. Went back to Halifax on 29 Aug in the morning, did some work at the office then went home to Beech St. to pack and clean up. Picked up the moving van around 5:30pm...crazy insane driving in busy rush hour traffic and narrow confusing Halifax streets. =P More cleaning/packing...packed up the van with large pieces of furniture that night and more cleaning. Same thing in the morning, then drove the van to the Compton Ave. house around 2:30pm to unload and get ready for the inspection at 3pm. Laura stayed behind to wait for the Paramount people while Sana and I went back for another vanload of stuff. More crazy insane moving/driving. Made it in 2 loads, which was good. We had some extra time with the van, so we picked up some of Lori's furniture, then drove to the rental company to return the van for 5:30pm. Lori came with us so we can have a ride home, while Sana and Lindsay (new roommate, one of Lori's roommates from her previous place) finished moving/rearranging. Oh, forgot to mention...there was a mix-up with the moving date and although we were told earlier that we can move in on 30 Aug, Paramount later told us we couldn't move in until 01 Sep! Laura argued with them so they let us move in at 3pm on 30 Aug (Thanks, Laura!!), but the carpets just got steam cleaned and we couldn't actually move into any of the rooms. Also explains the crazy insane moving schedule we had. Anyway, we went back to Beech St. to pack up the little stuff in my field vehicle/rental car and do last minute cleaning. Except for that we had to help move Karen M. gigantic couches because the people who were buying them from her never showed up! That was upsetting and annoying...none of us were in the mood for that, after 2 days of moving and cleaning! So, after that, we left Karen to finish up with the last minute clean-up (sweep/mop) and drove back to Compton and unload the little car. Except that we forgot the stupid cement blocks and fence posts that we left in the shed from the puppet show, so we went back (again) and got those. Finally got out of there around 9pm and drove back to MTRI...didn't have anywhere to sleep anyway, since none of the rooms were ready to be moved into yet.

OK, that was more than a blurb. Sorry. Anyway, onwards. After I got back, I went out the next day and went back to some of the sites that Duncan showed me where he tracked some of the hatchlings from the past. I worked out some of the habitat measurements I want to do, and checked on some of the nests at Keji to see if there were emergence. Went back to Halifax for the weekend, since I didn't really need to be in the field yet and everyone else was gone (Robby had left the day before, Josie wasn't around, and Peter was going home for the weekend!). So I drove back after doing some fieldwork with Peter, had supper, played pool with Matt and Robby (walking dowtown to Barrington is now 15 min shorter!!), then cabbed it home and slept on my futon in the living room (since Sana was in town..she's subletting my room while I'm in the field). Next day, dimsum with Laura and Sana and playing tourist! We walked around the waterfront, then all the way up to Point Pleasant Park since Laura had never been. Then, on impulse, Laura and I got on one of those whale watching tours..Peggys' Cove Express, I think. No whales, though...not surprising since it was just around the Harbour, but gorgeous sunset (even if it was a bit cold and windy)! It was an awesome day! =)

Drove back to Kempt the next day for another week of fieldwork/computer work...Mostly trying to work out how to do my habitat measurements and other organizational stuff. Went back to Halifax again on the weekend and spent some time with my roommates...we went to the Harvest Festival and the North End festivals on Sunday...lots of food and music/entertainment! Had Thai noodles and crepes at the Harvest Festival, and Jerk chicken at the North End festival. =)

Back again to MTRI the following day for more fieldwork/etc. This time, we got the transmitters (yay!) and the directional antenna (kinda looks like a ping pong paddle) so Peter and I tried them out in the field. More time spent trying to make up data cards and organize transmitters...had to glue the velcro on them! Heee... Anyway, emergence officially began on 15 Sep, and I was sooo not prepared for it. Blaine (from the Park) came by and said he saw a hatchling at one of the nests on Woods Road while was there, so I had to scramble and glue velcro on a couple of radios and got the emergence kit ready...had to call Jeffie to double check on measurements and other procedures, since I had never done it before! Finally I got out there and found only one hatchling...it was 7.8g so I didn't put a radio on (I was originally thinking 8-10g hatchlings). Next day, 8 hatchlings emerged from one of the J-line nests in the park, and got radios on 2 of those. And off we went. Had a meeting on Sunday (17 Sep) at the park with Norm, Sue, Duncan, Blaine and Peter...basically my field crew for the fall...to work out schedules/procedures/protocols. This time I was finally ready and organized, after spending Friday night finalizing the details. One more hatchling from J-line was radioed that day, and we tracked the first 2 hatchlings from the day before.

And so that brings us to my field season. At the meeting, we had decided that I would do all the habitat characterization, while Norm and Sue will check nests and track at the Heber beaches and the J-line/Borrow Pit, Blaine/Sarah/Duncan will check nests/track across Kejimkujik Lake at Atkins Beach and Glode Island and also at Eel Weir, and Peter will check nests/track at McGowan. I was to alternate among the three sections to do habitat characterization, especially when things got busy. With our goal of 10 turtles from each of the three areas, every 3 days, that makes 30 locations I would have to characterize everyday! I was expecting to be insanely busy once we got all our hatchlings.

But, unfortunately, that never happened. We had a few more emergence within the first few weeks...some setbacks as well as we work out our system. We lost a few turtles due to Velcro/Glue issues, and the transmitters fell off. =( Then, a lot of days with no emergence, or with very small turtles (5-6g turtles). A whole lot of nothing at McGowan. As September turned to October, we had to revise our game plan and basically scrap out my carefully thought out sampling scheme and just radio every hatchling that was big enough to handle it. We also had to change the minimum hatchling size to about 7g instead of 7.5g. Still mostly nothing, since we were also losing turtles from predation and other technical issues, until we started excavating nests. It's standard procedure to dig up the lakeshore nests before they get flooded in the fall, but inland nests are normally left alone to monitor overwintering in the nest. This year, though, in order to get hatchlings, we decided to excavate some of the inland nests as well, especially at McGowan where we've had 2 hatchlings emerge so far. So Keji nests were excavated on 21-22 October, while some McGowan nests were excavated between 21-27 Oct. We also decided to put radios on Pleasant River hatchlings if any more emerged. So, after all that, and after losing some more to transmitter malfunctions, I now have 12 hatchlings: 5 in Keji, 5 at McGowan, and 2 at Pleasant River. So far, so good...it's been a bit difficult keeping up with the habitat characterization (imagine if I had to do 30 a day!) but that's mostly because the turtles sometimes spend >1 day at the same location (or very near) and I don't like to do the habitat characterization where the turtle is, so I minimize the disturbance. It's now almost mid-November, and some of the hatchlings are still active. Only 2 seems to have settled down in one place, others are moving around and still active..coming out to bask on warm days and burrowing down on the cold days. Right now we're in a bit of a warm spell, with 12-15°C days, so were seeing some movements. We've also had cold days/evenings...sometimes the ponds freeze over. With fewer hatchlings, we have lots of extra radios, so we can keep replacing them until we run out. We can track for longer, which is the good thing. I guess we'll find out exactly when they'll finally settle down (and where)...depends on the temperature/weather, I guess. So far, no definite end date yet, which makes planning for a trip home in December a bit tricky.

During all that, I've also managed to squeeze in a couple of trips to Halifax for fun, and a conference presentation...my first one ever! It was the Atlantic Canadian Species at Risk Conference in Lunenburg...2 days of presentations/talks on species at risk in Nova Scotia, critical habiat, and stewardship initiatives. Very very relevant to my chosen thesis topic, and met lots of interesting and friendly people who I'll probably encounter again in the future. My presentation...well, it could've gone better, I think...I stumbled over my words at the beginning (13 years here and English still trips me up!) and was speaking too fast, but I soon got it together and the rest of it went relatively smoothly. I think. Well, at least a number of people told me they liked it and thought it was good...although many of them probably knew I was a student and it was my first time...trying to reassure me, etc. But I was glad it was over early and could focus on the rest of the presentations there.

After that, I got to working on writing up summaries from the summer and the fall for the Blanding's Turtle Recovery Team Meeting. Also had to prepare presentations for both Wetland Characterization and the Hatchling Tracking project. So, that was another busy week..the meeting was all day on 03 Nov, but it was all very interesting, esp. the discussion among team members about some of the current issues. Looks like they might make my project a priority again next year...so more funding for me, I think. Yay! It'll be good if I have to do another field season for my thesis, since it didn't turn out quite the way I was hoping, in terms of sample size. I think I might try to be finished by Aug 2007, if my committee lets me, and just go back for another field season and write up a paper for publication afterwards. So, either way, another year for me here in Nova Scotia, most likely. It's growing on me, though. =)

So, right now, I'm doing data entry and working on a grad seminar presentation for 01 Dec, in between the fieldwork. Also trying to work out how to sample habitat availability. =P Lots of work, but nothing too exciting. Which probably also means I won't be updating much until the holiday or afterwards. No, not just because I'm being lazy, although that is certainly a part of it! ;)

Anyway, there it is, the super looong update. Sorry about the delay, folks, but better late than never, right? Oh, pls, excuse the spelling/grammatical errors...yes, I'm usually anal about stuff like that, but I'm trying to type fast and there is too much to proof read. So, you're just going to have to deal with it! Heee.

Oh, and Emz...Happy Baby Shower! Sorry we can't be there...and I meant to send you something, but it's not done yet. So, you'll get it around Christmastime...hopefully before your due date! But it works for after too, so either way! =D

end of summer

August is flying by incredibly fast! Or maybe it just feels that way because it's getting closer and closer to when I have to actually start my research! It's a bit nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time...I'm looking forward to starting, but I'm also nowhere near ready enough to do that! I don't know if I'll ever feel prepared for it. Especially after I met with Tom (my supervisor) and Stephen (Parks Canada Species at Risk scientist) on the 7th and they came up with a bunch of suggestions on what I need to measure and how. I'm supposed to be doing lit review on methods and narrowing down a protocol before I start!

Of course, it also helped that I went back to Halifax for a week to pack, run errands and take some time off. Josianne, Jose and Tara drove me to Halifax on the 12th and stayed overnight so we can all go shopping and clubbing...that was fun! Then for the rest of the week, I cleaned the house, did some library research stuff, talked to a stats guy about my study design, watched tv, watched more tv, packed and cleaned again. Sounds fun, right? =P Anyway, Josianne, Jose, Robby and Stan came by the following weekend to pick me up...we went to see a movie (Bon Cop, Bad Cop...good movie, but probably would've been better if I understood French like most of the people I was with), then went to Devin's place for some vodka and sake and (hehe) lightsaber fights? Basically, Devin's got these two lightsabers, one blue and one red of course, and everyone, except for Laura and I, tried them out. Later went to Rogue's Roost for a couple of more drinks and then on to pizza corner for the 3am munchies. The next day we went and watched the Canadian Ultimate Championships in Halifax before driving back to MTRI.

The last week of field work was a bit less productive than I was hoping for. Well, actually, it was just one day...the very last day. We were hoping to do at least 4, maybe 5 sites just to finish up a couple of areas that we were supposed to do. But, the very first one we went to, in Keji, took us about 4-5hours to get to! It basically involved a lot of dragging the canoe through bogs and swamps. And the actual site took us only 30min to characterize! I have no clue why they didn't do it the year before, when they characterized the bog that was around the pond. Anyway, it was basically an all-day job, we got back to the car around 6pm, tired, thirsty (guess who didn't bring enough water?), and with soo many cuts on our hands from all the sedge and grass. It was disappointing, to say the least. The following day, we took all our water samples to Acadia to do all the tests, then we went to Oaklawn Farm Zoo so I can check out the incubated hatchlings that just hatched recently and put my velcro on them! Mike (who's doing the headstarting project) is supposed to let me know when and if they fall out. I'm hoping my transmitters will come soon, so I can test the velcro with the transmitters as well.

Thursday night, we finally did the century club, which we've been talking about doing since nesting season. For those who don't know, you drink a shot of beer every minute for 100min...hence, the name century. Well, since we all know I don't like beer, I substituted some coolers with equivalent alcohol content and, well, let's just say I'm off coolers for a while. I got to 51 shots, which is 4 Bacardi's in under 1hour. Yes, I was drunk, but no, I wasn't sick and was actually sober enough to drive home 4 hours later. And, no hangover, thank goodness, since we had to finish all our data entry the following day -- our last day! That was a long and boring day, but we eventually managed to get it done. The evening was pretty quiet, though, since both Josianne and I were trying to wrap up everything to do with wetland characterization, and I think Jose was doing the same thing with his stuff. So, Josianne's and Jose's last evening at MTRI wasn't much of a send off...but they did party the night before, so I suppose it's ok. They left early this morning around 8am...so I got up early to say goodbye and then started packing up my stuff and cleaning up the shack a bit. Oh, and I made about $16 from everyone's empty beer bottles (and other refundables) they left at the shack! =D I got to MTRI around 11am and spent the rest of the day rearranging furniture, unpacking, and cleaning. It was a full day, but a bit boring, since I was the only one around...everyone else is either done for the summer, in the field, in Halifax, or driving back to Quebec. I guess it's a sign of things to come in the fall...I'll probably go stir crazy! But, I'll have my project to focus on, and hopefully some friends will visit in the fall!

Up Next: moving adventures (Aug 30-31) and hatchling emergence!

Summer field pics

Walking/dragging the canoe downriver along Joe Tom Brook.

Sunset near Grafton Lake, at Keji. I think this was taken back when we were still doing nest monitoring.

Painted turtle, on Still Brook.

Paddling along Horse Brook, by myself!

heheh...playing with the digital camera. This was at Joe Tom Brook, near Joe Tom Lake and Saw Dust Lake.

Crazy "camping" trip

So, we planned this "camping trip" at the last minute, because we were supposed to help Daniel (above) set traps on Still Brook, which is in between Big Dam Lake (above) and Frozen Ocean Lake. Josianne and I have a couple of areas to characterize on Frozen Ocean, so we thought we'd go help Daniel on Tuesday, do some work, stay overnight at Frozen Ocean, either camping or staying at a warden's cabin (which is what we ended up doing), then finish the sites the next day and paddle out. Well, we left MTRI at 10am, had to get a key to the warden's cabin on Frozen Ocean, then get the canoe and load the traps..plus there's a portage from the Big Dam parking lot to the lake, so we didn't end up getting to the lake until noon. Big Dam Lake took only less than 1/2 hour to paddle, but the portage to Still Brook probably took us a good hour or so since we had to make multiple trips to get all the gear. And Still Brook is a crazy long brook....takes about 1hour to paddle the length, I think. We ended up characterizing 2 wetlands on Still Brook, leaving Daniel to set his traps. It was probably past 6pm by the time we finished at Still Brook, then we canoed across a very windy/wavy Frozen Ocean lake. We saw a wetland along the way, so we though, what the heck, let's do that one now. So, we didn't get to the cabin until about 8 or 9pm. It's a very nice cabin, though...much better than the shack! I'd stay there if it wasn't such a long paddle to get there! And no portage! ;)

On Big Dam Lake, on the way in. That's me paddling! =)

So, the following day, we started out early-ish...about 9am...paddled up Stewart Brook, which is on Frozen Ocean. We got to the end of where they trapped for turtles at 11am! We ended up with 5 wetlands along Stewart Brook, and didn't finish until about 5 or 6pm, I think. And we still had Inness Brook to do! Good thing that one was shorter, only 2 wetlands. Oh, and plus, we ran out of vials for water samples, so we could only do 2 wetlands. So it worked out perfectly! ;) We finished close to 8pm, and we had to make a decision. We decided to brave the 4hour trip back (paddle, portage, paddle, portage, paddle, portage). This pic is taken on Frozen Ocean, on our way out, probably around 8:30pm. Anyway, we successfully managed the trip back, finishing the long portage to Big Dam at 10pm, just as it got dark. We made it back to the car (CAR!) at about 11:30pm!

Josianne on Frozen Ocean Lake at sunset. I like this picture!

Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct (30 Jul 2006)

Beach at the Adjunct. We went to do some ribbonsnake surveys, but stayed at the beach to play afterwards. The water was too cold, though! Which was too bad, since it was a nice day.

hehe...that's me walking my "turtle rocks". I'm testing to see if I can use Velcro to attach radio transmitters to hatchling turtles, so for now I'm testing the Velcro on a couple of pieces of hatchling- and transmitter-sized rocks to see if it will hold. Yes, it's pretty weird, but if it works, it's less stress for the hatchlings when i have to replace the transmitters every few weeks.

of turtles, snakes and black flies

hello, all! today is my 6th day out in the field, and for those of you who want to know, "the field" for me is in Southwest Nova Scotia, near Kejimkujik National Park. i'm currently staying at a (very, very) small house (=shack) in West Caledonia, but we spend most of our time at the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI), which is the field station in Kempt. the field season is starting off a bit slow, most people are out looking for ribbonsnakes, while my field partner, Josianne, and I are out looking for Blanding's turtles at the Park and putting up posters about Blanding's turtles in the towns around the area. i'm technically supposed to be doing wetland habitat characterization, but we probably won't start that until june (right at the same time as turtle nesting season, which means we'll be super busy!). the weather has been variable, some days cloudy and rainy and other days sunny. what is generally consistent is the presence of black flies constantly buzzing about! i must have about a dozen bug bites just from yesterday alone...yes, even with my bug jacket on!

before arriving here, i mostly spent the early part of May relaxing. i finished my proposal (yay!) on April 28, just in time for my committee meeting on May 3. it went well, and they approved my proposal on the spot! they agreed that this summer i should focus on learning my field methods and getting to know my field sites, so i don't make too many mistakes when i start my field season in the fall. since i'll only have this one field season, i need to get it right!

the week before i finished my proposal, my friends from calgary (jocelyn & richeille) came to halifax for a visit! they stayed for about 4 days and 5 nights, and we mostly just hung out, watched movies and drank wine. well, of course we went sightseeing as well, but mostly ended up just walking around town. my parents also visited around the 3rd week of may. they stayed for 4 days and 5 nights as well, and we drove around halifax, then around the southern shore -- we drove from halifax across the province to Digby, then around to Yarmouth and stayed overnight in Shelburne, then drove the lighthouse route back to halifax, stopping at lunenburg and peggy's cove and a bunch of other places along the way.

which brings me to here, life in the field. it's a bit complicated, since the shack has no running water...we have to shower at MTRI (against the rules, but don't tell anyone), and cooking is oh so very difficult, not to mention washing dishes and cleaning up. i haven't even thought about laundry yet...not sure what we're doing about that. plus, there's 6 people living there right now, and it's only about the size of a single car garage! =( there's 5 of us in the attic (which is super hot during the day) and 1 in a tiny bedroom downstairs. which basically means that we spend as little time at the shack as possible...going there really just to sleep or pick up our things. i'm hoping that they'll move us to MTRI soon, once there's space available!

so, i guess that's mostly it right now. i'll hopefully post up some field pictures periodically, once i have downloaded them from the field camera. take care, everyone, and hope to hear from you at some point!