early bird

Yesterday morning I woke up early so that Lisa and I could study before we tried to catch Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese from The Great Food Truck Race. I'm amazed by how much goes on in the morning. My eclectic neighbors (who I'll write a post about soon, because I have a lot of weird neighbors) were out doing their thing, and there were dozens of birds in full activity mode. Things I saw included:



Two starlings engage in a territorial squabble.



A group of pigeons eating bread from an old man's hands.



A house sparrow claiming his branch on his tree in an extremely manly way. By singing.



A lone robin hunting for worms in the dew-soaked grass.

Birds are so amazing. Even though there's been a ridiculous amount of stress, depression, and tension in my life lately, I really am excited to go to Arizona. Even though I'll be doing a lot of work on this project, it will also be intermixed with play. We'll bird, hike, take gelato breaks, watch the sunset from the porch of the research station, sit by the river (and feel complete, if you want to go there), make campfires, bird some more, and make fun of the crazy birders who become enraged when you pretend like you've seen an Elegant Trogan before they have.