Today was my last nest check of the summer.
I can't believe it either! This summer went by so quickly, and when I think about how many things we accomplished and saw and experienced and learned I am just amazed.
I could not have asked for a better "last nest check" either. The weather was perfect. The sun was out, but every once in a while a breeze would fly by reminding you that you are on the coast and the ocean is a hop away.
As I walked across Larus Ledge for the last time (at least for a while), took a few moments to stop, look around, and try to read bands of any of the fledged hatch-year GBBG chicks that are loafing around on the rockweed. My Binoculars spotted a chick with a blue poultry band: Eleanora! I couldn't believe it. I never thought I'd be able to spot her on her adventures, but there she was! She was standing next to a banded chick who, after some cross referencing, I discovered to be her brother, Edwin. They were playing together with a shell. I got to see their parent fly over with food for them, and I got to watch them fight over the morsel the parent brought back.
I'm really going to miss sharing those almost-human moments with these birds, and all those times when the gulls really take your breath away.
...Or make you crazy. I will, believe it or not, miss those days when the parents won't give you a break, when the chicks test your observation skills, when you find the remains of a black-billed cuckoo around one of your bird's nests.
I will miss the flash floods, crazy weather changes, and super thick, appledore fog.
I will and already do miss the amazing people I have met out here.
But the truth is, I am not sad to leave. I am excited to go back home and go back to Cornell and do whatever is in store for this year and beyond! I am excited to leave and come back one day and see how everything has changed or is exactly the same.
Thanks, Shoals for everything.
