Biologist for a week

Ok, so I was not actually the biologist for the week, but you can imagine what it would be like if I was. I did get to work with the refuge's biologist as a tech though. What fun I had doing this. Imagine walking through a cattail marsh in chest deep waters wearing your nice work clothes and hip boots. Now picture a mature bald eagle with its brilliant white head and razor sharp talons circling over head while you are navigating your way diligently through the thick cattails trying not to step in that black hole. You watch and you follow the eagle as it circles directly under the sun. You cuss, but when you finally get your vision back, you witness this eagle swoop down so gracefully and silent as to not scare his prey. He reaches in and grabs an unsuspecting fish from the waters and carries it off to the trees where he enjoys a hardy breakfast overlooking the cattail marsh. This is just something I get to enjoy while out at work in the marshes of Montezuma.

But it wasn't just about sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying the view. I was out there getting my hands dirty, sweating out the water I just drank, and getting slapped in the face by cattails ready for pollination. I was losing weight, but gaining it back once the waters came over the hip boots. But I knew it was for a good cause. I was protecting and conserving habitat for the wildlife that we all value in one form or another. The entire week was focused on the removal of invasive plant species that cause harm to our native plants. I also got to help out with a black tern survey that was both productive and not productive all at the same time.

Day 1: Removal of Canada thistle
It was rainy and miserable the entire day. I wore my wet suit, but I still felt water dripping down my back. We got the weed whackers ready with the saw blades attached and loaded up the DR mower onto the trailer. We drove out to the site where we had seen most of the thistle and began to cut. It was still raining. We tried the mower, but it kept bogging down because it was clumping up underneath. It was useless. The rest of the day was weed whacking our way to victory. We finally got to our last sight and there sitting in the marsh is a juvenile bald eagle waiting for his prey. What a beautiful creature he is. He spots us and flies off to another area. We continue to on our trek. Again, still raining. 4 o’clock rolls around and we decide to call it for the day. As we shut the doors to the truck and begin our ride back to the office, the sun pokes through the clouds to say hi and the clouds begin their travels to another place. Go figure, huh??

Day 2: Removal of Frogbit
Nice beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I have to weed the marsh. Some took the canoes; I chose to take the hip boots. This is where we had to navigate through the cattails and I just happened to hit that one hole that sunk me down to my britches. We had to hand pull this frogbit that was spreading everywhere, shading out the undergrowth. It brought me back to the days when my parents had us weed the asparagus garden in the hot sun and the plant tickling the back of my neck every time. But here it seemed like every time I bent over to pull a weed I would catch a cattail stalk to the eye. It was all fun though.

Day 3: Black Tern Survey

I got my kayak ready for some hard work. Ok, this day was the day of relaxing. We were going out in the waters to locate black terns and their nests. In the briefing we received before hand we were told that if we are near a nest we will get mobbed by black terns. We were to record the number of terns and move on. I said heck with that and told them I was leaving. So I launched my kayak to go count terns in the main pool of Montezuma. Those cattails are like an endless maze that....has no end. I paddled through areas that are not visible from the main land. I scared up ducks that scared me. I hit unsuspecting European carp with the front of my kayak and with the paddle. It was so awesome out there. Like I said earlier, it was productive and not because we did not find any sign of black terns out there. However, I did get to experience a heck of a lot while paddling that marsh.

Day 4: Removal of Swallow Wort

I am all suited up and ready to go. I have my non breathable tyvek suit on, black rubber gloves and a 50lb pack of toxic chemicals on my back. It is about 86 degrees without a cloud in the sky. Good news: there is shade. Bad news: it’s nowhere near me. But I am on a mission to kill this nasty weed. I spray until I am empty and then refill. I spray again. I walked through thick weeds with the cleavers sticking to my suit. I tripped over so many logs it wasn't funny (at least not to me). I refilled 6 times before calling it a day. Afterwards, however, I felt so accomplished knowing the good I was doing. Well, that is if I got the chemical mixture right.

Day 5:
Back to the visitor center.

I feel like I wrote too much on this post already so I am going to end this shortly. So with that being said, in conclusion, I had an amazing week out in the field and I learned so much. I would not trade these experiences for anything in the world. I hope that I get the opportunity to get back out there and help the biologist out for another week or so. I hope you all enjoyed my babbling. Have a great day.

PS. If you are in the area and you read this tonight, you should head out to Montezuma winery for their "Wildflowers and Wine" event. I will be working a booth out there.


Species list: Moorhen, Canada goose, GBH, ruby-throated hummingbird, blue bird, tree swallow, purple martan, pied-billed grebe, black tern, great egret, marsh wren, osprey, juvenile bald eagle, gray cat bird, eastern peewee, killdeer, trumpeter swan, coot, wood duck