Thursday, June 26, 2014

Houston, we have lift off... maybe

I know, I know. They aren't fossils and I keep doing this. But come on, they are pretty adorable.

 Our little say's phoebe friends are starting to get big and restless. These birds tend to take care of their young for about two weeks. Well, I was the first to spot them about a week ago, and we aren't really sure exactly when they hatched, so the time may be coming soon for them to fly off. Especially considering they were flapping their wings today and the largest one was really trying to take off.

 They've been great so far because they keep the bugs under control. These are some of the only predatory song birds that we know of; song birds have the wrong kind of bill to kill bugs, and so if you watch these guys will have to knock insects out once they've caught them using the sidewalk or wood or another hard surface. They're pretty agile in flight, so they're great at catching them though. 

 There is the potential for them to lay another clutch of eggs this summer, though generally they start in May. A second clutch would come pretty late. Still, we're holding out hopes that our little friends will stick around for a little while longer. And that someone with a camera will be there to see them finally take flight.

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My Story (Very briefly...)

Lots of people claim that they wanted to be paleontologists at the age of 3. So did I. The problem is, I never really grew out of it. My third birthday party had dinosaurs. Everywhere. I grew up digging in fossil dirt from Aurora, NC, looking for coral and shark teeth. I practically lived at my local science museums (and still do, only now I get to do research, fossil preparation, and work in collections!) When local paleontologists discovered a dinosaur with a "fossilized heart" (no longer considered such) when I was little, I got to meet the man who led the work. And then, years later a dinosaur bone with soft tissue turned up. I was officially hooked.
No longer was I dreaming about dinosaurs. I was actively pursuing the science behind prehistoric creatures. I didn't want to read about it, I wanted in on the action. So I started working at the museum, and finally going on my own adventures. And thus, I needed a place to share them and maybe inspire others the way I was inspired. I have gone from watching fossils be prepared from one side of the glass at the museum to working on them on the inside of the glass. I am a student working toward my goal. I can finally start to call myself a paleontologist.