Birds and trees, birds and trees

Hello everyone,

The wireless internet has been down for the a day, and I just didnt know what to do with myself. But now, I can comfortably sit in my bed and post rather than walking all the way down to one of the labs and actually having to plug this laptop in. Exhausting.

So, today I went out with the botanist who is spending her sebaticle at the station. Because Im going to be doing vegetation surveys on the hummingbird nests, she wants me to know all the local trees and shrubs. So, Im all up on the sycamores, pines, lunipers, oaks and cherry trees. Oh, and I discovered that here, posion ivy grows up trees. Does it do that in Ontario? Anyway, it was nice to learn something so different from what I know and any excuse to tromp around outside is nice.

And guess what? I have more pictures of birds for you all. This is a breeding pair of Scotts Orioles that are building a nest on the wall of one of the houses here. They are a little skittish but if you sit tight you can get some great photos. Here is a photo of the male, grabbing bark off a sycamore for his nest

And a female with a bit of cotton (from a cottonwood) to add to the nest