10,000 Birds

APRIL 3, 2012

Granted, it’s not always on a scale we can readily appreciate, and we humans are much more attuned to the differences in each other because that’s how we recognize friends, family, and celebrities on the street, but when a bird is even slightly different from the norm, it’s generally the more expected species than the unexpected.

New Jersey 233

New Jersey North Carolina Sparrows Connecticut 233

10,000 Birds

MARCH 31, 2014

Erika is a first year graduate student studying Ecosystem Science and Conservation at Duke. There were ten students in total that had signed up for the spring break “Seabirds” course in Dry Tortugas National Park, and after long drives down from North Carolina we had all made it right on time. Lots and lots of birds.

Birds 184

Birds Florida Groups Breeding 184

10,000 Birds

JULY 3, 2012

What I didn’t know was how this relationship actually works: the mechanics of Red Knot migration, the reduced digestive systems necessary for their long flighta, the need to fatten up quickly so they can fly to the Arctic and breed, how they compete with other shorebirds and gulls and, it turns out, humans, for horseshoe crab eggs.

Delaware 183

Delaware New Jersey Research Eggs 183