Try to hunt down some “Tanglefoot” (=sticky substance used as an insect barrier). Supposedly the lab had a ton of it, but find out it’s all gone. Hit up researcher coming in a few weeks if she has any space; perhaps the folks could ship some out, too.

Watch a Spotted morning thrush outside of office window. Another lab had some rat babies hanging out in the corner behind the door; the mom came by this morning to relocate (i.e. carry each one individually in her mouth) outside.

Try to come up with a prototype to make some mesh bags to keep ants off the nectaries. Brought a bunch of mosquito netting and a needle and nylon thread. Time to refresh (er…, learn) some sewing skills.Also spy a Chin-spot Batis and a Lesser Honeyguide outside the lab.

News of dead giraffe nearby the station. During the late afternoon some folks had seen it stumbling, by early evening it was down for good. We check it out and at first I’m struck at the quiet sad beauty of seeing some so magnificent, lifeless.

But then the childlike, curious scientists decide see how long its tongue is and try to lift its (surprisingly heavy) head. Check it out periodically thru the late afternoon and night, but it’s still in tact.

First day in the field. Trying to figure out what I need to figure out. I'd like to collect some extrafloral nectar (i.e. nectar produced at the base of the leaves, not by a flower). They appear ‘active’ (=green or red, not brown or withered) but I can’t seem to collect any. Either the trees are too dry to produce any, or the ants are continuously collecting it, leaving nothing for the aspiring researcher. On a lot of trees ants seem to hanging out the nectaries, which is a good sign. Hopefully I can find a way to keep the ants off them…

After lunch read up on some articles, chat wtih Alison about project design, protocol. Get my first pangs of isolation here at the station.

As reading up on biological nitrogen fixation, see African fire finch hopping around ground outside of office. And hear crazy loud buzzing. Finally realize it’s a wasp with an oversized load trying to fly.

Have a meeting with a few researchers to share project findings, current ideas.

As soon as think about going for run hear elephants trumpeting. So Alison and I run some laps on the busy half of ring road with lots of foot and vehicular traffic: less chance of ele presence and high chance of ele detection. Also do some ‘dynamic resistance’ strength exercises. Feels so good to move my body!

Head out for a night game drive – a bunch of folks are interested so we all (=9) load up in a huge land rover with two roof hatches and lots of space. Right away we get the two best views of the night: a few hippos out of the water and a big ole Eagle-owl perching on a branch. Also spy a giraffe right along side of road and get a few glimpses of an aardwolf, genet, and zorilla. Right as we see a spotted hyena lying in the grass and gazelles frantically running around, the spotlight goes out: the plug that goes into the cigarette lighter outlet is totally melted. So *that* was the hot plastic we were smelling before…

Work on blog a bit, organize pix. Spend a bit of the afternoon at the river. As leaving, see a hippo upstream from us. As traveling back to station get waylaid by a few elephant herds. Can see that they kick up the grass to eat it.

Sunday night skype call with folks. Try to figure out saying on back of dad’s ‘Tusker’ beer shirt (thanks for pointing out the letters, mom)

Later find out that "Tusker baada ya kazi" means “Tusker after work.” But because ‘baada’ sounds very much like ‘badala’ many times the phrase "Tusker badala ya kazi" is substituted, which means “Tusker instead of work”

As walk to dinner, pitch black but hear crunching and munching of elephants. One of the security guards (=askari) sees my flashlight and I get an escort. Eles probably ~60 feet away lazily eating dinner. I have a crazy elephant dream: set in the Midwest, a handful of folks are watching two elephant herds out on the plains. And these elephants are HUGE, something like three times their normal ridiculous height. We watch as the especially ridiculously huge bull attacks another resulting in some bloody tusk wounds. We then see that the herd is about to charge us. Though they’re a ways away, we all fly down the stairs. We take cover in a bunker like room in the basement as though we are taking cover from a tornado. So I guess my brain overlaps tornadoes and elephants as ‘big nasty powerful force of nature.’ Geez, guess I really was raised a Midwesterner.

Sleep in and miss breakfast (usually stop serving around 815a) so enjoy a powerbar, peanuts, and hot chocolate for breakfast. Order some more supplies and start catching up on blog. Grab some digital movies and music from Tyler. Take an afternoon birding trip with Alison and see so many new species!

Black-winged stilt

Black-headed heron

Three-banded plover

Blacksmith plover

Common waxbill

Eastern pale chanting goshawk

Laughing dove

Some unidentifiable thrush

Speke’s weaver or Vitelline masked weaver

Black-necked weaver

Red-headed weaver (female)

Gray-capped social weaver

Yellow-breasted apalis

Brimstone canary

Hoopoe

Snap a picture at dusk. Happen to catch Dad on skype before he heads off to work :)

Do some supply shopping online and arrange for another researcher to bring them when she comes in a few weeks. Learn about a master’s thesis that was done at Mpala on nitrogen fixation (some plants form nodules on their roots in which bacteria live; the bacteria are about to ‘fix’ nitrogen, i.e. convert it from its atmospheric form, N₂, to a form that usable to the plants, NH₃). Hunt it down in the library and start reading up.

Outside of office spy an African paradise flycatcher and snap a picture of a pair of Lesser striped swallows.

Very sleepy, try to nap, but a shower and some stretching wake me up a bit. When return to banda see that squirrels will work to eat tangerine flavored lip balm. Drive with couple to eat some South Indian food at researcher’s house who lives off of Mpala. En route, get the closest I’ve ever gotten to a Buffalo, see some jackals, and first time I see a stripped hyena in daylight, got a great view (for a few seconds) as it loped off into the bush. Amazing Indian food, and get to see some pictures of the wedding in India. As we drive through the gate back into Mpala, guard warns us that eles are everywhere. Get dropped off right at banda door. Can hear eles ripping down trees ~ 40 feet away. Impalas are also hanging with them tonight, so when shine flashlight see 30 sets of eyes staring back.

Get MS submitted, takes long time to upload document to site, but as of lunch time it’s officially submitted!

Start to sketch out experimental design for the summer. Finally find great article on how to stain for mycorrhizal fungus, search for supplies and try to figure out way to get them here.

Enjoy some sundowners on veranda with couple who arrived a few weeks ago. He’ll be here until August studying the effect of parasites on territoriality and mating behavior of gazelles and she’s visiting for a month, soon to go back to the States to start a residency in emergency medicine. Nice to chat with them and have some laughs.