Planet Zacchaeus

Summer vacation is here.

It's been here for a little while now, I'm only just now getting around to writing about it. The school I work at gives us two weeks of vacation in the summer, and another two weeks in the winter.

I'll sprinkle some photos here which may or may not be post related.


Summer here... is short. The kids from our school get two weeks off as well. That's their entire summer break. Most of them will be going to camps, reading books and studying, trying to get ready for the next semester. That compares a bit dramatically to the summer vacations I got when I was in high school. We had two and a half months of vacation.. vacation where we generally slept, went snorkeling, read books for fun, and generally spent our days in a state of ease. Generally. We also had chores and stuff. Sleep was the primary activity, though.

So what is summer like here? The cicadas are in full force. I love it. The heat is also pretty stifling.. it isn't so much the heat as the combined heat and humidity. We've been at around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and close to 70% humidity. The air doesn't move much either, so any time a breeze does blow it feels like a intentional blessing. I'm trying to help my body acclimate to the heat and humidity, so last night was the first night sleeping without the air conditioner on. It.. wasn't so great. I think I'm rambling.


Koreans have some interesting ideas about cooling. Many of you have probably heard about "fan death"... death caused by sleeping with a fan on in an enclosed space. There are different ideas as to why it happens. One idea is that fan blades chop up the air.. and the chopped air isn't healthy to be exposed to over a long period of time. Another idea is that it makes ozone or something like that.. maybe the motor? So most fans here shut off after a certain amount of time. The air conditioners cycle on and off, so I guess I'm safe.


My plans for the summer break so far have been going without a hitch. They are 1) meet with people now and then when they're available and 2) relax. I've had a good time hanging out with church folk on Sundays, and on Monday I got to meet up with some people from the ship who I haven't seen in over five years! Sweet reunion, so great to just reconnect and have deep conversations.

Well, I wanted to keep up with our weekend ramblings around the western U.S., but I'm failing pretty miserably. We just got back from a week in Arizona, and have lots of pictures and memories to put up on this blog. In the meantime, though, I'd like to work on catching up with our previous trips.

Over the fourth of July weekend, Libby and I took the long weekend as an opportunity to head up to the Sierras. We never miss an opportunity to do this, of course, and Grandma and Grandpa had invited us to help with some of the chores involved in opening the cabin.

We left Friday night and camped just outside Big Pine. I was hoping Western Screech-Owls might be in the campground, but we didn't hear any owls at all that night. We left pretty early in the morning to do some birding on our way up to the cabin. We meant to drop by Crowley Lake, but the normal road we take down to the east shore of the lake was closed. So, we took the Benton Crossing road, instead, and had a pleasant walk along the river in the direction of the delta. Sage Thrashers, Horned Larks, and Vesper Sparrows scurried away from us in the sage and grasslands.

Korean currency is weird. Or maybe it is their counting. The Korean currency is called Won and is differenciated from other Won around Asia by saying, Korean Won. KRW as the abbreviation goes. USD is U.S. Dollar.

The coin values are pretty much 100W, and 500W. There are smaller values, but those are pretty irrelevant (generally). The lowest bill is 1000W. Then there's 5thou, 10thou and 50thou. 50,000W bills are pretty uncommon on the streets. Mostly a person deals with 10's, 5's and 1's (and of course those common coins: 100 and 500).

To give a bit of perspective for value: 1,000W at the moment is worth about $0.84. Two thousand Won makes about $1.60. I talked a bit ago about how my local coffee shop sells a cafe latte for about 2,700W which is roughly: $2.30.

But enough about numbers. Well... almost enough. Last week I went to buy something from a local shop and they didn't take card (debit card) so I had to go to the bank and withdraw some money. Sounds normal enough, and the bank is actually really close by. What makes this a story is the word "Man" which is pronounced much more like "Mon." Koreans count by 10 thousands. "How much does it cost?" "Three man won." This makes three times ten thousand = 30,000W. Even knowing this, it can still be confusing.

At the bank I wanted to withdraw 80 thousand Won. The question presented, "How many do you want to take out?" 80. Whir. Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir, thip thip thip thip thip thip thip thip thip.... 80 MAN WON. Chunk. Wow. I just made the equivalent mistake of taking out eight hundred dollars instead of eighty.

I put a ton of photos up on flickr and facebook. I've limited their view for the moment to friends/family, so if you go there most of you won't see them. I'll try and sort through them soon to enable more to be publicly viewable. The limitation is because many of the photos are of students and I want to respect their online privacy.

I'm curious what you think about that. Should they not go on the internet at all? Am I over thinking this? Names aren't used anyway, so it isn't a threat that way.

Anyway, serious questions aside, we just finished camp a couple days ago and it was a blast! Me and two other teachers managed the outdoor water activities for the two days and they were quite successful. The location was really beautiful and near the ocean. There was a sound or something like that close by and the rain which passed through was warm and refreshing.

I'm on summer break now for the next couple weeks, so I'll try to get myself in order and post some great pictures, stories, and reflections during this time. (c: Thanks for your patience, dear readers!

Summer is really flying by. The last three weekends have given us the opportunity to visit Arizona, Mammoth and the San Gorgonio Wilderness in the local mountains. I really feel driven to experience the summer months while I still can, as in August I'll be working on Saturdays.

So, I feel like I ought to say a little bit about each weekend for posterity. Perhaps I ought to journal somewhere else, too, but this is as convenient a place as any to write about our trips, and it might be that a few other people will be interested in hearing about what we're up to. I imagine it's just a few other people, though!

Libby picked up at work that Friday afternoon and we started driving east immediately. Despite traffic, we made it to Green Valley by 12:30.

The next morning we were up early and began working our way up Madera Canyon. Our first stop was at Proctor Road, where we were surprised to find a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the mesquite bosque. This was probably a late spring migrant. As we hiked up the canyon to the first picnic area, we enjoyed Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Mexican Jays, Bridled Titmice, a Lucy's Warbler and many singing Bell's Vireos. We settled down at the waterfall down below the parking lot to watch birds come in to drink. This netted us fantastic views of House Finches, Blue Grosbeaks and Varied Buntings. The Varied Buntings were especially cooperative, occasionally flying within a few feet of us as they foraged near the ground. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any pictures.


We then drove all the way up the canyon because we were really hoping to see a Trogon. We meandered our way up the trail there, watching numerous Western Wood-Pewees and White-breasted Nuthatches foraging along the way. We also had our first Painted Redstarts of the day, lots of House Wrens, and, finally, an Elegant Trogon. We heard it at the same time we heard our first Sulfur-bellied Flycatchers of the day, and had to make a decision about which to pursue. The flycatchers were being uncharacteristically unobtrusive, but a trogon is the more wonderful bird, so we made the right choice and started following its strange call. Eventually, we both found it sitting in a tree across the canyon from us. It was distant, but we were able to see it well as it punctuated its sedentary habits with lethargic forays for flying insects. Fun!

As the day warmed, we worked our way down the canyon and watched the feeders. Bronzed Cowbirds, Hepatic Tanagers, and Broad-billed Hummingbirds were among the attractions at the feeders. We even found a Hepatic Tanager feeding a scraggly featherless baby near one of the feeder stations. We met some very nice birders from West Virginia who were looking for the Flame-colored Tanager. Unfortunately, it hasn't been visiting the feeders lately, and so we didn't get to see it.

In the afternoon, we set up camp at Bog Springs Campground, and sweated our socks off trying to take an afternoon nap in the 100 degree heat. In the afternoon, we made another tour of the feeders, especially waiting at Madera Kubo to see if the Berylline Hummingbird or Flame-colored Tanager would come in. The Berylline did, as well as a female Blue-throated, eventually, but the Flame-colored Tanager didn't. That's ok. We spent the rest of the daylight waiting for the famous Elf Owl to come out of his hole at the Santa Rita Lodge. Alas, we were disappointed, as he never showed, but we did hear Whip-poor-wills and Whiskered Screech Owls calling in the distance as the dusk gathered thickly around us.

Our neighbors at the campground were birders from Oregon who had seen and heard Whiskered Screech-Owls at their campsite the night before. So, when we got back, they whistled one in for us. It was incredible to see this feisty little bird and his staring yellow eyes glaring at us. They called for a long time that evening, and the campground appeared to be chock full of them. My favorite moment with one came while I was brushing my teeth. I heard a noise behind me, turned around, and found one staring at me from eye level a few feet away. It then proceeded to begin dismantling what it appeared to be a very large insect that it had caught.

We did, also, hear some Elf Owls calling from down the hill during the night. But they were some distance away and we didn't find them. Also, in the very early morning hours, Common Poorwills were very vocal from the surrounding hillsides.

The next morning we were up at dawn to go for a hike to Bog and Kent Springs. Last year we hiked up to Josephine Saddle and into the pine zone, but this year we took this more modest hike into upper riparian forests, mixed oak and pine woodland, and chaparral. Bog Springs was incredibly birdy. By tooting like a Pygmy-Owl, we attracted a huge crowd of angry birds. There were lots of Plumbeous Vireos, Western Tanagers, Hepatic Tanagers, Sulfur-bellied Flycatchers, and Western Wood-Pewees.

At Kent Springs, we found a cooperative Red-faced Warbler, a frighteningly familiar Magnificent Hummingbird that made some close passes at Libby's red hat, and lots more Painted Redstarts.


We arrived back at camp before 11:00 in the morning, packed up, and headed home content with a great weekend. There are some more pictures - of Libby, me, springs, trees, mountains, flowers, butterflies, and birds at our Flickr page.

December 8, 2009
Class Management - Intro to TESOL

Whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus.
-> Nervous about the responsibility?
-> Turn that into reliance.
How many Christians do our students know?
Spend time with Jesus so you can be a good representative.

I've mentioned before how the school provides our lunch and dinners M-Th (and lunch on Friday). The meals are really well balanced, that's part of the art behind Korean food.. green balances red, etc.. So at every meal there are vegetables, kimchi, rice, and then some protein based dish like tofu or actual meat. They also give us a soup of various kinds with almost every meal.

I feel really healthy. My body processes the food really easily, and so far it has been very uncommon to feel intestinal/stomach discomfort. Even something as trivial as gas is rare. A large factor for this is how little sugar or milk I've been consuming. I drink almost no sodas, and rarely have milk (some in coffee I guess). My diet has been 90% what I mentioned above. Bread is uncommon as well, and the kind of bread that is easy to come-by here is pretty scant on the nutritional value.

Coupled with good food is the the additional exercise I've been getting. Lots of walking, some running while playing with the students, as well as occasional arm wrestling and general play. All that's been more activity than I'd been getting the previous few months before getting here. Feels good! On Tuesday night I may start up another activity which would just be the perfect capstone.

Parkour update: there's a very limited to non-existent parkour scene in Seoul. I feel like even if I found a group, they'd pretty much be martial artists, though that's probably an asian bias I carry. Since Tae-Kwon-Do is practically a national sport, and everyone does that in school, as well as mandatory military service that demands martial arts training... I think I'd be outdone by even the most casual freerunner over here. There is something similar to parkour here and it's called Yamakasi. It's more tricky (full of tricks) and showy, but still only a fraction more well-known, which is to say almost nonexistent. That's ok for now. I'll try to do my part. ^^

There are a couple places worth mentioning since I've been here. I haven't written in a while, and there is a lot to write about, but I figure it is best to just dive in to whatever topic comes along.

I live quite close to the school, within a few minutes walk, and within less than a minute is Cafe 1982. The cafe is tiny, but also serves some of the best coffee I've had in Korea. Maybe that just means I haven't had particularly good coffee here... but I think their coffee is better than your average, regardless of location. For you coffee drinkers who're a bit more particular about the specifics, I've only gotten cafe lattes there, so when I say they make good coffee, I mean their espresso con steamed milk ( froth) is pretty good. Compared to most other coffee places, they're also very reasonably priced (2700W ~$2.00).

Comparatively, there is a larger shop called Ivy House, which is closer to the school.. and they make terrible coffee. It is also more expensive (4000W ~$3.20)!

Seoul doesn't suffer from any shortage of coffee shops. They are just about everywhere I've been, and I've been to a lot of areas. The popularity of coffee and meeting with people at coffee shops is really remarkable. I think there can be a lot of assumptions made out of this fact. Like some European cities I've been to, it is much more common to go out with people to a location than to have people to one's house. This makes a lot of sense when you realize that most living areas (usually apartments) aren't very large, so hosting can be a bit awkward.

I'll try to get some pictures of 1982, and maybe interview the owners. One of my coworkers said he had some of their waffles yesterday and can attest that they're incredible. Hmm! Asking for a cafe latte: "Cafe latte hana, ju-saeyo."

The other coffee place worth mentioning is where I bought some beans. There's a place in Hongdae where they roast green beans and sell freshly roasted beans. (I think it's called Make Beanz). Mmm! I bought some Yirgacheffe a week or so ago and it has been a nice alternative to buying lattes at 1982 as I walk to school in the morning. The beans are expensive, but still significantly cheaper than buying the drink. An interesting fact about buying coffee here... they often will charge you 1000W ($0.80) more to get it with ice.

I promised the students that I'd write a sonnet as well, since that is what I assigned them. I'm terrible at sonnets, and I really feel for them since they don't have access to the vocabulary I do. They've done really well, and their rough drafts were already close to perfect. The key for them is many monosyllabic words. I guess the same is the case for me. ^^ Here's my hasty sonnet, I just wrote it in the past half hour.

In my attempts to be a good teacher
I find myself challenged by so many things.
Sometimes I feel like some clumsy creature,
a farce in the making, just jestering.
"What homework goes where, and whose pen is this?"
"How could I still get your name wrong, again?"
"Are these students learning? Feels hit or miss."
These doubts if unchecked may make me insane.
But, and what a blessed word that is now,
The Lord in his wisdom has brought me here.
For, seeking His will, I know as I bow,
He will comfort and to my heart, bring cheer.
As I grow, I will bless Him, knowing this:
He's the teacher, I'm a student of His.

The more serious note: Many of you know about the hightened tensions between North and South Koreas. A conflict of ideologies is involved and there is really too much to write about it, both in the realms of fact and opinion. What brings it to the topic of this morning's note is the city-wide siren that went off just as I was locking my apartment. Being the foreigner I am, I'm a bit out of the loop as to what is a test and what isn't. Many questions flooded through my mind as I stood at my locked door. "Is this it?" "Will I see the flash?" "Is it a nuke or just artillery shells/mortars?" and finally, "How can I know next time that it is only a drill?"

The multiple cups of delicious coffee I'd consumed in the hours prior to the siren certainly didn't help the adrenaline filled moments.

It's time for Church, my purpose for leaving the apartment in the first place. The irony of my anxiety at the siren and my original intent to worship the Freedom Giver is not lost. I expect I will be better prepared to embrace the Peace, having found some worldly fear within me.

Two weeks ago we took one of the classes out to play. There is a nice park close to the school, which is right beside a cemetery dedicated to bygone missionaries to Korea. Also, there is a big church, but that's more information than any of you want to know.

I was sprinting after the other teacher to get him out of our flag territory and, upon decelerating, felt my left thigh burn. Ugh. I'm not sure if it swelled much at the time, but I could limp alright and made it back to the school, and eventually home. You know how some things hurt worse the day after, or even the second day after? I was nervous that this would be the case with my leg. Next morning, it seemed pretty sound! Phew!

A couple days later I taught my first after-school "friends club." Of course I was nervous, but even that can't really account for the negligence involved in slicing between my upper lip and my nose while shaving. Not just one cut but two, since the razor has multiple blades. Sigh. They were very obvious cuts but the students were polite enough to not mention it. I brought it up anyway, since I knew it'd make me feel less self-conscious. It healed quickly and by the weekend it was already gone. (c:

The weekend was the trip to Busan and visiting Erik down there. Everything was great, no problems. It was fantastic catching up with an old roommate and friend, and seeing what his life there is like. There are photos here.

Tuesday (last week) we went out to play again with the kids and though my leg hurt a bit when I took long strides or slipped down some stairs, it still felt.. good enough. I did a bit of running during the game and soon could not even walk. Sigh. My leg felt worse than the week before, much worse, and it swelled up almost immediately. I massaged it a lot, but eventually the pain was enough that I stepped out of observing a class and put some ice packs on it.

Since then my thigh has gotten some amazing bruises and my knee has felt very weak. Hobbling to and from school has been something of a pain, and going up and down the stairs hasn't been a speedy process either. My sleep at night hasn't been very good since the leg hurts. Saturday it felt quite a bit better and I went out to an Art Mingle to see some friends.. but all the walking ended up being bad for it, and the walking to and from church on Sunday slowed down the healing as well.


This has been my first week as the teacher and so far (the past two days) it has been pretty good. There is a lot of organizing to do so I can keep track of who gave what, what is coming up, etc, etc... To add to my humility, on Monday, at the last class I discovered my zipper to be down. Aaaand I can forsee the future being a brighter tomorrow. (c:

My thigh right now seems to have gotten over the "being damaged and internally bleeding" stage and may be well on its way to healing. I've pretty much come home straight from school last week and this week to rest the leg up (except for the walksome weekend). I think the holiday today has been great for it's healing process.

One month! I've been here almost one month! It's been so busy, but also not too busy at the same time. The time has gone by really quickly and I'm already having a tough time recalling some of the "special moments" I've had since I've gotten here. I do try and type them out on my phone if it time allows but even then I miss a lot.

One such event was a couple weeks ago while I was riding the subway. There was a mother and her two kids who noticed that I seemed particularly intent on getting to the correct subway exit. The mother's English wasn't very good, but after telling her my exit she hand signaled me how many stops from now that would be. Hand signals are amazing. The mother then prodded her older child to ask me where I was from. The girl, probably about six years old, had surprisingly good English and when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up she said, "A translator." Amazing! I think she's more than on her way to achieving that.

Today is election day and it has been... so very quiet. The previous couple of weeks have not been so.. A major tactic for getting elected here is to have open-sided trucks with many identically dressed, middle-aged ladies synchronizedly waving foam "#1" hands to the beat of ridiculously loud music. The music is sometimes familiar, traditional songs sung by children.. (I might be wrong about this), I assume this is to give the impression of benevolence (somehow), a sense of care for the children of the future, as well as being a leader in touch with the past (traditions). When I first heard loud speakers on trucks in the streets I thought there might be a coup.

I've spent the day in my apartment battling between doing laundry, cleaning up, organizing classes and being distracted by music and facebook. I'm also writing this blog post. (c: I'll write a follow-up post about my recent injury since that's been dominating my focus these past couple weeks as well.

Our last day in Florida started much like our first day - in the warm darkness of the early morning. This time, though, the lifting darkness was punctuated by the song of a retiring Chuck-Will's-Widow in the nearby pinewoods of Big Pine Key. It seemed a world and ages from the wailing Limpkins of Kissimmee.. After stowing our luggage in the trunk of our car, we turned west to Sugarloaf Key to look for Mangrove Cuckoos.

We arrived there after the sun was already up, greeted cheerily by Cardinals' and Prairie Warblers' songs. A mixed flock of warblers moved through the trees, including our only bright male American Redstart of the trip. The grassy verges of the road hosted Indigo Buntings, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers noisily made their breakfasts while squabbling with each other over the table scraps.

No Mangrove Cuckoos, however, showed themselves. A single bird called quietly in the distance once, but we never saw it. This was disappointing, as this was our last chance for the birds. As the morning warmed we got back on the road to Key West, hoping for some migrants in the parks there.

We decided to try Key West Indigenous Park, as it had had a Thick-billed Vireo reported about a week previously. There, among the many feral chickens that call Key West home and the hordes of Gray Catbirds, we found our only Red-eyed Vireo of the trip. There was also another Worm-eating Warbler, which was only our second ever. But in general it was pretty quiet. This was the first place in Florida we saw Green Iguana, which was interesting. Several of these giant lizards were hanging out over a pond in the park. And, on the grass, there was a Florida Box Turtle. I'm not sure if it was wild or not.

Alas, we soon had to go. We were flying out of Fort Lauderdale early in the morning, and so we had to get back on the road to make the long slow drive out of the Keys. We did have one last significant bird on the way out, though. Just off the Seven Mile Bridge was a smallish, bright white tern. Its long tail, white wings, and thin bill all marked it as a Roseate Tern - a lifer! Unfortunately we were zipping by at freeway speeds, so it was far from satisfactory. We'll see another one someday, I'm sure.

It was getting to be late afternoon by the time we arrived at our next destination. Since a bit of a storm seemed to be blowing up (it sprinkled that evening and rained the next day after we left), we decided to go back to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park again, just off of Miami. We were hoping to get lucky and see some more migrant landbirds, or luckier and see the Western Spindalis we had missed earlier.

Well, there wasn't any sort of fall-out due to the weather. It was dead there, except for the one fruiting tree the Spindalis had been visiting earlier. We didn't see that bird, but we did see our first ever female Black-throated Blue Warbler and our first ever male Cape May Warbler. So, that was nice.

We finished our trip in style by eating Cuban-style seafood at the grill in the park before heading to our hotel for the night. The next day around noon we were walking out of LAX into California's blessed weather. It was in the high 50s, cloudy, and an ocean breeze was refreshingly cold as it caressed our faces. It was good to be home.

Just a couple of pictures on Flickr.

We're at the Busan aquarium and it is SO busy! People are jostling
left and right, even to look in little shoe-boxed sized glass boxes
with boiled looking frogs inside.

The aquarium really is pretty cool. They've a large underwater tunnel
area that goes around a very large tank where high-paying visitors
can scuba dive with the sharks. The sharks looked pretty mean, but
there were no "Jaws" moments.. no sudden redness in the water, no
famous music. One of the scuba divers looked pretty scared, which was
entertaining enough.

Here's a picture of some of the moon jellies. I like jelly fish.

Being in the station isn't the experiment... I'm writing this on my
phone and sending it to my blog by email. Will it work? Will the
picture go through? If you see this and the picture, success. (c:

It is Friday and the start of a long weekend. South Korea is
celebrating Buddha's birthday, so we all get a break. I'm limitedly
thankful for Buddha.. That he had a birthday that gives us a long
weekend.

I'm at Seoul station waiting to head down to Busan to visit a friend
or two who are teaching down there. The trains are packed today as
everyone is making good use of their holiday to get out of Seoul. The
earliest ticket I could get is for about 5 trains from now, all the
others were full... And full includes standing room being full as
well. As it is I'll be standing on the highspeed train. It's cheaper
that way anyway.

There is no question that the high point of our trip to Florida was our trip to Dry Tortugas National Park. We were looking forward to it all week with mingled excitement and trepidation. After all, visiting these remote islands requires a two and a half hour boat trip from Key West. And, then, you have to come back for another two and a half hours. What if we got sea sick on the way out? And then we had to come back? On the other hand, it offered a totally new experience - the long boat ride itself was the longest we'd ever been "at sea", and the destination itself was tantalizing.

Well, our experience more than fulfilled our expectations without realizing any of our fears. The boat trip out was wonderful. The catamaran roared along at high speed on a glassy sea with little to no swell. In a few of the channels it would rise to 3 or 4 feet, but that was just fun. Along the way we saw sea turtles, flying fish, and lots of Portuguese Man O' Wars. Best of all we saw several pelagic species - Northern Gannets were flying by in lines, Brown Boobies sat on the water, a Bridled Tern flew by, and a few Audubon's Shearwaters skimmed the water in the distance. As we approached the islands, our first Brown Noddies and Sooty Terns joined in the fray. These species nest only here in the continental U.S.


Once moored on the island we hurried into the fort to look for landbird migrants. Garden Key is a well known migrant trap in the birding world. It provides the only patch of land between Cuba and Florida for trans-Caribbean migrants, and those that stop are concentrated into small buttonwood trees. We immediately started seeing birds. There were Prairie Warblers, Black and White Warblers, a couple of Yellow-crowned Night Herons, and a bunch of Yellow-billed Cuckoos. We covered the parade grounds thoroughly, but were a little disappointed. There were a few migrants, sure, and they were fun to see, but there weren't a lot. We knew the place wasn't living up to its potential.

Ah well, the fort was interesting on its own right! There were original rusting canons, intricate brickwork, molding dark stairwells, and all the time the brilliant tropical sea just outside its buttresses glinted in aquamarine splendor through the canon ports.

Then we had lunch, and walked around the sea wall enjoying the tropical fish. Most people come to the Tortugas to snorkel. That seems like a great idea, and if we'd had a little more time we would have done so, ourselves. Instead, after dropping by the coaling deck to scan for Black Noddies and get close views at Brown ones and checking the nearby bushes for possible migrant thrushes, swallows, and owls (unsuccessfully), we popped back into the fort for one last sweep of the grounds.

It isn't my third week here.. but considering weekend divisions, it is the third week I'm here. It's been so activitous! This week is mid-terms for the students, so the teachers are pretty much proctoring the exam times for class periods. That's a huge break for them (teachers) and the atmosphere is a bit calmer in the office as a result.

I didn't mention this last post, but I made an activity sheet. (You teachers must be rolling your eyes at me.) It was my first activity sheet ever! I gave it out to the students and was immediately bombarded by, "Whaaa?!" and "Mr. Luke S. how do...?" EVEN SO, it wasn't a total failure. Initially they worked on the sheet by themselves, from memory, then from the book, and finally in groups around the table. Not ideal, I know, but the point was to make more connections with the material being studied (not so much to evaluate the connections).

Teaching update: Nope. See previous post. The teacher I'll be taking over for will be gone on Monday, so for sure I'll be teaching some classes by then.

The area I live in is very close to a major art university, so there's a big artsy area within a short walking distance from my apartment. There are a ton of cafes and restaurants, as well as live music clubs. The late-night culture is very active, and the streets are bustling well past midnight.

Helen, the younger sister of a roommate from high school, and I went out wandering a couple times this past week and she showed me a neat cafe/design museum. Apparently the owner buys spaces, and then imports interesting pieces from all over the world to "fill" the space. All the tables and chairs are first design releases from the early 60's onwards.. the cabinets along the walls from Germany, France and England. Some of the objects are made back in the 19th centrury. Even the parquet floor is imported from an old building in Europe.


On Sunday they had a lantern festival as an early part of the celebration of Buddha's birthday (coming up on Friday). They also had a soccer match between Korea and Ecuador. I managed to make it to both (barely). The match was a friendly pre-World Cup game and Korea made two relatively consecutive goals right near the end. Unfortunately, I didn't get very good pictures of either the match or the lantern festival, but c'est la vie.

Today is the first officially rainy day I've had here.

I know I'm jumping around a bit, but I'm writing as I remember, and I just remembered that on Friday night a group of us teachers went to hear a couple of our own teachers perform at "Soul Underground" which is on the third story of a building. (I thought that was ironic). The couple are known as "The Bell and The Hammer" and you can find them online... somewhere. They're good. I got some pictures from the "event."

A week ago last night I flew into Seoul. It feels like I've been here for at least a month already. The past weekend was filled with a lot of activity, from visiting with friends from the US, to visiting with friends local. A weeknight meal of burgers with co-workers on Tuesday made it feel like a whole 'nother weekend, and so the time has been passing quickly.

Tuesday I got taken to the hospital. As part of my employmency here, I must pass a "suitable health" exam which includes a few vials of blood extracted from my arm/vein, urine sample, chest-x-ray, visual acuity test, weight, height, etc.. I got bustled around the hospital by the most-gracious Mr. Luke-of-whom-there-was-confusion-about-how-to-use-our-names and we managed to get it all done quickly. Mr. Luke doesn't like needles or hospitals much, and I share his aversion to antibiotic filled, superbug ridden, cough havens.

I've heard that Koreans tend to slam infections with many many pills, antibiotics, and shots. They also have a severe ethic with regards to work-worthiness.. "If you're too sick, go to the hospital, otherwise you aren't too sick, so go to work." Staying at home isn't really one of the options. Employers admire employees who come to work sick because it shows dedication.

I'd put up more pictures, but I'm at work.. like the post before last, so those will have to wait. I have a bunch on fb, and will add more to flickr when I get a chance.

Classes! I've sat in on a lot of classes, but have actually taught very little. This is... fine by me, as I'm just a bit timid. I know I'll have to get in the water eventually, but it just looks so daunting. The teachers here at the school are very good, at least the ones who I've observed. They have great rapport with the students and "effortlessly" move from one activity to the next. I hope to have half the ease of teaching they seem to have. (c:

Students are great kids. Not a whole lot more to say than that. Ages of the classes I'll be teaching are mostly middle-school through high-school. Aight, more later!

Morning, the third in SoKo.

Here's the start of my first weekend here. Jetlag has been making itself known every night since I arrived here. I have no trouble falling asleep around 11pm.. but like clockwork at 3:33am, BOOM! Awake! It hasn't been hard to fall back asleep. But sleeping past 6:45am is impossible, and that's fine. I think I'm naturally a morning person anyway.


So! Last night was my first night in the apartment that the school has provided me. The apartment is a weird combo of modernity, ghetto, and minimalism. I've got two tres-chic chairs. The ghetto is the wires and cables that terminate into mid-air, and the broken cabinetry. I'm hoping to find some fabric to "cover up" the area of the kitchen. It's very nice in that it is quite spacious. They gave me a two-room flat.. ! This is extravagant and I aspire to using it well with guests and whatnot.

I knew I'd be surrounded by fluorescent bulbs out here. That's pretty standard fare, but I'd like to change that in the apartment, so that's another one for the checklist: get lamps and incandescent lights. It's more costly energy-wise, but I'm in the apartment every night and it'd make it a place to look forward to returning to.

On Wednesday, after Tim and his wife picked me up from the airport, we went out to eat at a Thai food place, and Josh C. and his wife joined up with us. Here's a few pictures. They humored me and my overzealous "shiny toy" camera itch.

There's a song I learned in elementary school that went something like this:

How do you get to an island?
An island far away?
You have to cross the water...
'Cuz that's the only way!

Well, for the Florida Keys there's a bridge - so that's settled.

Wet set out from the Miami area early on Thursday morning for the drive across said bridge. Actually, though, we took the back route to Key Largo. Instead of taking Highway 1 for free, we shelled out a buck and took the Card Sound Road route. Because Card Sound Road has birds. I'll wait for you to pick up your jaws. Ok, now we can continue.

Our first stop of the trip was at the actual toll booth. Well, just before it. The mangroves in this area are supposed to be a reliable place for the Cuban subspecies of Yellow Warbler. Despite the fact that we arrived in the early morning, they weren't singing. It was just quiet. That was sort of a theme for the day's birding.

Key Largo's best feature is that the state has preserved extensive stands of West Indian hardwood forest. While much of it is inaccessible, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park (how's that for a place name?) provides access to some of its habitat. The place is also known as a somewhat reliable place to find Mangrove Cuckoos.

Well, I really wanted to see some Mangrove Cuckoo, but we didn't have any luck. We birded our way down Card Sound Road to the Park, stopping here and there at cuts in the forest to look for cuckoos and other songbirds, but nothing much was singing besides Prairie Warblers and Cardinals. Still, it was fun to see White-crowned Pigeons winging overhead. The pigeons were pretty common throughout the Keys, if you had your eye open for them. Usually you'd just see them streaking overhead as they scurried from one fruiting tree to another.

Once in the park we enjoyed good looks on the entrance road of Northern Cardinals and White-eyed Vireos. Then we pressed on further into the park where there were no birds doing anything. At least, if there were birds doing things they were doing them quietly where we couldn't see them.

On the way back out we ran into a couple of birders from New York City. We joined forces, and they pointed out this neat butterfly:

Wooo! Alright, I'm in Seoul!

The flight out from LAX to Seoul felt long. 13hrs is pretty normal fare for going back and forth the Philippines growing up, but it seems the older I get the longer flights feel. Having headache inducing pressure in my sinuses didn't help. I'm not complaining. We landed safe and sound rather than in a horrible watery wreck. Definitely not complaining. (c:

The time difference of when I landed meant 6pm here... which is 2am in LA. I haven't felt very stretched by the time yet, but today.. with all it's new experiences, learning, kids happily yelling, etc.. yeah.. I think I'm ok to be tired. The school is really neat, and functioning at maximum building capacity.

Things of interest.. everyone here drives by GPS guidance. Also, programmed into their GPSs is the "awareness" of speed cameras. So the GPS will warn the driver when they're approaching speed cameras. Hm! I got put up last night (and tonight) in the school's principal's house. He's a very kind man, and has a nice family. We stayed up until 11pm talking at the table and drinking tea. (11pm.. 7am LA time, heh).

I've taken some pictures, but they'll have to wait. I'm using one of the computers at the school. I think tomorrow I'll have my own apartment and am planning on having Ryanlynn and Erik (church group friends) stop through on Saturday. More news to follow in a while.

P.S. It's warm-ish, rains, and is super lush.
P.S.S. Trash.. is serious business.

Luke is going to Korea to slave away in the salt mines of English teaching. His one request was that we take a camping trip in the desert before we left.

Consider said request fulfilled.

Dustin picked me up Saturday morning. Then we swung by Luke's grandparents' place to pick him up. Then we slipped through LAX and picked Lem up. And then we were on our way!

We arrived in Lancaster around lunch time, so we pulled off the freeway for some Thai food. Then we stopped by the road at some ruined houses for photo-taking. Then we at Red Rock Canyon State Park. Where we spent the night. And had a fire. And had hobo dinners with salmon.

Also, fire-roasted potatoes are awesome. And roasting marshmallows pre-soaked in gin.

In the morning I took a walk before dawn to check the visitor's center's patch of cottonwoods for migrants. Just a few orioles, warblers and Lincoln's Sparrows had dropped in over night. The highlight of the morning was probably stumbling on a Sage Sparrow's nest.

On the way home, we stopped by the California Poppies in the Antelope Valley. The spectacle was spectacular, but perhaps surpassed by the wonder of seeing hundreds of people wandering around in these vibrant orange fields. The preserve itself was so packed we couldn't get in!

Luke put up pictures on his flickr.

I put up pictures on my flickr.

Lem should put up pictures on his flickr.

Dustin didn't take any pictures. Tsk.

Libby and I have visited a few of America's National Parks out here near the southwestern corner of the United States. Most of them offer dramatic scenery on a massive scale. The Grand Canyon is a mind bending crack in the earth. Yosemite has soaring granite landscapes. Carlsbad Caverns has unworldly cave formations. Everglades National Park's landscape can't really compare with these.

It's flat. That's it's thing. You drive 50 miles or something and your elevation changes about three feet. To someone whose grown up surrounded by something called "topography" that's pretty unremarkable. Still, despite its definite lack of splendor, it still manages to be interesting. And, it's like nothing we'd ever seen before.

The Everglades are a place everyone hears about, but I don't think the area is somewhere everyone really knows about. It turns out that the everglades are an enormous river system. Before Florida was developed, wetlands flowed from the southern end of Lake Okeechobee south to the Bay of Florida on the southwestern corner of the peninsula. That's about a hundred miles. Because this part of Florida is mostly a flat limestone sheet, the water flowed in a single sheet miles wide and inches deep at a very slow rate; it only descended an inch or two per mile.

Because the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee has been developed, Everglades National Park and adjacent reserves protect the remnants of this unique water system. The park service pumps water into the wetlands to augment the lack of lake water. Don't get me wrong, though. The remnants are extensive, and preserve pretty capably the aquatic system's character.

So the experience of the Everglades, at least from the Homestead entrance, is of primarily a few different ecosystems defined by very small elevation changes. There are extensive tropical pinewood hammocks near the northern edge on limestone shelves above the level of the water. Then there is wet sawgrass prairie in the water itself stretching way off into the horizon. Dotted here and there in the prairie are patches of tropical hardwood forest growing in accumulated debris and some dwarf Pond Cypress forest in solution holes. Finally, near the ocean you start running into extensive mangrove forest.

All of these were something we've never seen before, and we found exploring them to be the primary interest of the park. It's not naturally awe inspiring or spectacular like our western National Parks, but with some time and patience it yields the inherent interest it holds.

Our first goal for the morning was to look for Chuck-Will's-Widows in the pine hammocks area at the entrance. We got there half an hour before sunrise and got out of the car to catch the tail end of their nocturnal performance.

Our next goal for the morning was to find some Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows. These secretive birds live in the wet sawgrass of the Snake River Slough. They're accessible from the road near a place called Mahogany Hammock. We arrived in time to watch the sun rise. While it rose, Eastern Meadowlarks and Red-winged Blackbirds were singing in the rushes and sawgrass. No sparrows, though. In fact, we never heard them sing, but we did end up seeing a couple of them. A few birds perched up high enough in the rushes that we were able to get distant but identifiable scope views of this distinctive subspecies of Seaside Sparrow.

As a sad footnote, it's worth mentioning Florida once hosted two distinctive subspecies of Seaside Sparrows (distinctive enough to be sometimes considered full species). The Dusky Seaside Sparrow lived in the area of Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, but went extinct due largely to salt marsh mosquito abatement efforts. The last known individual of this unique taxon died in captivity at Disney World in 1987.

Next we headed to Mahogany Hammock for a morning walk. This was the first large tropical hardwood hammock we'd visited in Florida. In the Everglades and Keys, the vast majority of the flora is of tropical origin - something like 80% of the plants are from areas south of the USA. Curiously, most of the fauna is temperate and comes from the rest of North America. It was interesting to walk around in these jungle like environments. Trees with exotic names like Poisonwood, Gumbo Limbo, Strangler Fig, and West Indian Mahogany were festooned with bromeliads, orchids and epiphytic ferns. Bird-wise, the place was less than hopping, though. We did get our life look at a roosting flock of White-crowned Pigeons, but mostly the place was full of Catbirds and I seem to remember a White-eyed Vireo and Black-and-White Warbler.

So, after this little exploratory stop, we backtracked north to the Anhinga Trail. The Anhinga Trail is closest to my vague impressions of what the Everglades would be. Visitors can walk along a boardwalk and view wading birds at close range. That was pretty cool. There were also alligators aplenty and turtles and fish. The marsh there hosts an interesting fresh water swamp tree called Pond Apples that reminded me of a fresh water version of a mangrove.

We were searching the area for a reported Smooth-billed Ani. It was seen before and after our visit, but we weren't able to find it while we were there. From the same parking lot we took a hike through the Gumbo Limbo Trail, which explores a hardwood hammock that's still recovering from Hurricane Andrew. We ate lunch here before fleeing an enormous school field trip.

Our escape route was south again, into the park, stopping at various overlooks and trails. There aren't a lot of bathrooms in the park, so we had to stop at West Lake and explore their mangrove trail. We learned about how mangrove forest diversity is tiered on distance from the water. And that there are multiple species of mangroves - like Black Mangroves (which we saw in Texas), Red Mangroves with long stilt-like roots, White Mangroves and Buttonwood. It was very educational.

Before leaving the parking lot we really smeared on some mosquito repellent. We rolled down our sleeves and buttoned up all of our buttons. Our next stop? The Snake Bight Trail - infamous as the worst spot for mosquitoes in the continental United States, but also famous as a pretty awesome birding location.

I really wanted to see what the fuss was all about, and Libby was willing, though not thrilled, to follow me. So we went! And there was not one single mosquito there! Instead, there were dozens of migratory songbirds. We saw Painted Buntings, singing Prairie Warblers, Northern Waterthrushes, Northern Parulas, Black-and-White Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, American Redstarts, White-eyed Vireos, Blue-headed Vireos, and lots of beautiful butterflies called Zebra Longwings.


As another little tangent - I had a close-up encounter with an Alligator here. After we realized there weren't any mosquitoes, we decided to keep walking further on the trail than we'd originally planned. So, I ran back to the car to get some fluids. When I got there, I opened up the passenger door to get our field guide from the car's passenger door pocket. As it swung out, something moved in the adjacent tall grass and I thought, "Hmm, bird." So I started scrutinizing the base of the log laying there for a waterthrush or something. Then it registered that the trunk was a leg. And that it was the hind leg of a large alligator. And that the front leg and adjacent large teeth were much closer. So I hopped back in panic. Which left the front door open. So I had to close it. Which meant going back.

Anyway, our next stop was Flamingo. That's an interesting little place at the southern tip of the park where you camp. They have a visitor's center, which was somewhat interesting. We had some ice cream and looked around for American Crocodiles. We saw one's tail sticking out of the mangroves (they are a different color than the more common alligators), but none were out in the open. There were lots of Osprey, a couple of Bald Eagles, lots of Brown Pelicans and wading birds, etc. We surveyed a flock of Willets on the limestone shelf that substitutes for a beach down there for a vagrant Bar-tailed Godwit that had been reported, but we didn't find it. We also missed Shiny Cowbirds that are sometimes reported from the visitor's center lawns there. We did find a few Brown-headed Cowbirds, but they're somewhat less exciting. The Indigo Buntings in the trees were cool, though.

Then we drove out. We stopped again at the Anhinga Trail to look for the Ani without success, but got to hear a pair of hooting Barred Owls in the late afternoon in the area of the Gumbo Limbo Trail. We tried to hunt them down, but weren't able to see them before they stopped calling. We did find a Brown Thrasher and a Swainson's Thrush, though. I believe the Swainson's Thrush was a previously reported wintering bird. That's incredibly rare, as Swainson's Thrushes migrate to South America every year.

And then we drove back to Miami for the night. Next day? The Florida Keys!

Pictures on Flickr.

Hello! Well we're at t-minus a week before I leave for Korea to be teaching English! I need to make a trip back to the Korean Consulate again tomorrow to, hopefully, receive my visa. Barring nothing unexpected there, then by this time next week I'll be headed to the north pacific, maybe even angling southward at this point. (think "great circles"). The flight will be thirteen hours.

The process has been a really interesting so far and I'm excited and nervous about being an excellent teacher to the kids, as well as a "good foreigner" who is quick to learn and gracious in the face of confusion. ^^I've packed one of the two check-in luggage and it is full of books, electronics, and a neat camping hammock. According to gma and gpa's scale, it is still within the 50lb weight limit. Books are really heavy, especially if there's a worthwhile amount of them. Heh. I'm taking some great textbooks from last semester's TESOL class as well as other learning material.

This past weekend a group of us guys went out to Red Rocks Canyon, north of Edwards Air Force Base. We had a blast even though I came down with a bad headache (which was the harbinger of the wretched cough/cold I have now). There are a lot of pictures up, and most of you on Facebook have probably already seen them. Here's a link to the set on my flickr account. If nothing else, it's worth visiting the site just to see the pretty scenery. (c: We also went to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, so there are a few nice pictures of poppies there too.



I recently acquired a neato camera and a couple lenses to compliment it. I've high hopes of documenting interesting parts of the trip and experience in Korea. There are a lot of "crazy" ideas I have for photo projects, but expect nothing dear readers, and you might not be disappointed. (c: I'll try to pull a few together.

Other things of note, I've changed my phone number. As of this coming Friday or so, the old number simply won't work anymore. Fear not! For Google has come through with yet another opportunistic service. I'll be using my "gvoice" number linked with my skype account (it is already linked). If you need/want the number, it is on facebook/buzz or just leave a comment and I'll send it to you. (c: The service can handle text/picture messages as well, so don't worry.

I'll wrap up with a couple more photos from the camp trip. I love hearing from you and I'm looking forward to updating on "more exciting" stuff in the near future. ^^

We spent one day birding in Miami. It started out very slow, but it ended with success.

We started the morning at Kendall Baptist Hospital (which an accident made difficult to reach) to look for exotics. We started by wandering the lakes in front of the hospital looking for parrots, bulbuls and orioles. We didn't have any luck. There were plenty of Muscovy Ducks, Palm Warblers, and Grackles, though. Perhaps most interesting was the mixed flock of Red-masked and Red-mitred Parakeets that were flying around the grounds. But we have Red-mitred Parakeets in La Mirada, too, and we were hoping to get lucky with White-winged Parakeets - which would have been new. Since nothing was happening, we headed across the street to wander the neighborhoods looking for bulbuls and orioles.

It was pleasant over there. The streets were nicely manicured and full of nice eastern species. Blue Jays were common and we saw several Baltimore Orioles - which were our only for the trip. We also saw some White-winged Doves. Since Florida is just chock full of Eurasian Collared-Doves this southwestern exotic was a nice change. We spent the remainder of the relatively cool morning here, but there were no bulbuls. Or Spot-breasted Orioles. So we got back in the car and headed off.

We worked our way north along the one in the city and checked some other neighborhoods our book recommended for these species. No luck! So we checked the Tropical Audubon Society house for the orioles. Closed! At this point, the morning was almost gone. It was getting hot, and we hadn't found a single target, yet. So we made for the sea.

Our next destination was Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park. On the southernmost tip of Key Biscayne, a barrier island north of the true keys, we were hoping to find a rare La Sagra's Flycatcher, and to check out a true migrant trap. We did pretty well for ourselves there.

First off, the drive over was nice. The causeway affords great views of Miami, and the water stretching out underneath is a pale tropical blue. On the island there were palms and sea grape and an occasional refreshing ocean breeze. Sure it was warm, but any air movement is a relief in the stifling humility.

There was also another lighthouse! While not nearly as high as Ponce de Leon, it was very nice. From the top, we could look down into the crystal water and got to see some very large stingrays swim by. That was awesome.


As we left the lighthouse we heard a calling Myiarchus flycatcher. We rushed after it and voila! there was the La Sagra's Flycatcher. We got hugely lucky, as we ran into some birders from northwest (Alaska and Washington) who had spent all morning looking without finding it. But they let us know there had been a Western Spindalis (a Caribbean tanager) discovered the day before in the park. They took us to the tree, but we never saw it. Still, the fruiting tree was attracting some migrant warblers, and we got our lifer Cape May and Black-throated Blue Warblers there. The tree also hosted some beautiful Prairie Warblers with unusually orange heads - a caretenoid pigment issue that made them look a lot like Blackburnians.


Because of the Spindalis report, we ended up spending more time at the park than we might have otherwise, waiting in the shade of the tree and hoping to get a lucky glimpse of the bird. We we followed the advice of the birders we'd met and scanned all the telephone wires for Kingbirds. We eventually found some Gray Kingbirds - some of the year's first arrivals. This was another lifer, and a little later, a single Magnificent Frigatebird joined a Turkey Vulture above the seacoast at a great height. Now, that's a classy bird.

Anyway, eventually it was time to get going, so we headed out and north to Fort Lauderdale to look for Smooth-billed Anis. This species is a Caribbean specialty that has almost gone extinct in its North American range, so I was hoping against hope that we would be able to find one this trip. After all, who knows how much more time we have to see it (in the U.S., anyway)?

Unfortunately, we missed it. The vacant lot they're known to frequent is in a run down and poor area, and though we persisted despite the slightly unnerving atmosphere in walking around the lots a few times, we didn't see anything.

So, we headed back down to the hospital area again hoping to take an evening walk in the neighborhoods to take another crack at the orioles and bulbuls. After taking a relaxing dinner at an Italian restaurant in the area, we did just that. This time we double-checked the book to make sure we were walking the correct streets. It turned out we'd been one block too far west. I guess it makes a big difference because this time we saw dozens of Bulbuls and a family group of two or three Spot-breasted Orioles. It was a great relaxing evening walk, too, and a great capstone to an otherwise not-stellar outing.

Pictures on Flickr.

Next day? The Everglades!

A space shuttle launch is an experience that I don't have the ability to express in words. I can throw out some apt descriptors, if you'd like. We can try words like awesome and sublime, or toy with superlatives like incredible or spectacular. But those words seem cheap and hollow in comparison to the simple memory I carry of a bright light arcing across the Atlantic and dipping into the sunrise.

Maybe I can't express the moment because I don't know why it was so powerful. What is it about space travel that fascinates us so much? Is it national pride? Pride in human accomplishment? Could it be a hubristic impulse in my lowly human nature? Did the U.S. build a new tower of Babel on the sandy beaches of Florida's Atlantic seashore?

Maybe it's the naked power of the event. The glaring fireball that rises into the sky does so with a sort of labored deliberateness that belies its cataclysmic power. The only appropriate metaphors for the sound - the rumbling tortured roar - are from natural disasters. It's like a continual thunder, a volcanic belch, or an earthquake's deep rumble.

Maybe it's the aesthetic wonder of the thing. The glooming dark and the enlivening light on the fringe of a peaceful deep sea; the soft white sand under our feet and the gentle sky embracing the scene; the sunrise and the delicate wake carved in it by the spacecraft as it became a distant star; All were gentle touches that contraposed themselves to the power of the thing. Even the glowing cloud floating in its wake and catching the first light of a new day was something wonderful.

Or, maybe, it's the archetypical meaning of the event. Has Icarus' ambition succeeded? Or has Phaeton learned how to handle his father's steeds? Mankind seems to defy sacred laws when he leaves the shelter of his given home. Ultimately, I may never know. But I'll always have that moment to revisit.


The amazing thing about this sort of experience is that it ends, and even more amazing is that it left us most of the rest of the day for other things! So now it's time to shift gears and just record the rest of the day for posterity. It was a good thing it was still early because we were heading south to Miami. We started out heading south on the Cocoa Beach barrier island in order to avoid the crowds. This took us by Patrick Air Force Base's long sandy stretch of beach, so we stopped to take in our first Atlantic sunrise (in picture above).

While we were there we picked up a few shorebirds for our list, mused over whether or not distant Royal Terns could be Northern Gannets, and missed a lifer when a dark-backed gull flew by in the middle distance. We didn't know if it was a Lesser or Greater Black-backed Gull, but either would have been new to us. We also got overflown by a landing C-130. Pretty sweet!

Then we were off again! We soon turned inland and made for Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area. This was an area designated to protect a virgin Longleaf Pine forest and its game inhabitants (White-tailed Deer, Wild Turkey, Northern Bobwhite, and feral pigs). We were there for something else, though. It also contains a large population of Red-cockaded Woodpecker, an endangered species that uses Longleaf Pines for nesting. We were also shooting for Brown-headed Nuthatch and Bachman's Sparrows - two other southeastern species that use the pine forest habitat.

We did great! We got all three very easily despite dire warnings from a game warden at the entrance. The thing is, the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers only visit their nest holes around dawn and dusk, but we were there mid-morning. Despite the improbability, we got the birds in a big mixed flock within a few minutes of entering the reserve. Singing Bachman's Sparrows were common to within a few feet of our car, and the Nuthatches were mixed into the foraging flock that contained the nuthatches. We also go a great look at a Pileated Woodpecker here.

Unfortunately, not many pictures. But here's a nice one of Libby after we got the birds.