A Short Post, Mainly for the Sake of Misty Photographs

A fine, white mist has descended over Appledore for the last couple of days, along with the rest of the students for Field Ornithology, the class I am taking in conjunction with the internship. It has been a whirlwind of island tours (I think I've been on three so far), gull-nest tours, introductory lectures and new faces. However, some things never change on the island. Specimen number one: A07, otherwise called Peanut Butter Cookie, the food thief – a banded Herring Gull, one of the Appledore legends, who has returned for the summer and is back to ferociously guarding his foraging territory on the porch of the Commons, even in the crummy weather.

Peanut Butter Cookie on the rain-splattered porch of the commons

Let me correct that – I meant the beautiful, rainy, admittedly chilly but quintessential Appledore weather. The mist has actually made for quite the stirring view. Looking out over the ocean, the white fog hanging over the waves screens the mainland, and even the other islands, from view making Appledore seem thoroughly isolated. And indeed, I feel all of my “mainland-worries” – grades and school and parents and friends-not-at-Shoals – blur into an indistinct, I'll-get-to-it-later area in my brain as I settle into the rhythm of life on the island. I haven't showered in five days and I couldn't care less.

The Heiser disappearing in the mist, with a conveniently located flying Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

In other news, my co-intern, Brendan “Gullsmith” Fogarty has also descended upon the island, already blowing us away with several heroic feats that shall go un-expanded-upon, mainly because I am going to see his face at pre-breakfast every day for the next two months and would thus like to remain on friendly terms.

Brendan, very excited about data entry

And now I need to go finish up on some reading for class tomorrow. Soon, hopefully, I will get a chance to write an extensive post detailing my daily schedule and all of the other interesting things I think up to put in here during the day!