Closing the Book on Wrens, Again

After the split of the winter and pacific wren left me with a hole in my North American wren life list (and perhaps more importantly, at a bird list disadvantage compared to Robert), I had hoped to see a winter wren within the next six months.  Happily, it only took 3 months and 3 days.  A cooperative winter wren made his spotty/blotchy little self known to me this afternoon at our local park, where Robert and I went because I felt this overwhelming need to get outside and maybe see some ducks.  Amusingly, Robert did not get a very good look at the bird this time.

By the time we got to the marshy area of the park, I was feeling so satisfied that I didn't mind at all that the only ducks on the water were three mallards.  Really, it was such a gorgeous, sunny, cool but not cold day that taking two hours away from extremely frustrating online grad school applications and the neuroscience of external food cues to just walk around, gawking and kicking leaves would have been quite satisfactory without seeing a single bird at all.

But in addition to my winter wren, we also saw two species that are new for us in North Carolina:

* Yellow-bellied sapsucker (a spotty juvenile who looked astonishingly like a bump on the tree at first, even with that white patch on its wing; evolution was pretty clever with that because under sunny conditions, the branches themselves are dappled dark and light, too)

* Golden-crowned kinglet (a bird I never saw in Texas, but have seen elsewhere)

Overall, a very pleasant outing.  However, I've still got a hankering for ducks, so I've put Robert on the case of planning a trip east to some wildlife refuges near the coast so we can see ducks, swans, and geese.  I've especially got my eye out for the American black duck, which - due to my heavy exposure to and love of Warner Brothers cartoons and hence Daffy Duck - I always thought of as the default "duck" as a kid.  (Arguably, Daffy Duck doesn't look that much like an American black duck, which is a kind of mallard-y looking bird, but it's the closest actual duck species I know of.)

Once again, I really love the serendipitous nature of birding.  We only even took our binocs with us in the event that we might see some ducks on the pond, and a lifer passerine decides to make a conspicuous appearance at the exact moment I'm walking by on the trail.  Nifty.

P.S.  I am now up to something like 6 or 7 (of 17) online applications completed.

Weird Weather Information

It sure was a relief to read that overnight, "no accumulation of graupel is expected."

But check out how nifty it looks:

Two Online Apps Completed

One with an 11/15 deadline to qualify for the awesome $30,000 per year for 3 years fellowships.

One with an 11/15 deadline for a free (rather than $65) application.

More tomorrow.

SOP Update

This evening I wrote statements of purpose for 6 programs.

Only 11 more to go.

Oh boy!

Carrot Addiction

Bunnies, I guess you're not alone.

Katy tries to hide her carrot bingeing from the humans

An abstract:

"Presents a case report of carrot addiction in a 49-year-old woman that occurred under conditions of stress due to marital problems, leading to a depressive illness and increased smoking. The patient maintained that the sensations of carrot craving and withdrawal were quite distinct from those associated with smoking. The patient was advised to record her daily carrot consumption. The patient did not return for several months, but stopped eating carrot after an operation, at which time she also stopped smoking. Compulsive carrot eating, regarded as a rare condition, has received scant documentation, unlike hypercarotenemia due to unusual diets or food fads. Nervousness, craving, insomnia, waterbrash and irritability are associated with withdrawal from excessive carrot eating. The basis for the addiction is believed to be beta carotene, found in carrots. Does carrot eating, an aggressively oral activity, merely act as a behavioural substitute for smoking? Or does beta carotene contain a chemical element that replicates the addictive component of nicotine? Further study of this unusual but intriguing addiction may reveal more about the basis of all addictions, with particular implications for the cessation of cigarette smoking."

Kaplan, R. (1996). Carrot addiction. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 30(5), 698-700.

Perhaps the rabbits would argue that the very idea of "excessive" carrot eating is ridiculous.

Thank You, Neuroscience Textbook Authors

I am now officially awaiting the perfect opportunity to make a double entendre with the phrase "excitation-secretion coupling."  Readers, you are on notice.

One Down, Countless More to Go

This evening I finished one of my term papers, due November 22.  It turned out to be an over 20-page project proposal (probably falling in the "I did not have the leisure to make it shorter" category).  I will proof-read it again a day or two before I turn it in, but it's super nice to have one thing off my mental to-do list. 

In addition to the countless applications I have due on/by December 1, I also have another 20-page paper (a review paper for neuroscience, so that one is going to be rough going - due November 19 and I haven't started even reading articles yet) and my thesis proposal to write this month, as well as a class discussion to lead.  (Fortunately, I am already familiar with two of the three papers for that class session, so I hope the prep work won't be as dire as it sometimes is.)  Good thing I don't have normal, ongoing coursework or a TAship or anything like that.  Oh wait.

Life is going to be pretty much fucking crazy for everyone in the program until at least December 8 (when we turn in our second final).  After that, things are only really busy and stressful as we continue applications and struggle to get our act together to start collecting data for our thesis as soon as the spring semester begins.  Looking at my classmates, I see us falling into about 4 categories right now:

(1)  Slightly suppressed anger

(2)  Laughter at the impending doom

(3)  Panic and frenzy

(4)  Tharn

Or maybe by "us," I mean "me."