Sorry I'm reduced to iPhone pictures alone this week, but my camera is in the shop. 4 phonecalls, 3 online chats, endless web pages, a box shipped 1,700 miles, and 3 store visits by my parents later and Best Buy is in possession of my warranty-covered camera. Thanks mom and dad for helping out when none of the associates seem to want to (totally not bitter...).

My housemates Emily and Sharon suggested hitting up The Lookout Tavern for burger night and I just went to support them of course. I was pumped to see the crab cake 'burger' on the $10 burger night list and ordered it to fulfill my goal of "eat as much seafood as possible while I live on an island".  The portions were huge and there was a ton of crab, so we all left full and happy (grapefruit IPAs all around as well!). This was our first time to eat out on the island! 

Rain, physical labor, and long days have made for a tired shorebird biologist. Wednesday was leftover night - which isn't a bad thing when you have leftovers like this. 

My breakfast every day. Mmm. 0% thick Greek yogurt, granola, and fresh berries get me out of bed in the morning (as well as the sun shining in my four windows and skylight). 

Did I mention I have great housemates? Emily made me this margarita while I was in the shower washing all the wonderful smells and grime of field work off.

I had a long field day Thursday so when I got home from my evening field work Emily had made dinner. Pesto Chicken Parmesan hit the spot! I probably would've had cereal had she not been the real MVP. And in time to watch Jeopardy to boot.

I pretty much want to take a picture of every delicate seashell, interesting piece of driftwood, and unique crab shell. However, because I am actually working and there is a limited amount of space on my phone, here's a small collection of the beautiful things I see along the beach. I mean, at the office.

I thought this rock looked like a piece of meat and couldn't get over it. It has been 4 hours and I am still laughing to myself. 

We had a few rainy and overcast days in the last week. All of these different snails, both land and sea, made an appearance. 

Happy Two Week Beachiversary to Me

It has only been two weeks since that fearful ferry ride, but so much has changed! I have a pretty good sense of the island and can somewhat navigate it without aid. I'm a master of grocery shopping and watching the sales to decide what to cook. My room is all situated and I know what drawers in the kitchen to find pot holders and potato peelers. Emily and I got two new housemates this weekend and I *practically* felt like a local next to the newbie. One roommate is the "facilities manager" of our house and was here last summer. She's been great for stories of last year's shared living drama as well as info about how to get a beach pass, how the grill works, and how epic the outdoor showers are. 

Emily and I made artichoke dip and spaghetti and meatballs to welcome Sharon! 

I ventured to downtown Vineyard Haven which is every bit as quaint and picturesque as it sounds. I went to Bunch of Grapes bookstore where I picked up an array of Martha's Vineyard postcards. Next I traipsed down the street to Mocha Motts where I finally got some espresso! I was perhaps over eager as I ordered a triple cappuccino. Here I was able to pen my newly acquired purchases, fueled by caffeine. It was a rainy day, but definitely fun to walk along the main drag and check out some of the shops.

I spent my day off cleaning including washing these handmade placemats. Apparently there are some great wildflowers on the property, so I'm looking forward to rotating bouquets throughout the season.

We had a cookout Sunday night with roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, artichoke dip, bacon wrapped jalapenos, bbq chicken, corn on the cob, and steak. I'd say it was a successful first shindig at our house complete with lots of beer, card games, and a trifle made by Sharon! 

My favorite day of the week is when Emily and I have a shared day off! Today was the day, so it worked out perfectly to celebrate our two week beachiversary with brunch. Emily made scones and bloodys and Sharon, Em, and I collaborated on sausage and a southwest scramble with bell peppers, spinach, and onion.

Okay so after not grilling for the first 24 years of my life I have grilled two nights in a row and am obsessed.

I got new cloth napkins from Grandma! Thanks for completing our beautiful dinner table! Tonight we made roasted bell peppers (on the grill!) stuffed with ground beef and cheddar, grilled corn, rice, and steak tortilla wraps. 

My work week begins again tomorrow, but I'm ready to go protect some plovers! It's so great to have days off even if I just treasure them for cooking and catching up on laundry at this point. However, I'm really looking forward to planning day trips and exploring on our days off. Soon enough! 

Alas! Wildlife!

I've seen a plethora of exciting creatures in less than two weeks on the island. As the season progresses I'm excited for new animals and better looks at ones I've seen! 

A lot of birders have their life list which is essentially a check mark for seeing a certain species of bird. I like this idea and am always excited for a new bird to add or a "lifer"- a bird you'll probably only get to experience once in your life. However, one of the things I love most about watching wildlife is that it's different everytime. For example, I've seen an American Goldfinch on bird feeders before, but this one in the brush along the ocean with a pretty blue sky behind it was pretty exciting. I experienced another cool moment this week with an otter. I've glimpsed the movement of an otter before, but never really "seen" one in the wild. My boss did her Masters work on otters so we've been noting their tracks on the sand while out in the field. The other day we came over a dune to a pond and saw an otter frolicking on the shore. Its movement on land was like an inchworm with a seemingly overarched back. It rubbed around in the sand, played a little, and returned to the water to hunt. A few moments later it returned to shore and was munching on its fresh catch. The otter never saw us and my boss and I were both extremely impressed with our luck of such a sight. (My camera was broken by this point so I'm saying that's the reason we got so lucky!)

I doubt I'll ever get such a cool view of an otter again and will remember this instance on Martha's Vineyard. 

I think these stone crabs are cool and prehistoric looking. I've never seen so many crab shells on the shore before. These island gulls eat well!!

So far I've seen ring billed, black back, and herring gulls. 

These are Canada Geese eggs right off the trail- I would never get this close to plover or oystercatcher eggs! 

Some other birds I've seen are Common Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Bufflehead, Dunlin, Sanderlings, Eastern Towhee, turkeys, and a Northern Flicker. 

In addition to the otter I saw a sea lion, deer, and chipmunks. 

Horseshoe crabs are still rocking that "prehistoric" look ever since it was just called the modern look hundreds of thousands of years ago. 

Bad News

Bad news: I broke my camera
Kinda good news: I have a warranty
Also kinda good news: I managed to take a few semi-focused pics with the broken camera



Can you find the bird in this picture? Yeah, it's pretty hard in the wind, with the sun shining, through binoculars to spot these little camouflaged guys on the beach. I've seen many plover rocks, plover bags, and plover leaves.



THIS is the famed (perhaps infamous) Piping Plover. The species is federally and state threatened here in Massachusetts. These shorebirds nest along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and some in the Great Plains. Piping Plovers are classified endangered or threatened in all areas because of human disturbance. Unfortunately, plovers pick beautiful beach locations to lay their eggs- the same beaches humans love. My job is to help these guys continue their species by monitoring them and roping off their nesting areas (among a lot of other things).




Girls night, raw. We both had long days in the field and were feeling worn down, so a bake at home pizza, salad, and Highland Winter Ale from Byron from Asheville were the perfect cure.




Bliss, pure bliss.



Chicken and dumplings with orzo, tricolored carrots, celery, and asparagus with a spinach salad with strawberries, feta, and cranberry vinaigrette (eaten during our nightly ritual of watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune). 

Chicken salad with bell peppers 

One of my favorite things to make, quiche. This one is bacon, spinach, and cheddar. 

Bacon, feta, and poached egg with chalula. 

It has felt like all 4 seasons this week! Yesterday was 65 and sunny while today was gray, foggy, drizzly, and 50. I spent Wednesday on the beach freezing my butt off in wool socks, a vest, a coat, and ear warmers. Meanwhile, daffodils are in full swing with tulip poplars budding out. The birders are anxiously awaiting the arrival of orioles and hummingbirds. 

Emily and I had our FIRST ROMANTIC BEACH PICNIC at our local beach. Emily made homemade black bean burgers and we topped them with bacon, swiss, and avocado. This will definitely be an ongoing outing for us. 

I drive by this truck on the way to one of my sites and had to take a picture from the car. For me this represents the pace of the island. I'm not sure if the red tractor is decoration or functional, but it doesn't matter on the Vineyard. There aren't stop lights, but just a lot of confusing triangular intersections that the locals and GPS tell you to "stay straight" on when that's not exactly an option. 

Happy Earth Day Homo sapiens!

Mondaze

Since I managed to finish moving in (okay, there are still some lawn chairs and such in my car if I'm being honest) I've been cooking and getting to explore a little bit. Unfortunately I haven't snagged any bird pictures yet, but I'm sure we'll all have our fill of avian photography by the time my stint here is up. Until then my second great passion: food.




Roasted green beans with lemon, chicken parmesan, and Irish cheddar ravioli

Paired with Bota Box Old Vine Zinfandel ;)

With suggestions from co-workers we headed out Saturday night to a local dive bar for some live music. The little group was really great and played some Eagles, country, and folky type music- exactly my scene. We hope to catch them again throughout the summer. We made friends with some locals at the bar - furthering our role as "basically locals". After the duo we headed over to a bar filled with air hockey tables, darts, pool, jenga, etc. That was a really fun place to hang out and literally play games. We'll be frequenting the dart boards as well this summer!



Sunday Brunch. I will be working Sundays for the season, so Emily and I decided to take advantage of both having Sunday off with no other housemates! We coordinated on this wonderful feast. Definitely not the last time we'll be brunching on the island!

These New Englanders are making sure I get real Vermont maple syrup and Ben & Jerry's ice cream (I still love you Braums).

Fret not, Monday morning breakfast was back to the usual.

I worked a long Monday and was brainstorming all day what I could make with the ingredients I had at home. The conclusion was chicken and dumplings with purple, white, and orange carrots, asparagus, and celery. I was so tired I just mixed a bunch of stuff together and hoped for the best. Conclusion: definitely edible. 

I have a lot of work cut out for me this season. In addition to a lot of locations to keep straight, long days, and working in the sun, it's also pretty labor intensive. It looks like I'll be asleep by 9:30 tonight!



Early morning on the water.



There will be plenty of photos of the Edgartown Lighthouse to come.



And with that, good night barn and good night moon.