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Day 1230: Talks and birds
Aug. 3rd, 2023 10:44 pmSo on Tuesday I'd gone to that talk by Leaf Van Boven, and it was part of an annual event where Paul Slovic's younger colleagues from around the world (Italy, Germany, Israel, at least) come to Eugene for a week of sharing their research and socializing. I asked about the other events and was invited to join them, so this afternoon I went to campus for that. I showed up at the room, but it was dark. Fortunately I found them at the first place I guessed - the nearby cafeteria in the student union building. So I chatted with them there, then participated in their meeting, which was interesting.
It was a good evening for birds - I could hear lots from J's yard where I was reading - and I decided to go walk over to the woods by the school to see (hear) what was happening there. When I got to the ponderosa pines beside the back corner of the school, the Merlin app abruptly listed four (!) species: the lesser goldfinch I could hear, two birds I couldn't tell apart from it (red-breasted nuthatch, pine siskin), and a redwing blackbird. I'm not convinced about the two birds I listed in parentheses, but the app was pretty sure about the blackbird. Then I stepped into the woods and heard a towhee and lots of little brown creepers, which I've never seen, but their sound is distinctive.
I'd taken my water bottle on the walk and couldn't find it later. Sorin had knocked it off a surface into a dark spot, but before I found it, I drove to the school to see if I'd left it on a picnic table where I'd sat for a moment. An interesting modern thing was playing on the radio, so I was going to sit in my car when I got home until they identified it, but then it turned out the piece had a second movement so I went inside and listened on my phone until it was done. Unfortunately, the second movement went on and on and started to sound like a seesaw and gave me a headache, ha. It was Arvo Pärt's "Tabula Rasa." Note to self - just listen to the first half of this piece in the future.
It was a good evening for birds - I could hear lots from J's yard where I was reading - and I decided to go walk over to the woods by the school to see (hear) what was happening there. When I got to the ponderosa pines beside the back corner of the school, the Merlin app abruptly listed four (!) species: the lesser goldfinch I could hear, two birds I couldn't tell apart from it (red-breasted nuthatch, pine siskin), and a redwing blackbird. I'm not convinced about the two birds I listed in parentheses, but the app was pretty sure about the blackbird. Then I stepped into the woods and heard a towhee and lots of little brown creepers, which I've never seen, but their sound is distinctive.
I'd taken my water bottle on the walk and couldn't find it later. Sorin had knocked it off a surface into a dark spot, but before I found it, I drove to the school to see if I'd left it on a picnic table where I'd sat for a moment. An interesting modern thing was playing on the radio, so I was going to sit in my car when I got home until they identified it, but then it turned out the piece had a second movement so I went inside and listened on my phone until it was done. Unfortunately, the second movement went on and on and started to sound like a seesaw and gave me a headache, ha. It was Arvo Pärt's "Tabula Rasa." Note to self - just listen to the first half of this piece in the future.