GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
Rainbow Bee-eater, Merops ornatus.
(click on image for a slightly larger version in its own window).
This visit is the best gift I've ever received.
Heartfelt thanks to John and MA for the providing these broken wings with the gift of flight, Hernan (the bullfighter) for caring for the parrots, Tom for a terrific meal, and especially PZ and his wonderful family for providing a nest and companionship to this wandering spirit.
Starlings in Winter
Chunky and noisy,
but with stars in their black feathers,
they spring from the telephone wire
and instantly
they are acrobats
in the freezing wind.
And now, in the theater of air,
they swing over buildings,
dipping and rising;
they float like one stippled star
that opens,
becomes for a moment fragmented,
then closes again;
and you watch
and you try
but you simply can't imagine
how they do it
with no articulated instruction, no pause,
only the silent confirmation
that they are this notable thing,
this wheel of many parts, that can rise and spin
over and over again,
full of gorgeous life.
Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,
even in the leafless winter,
even in the ashy city.
I am thinking now
of grief, and of getting past it;
I feel my boots
trying to leave the ground,
I feel my heart
pumping hard. I want
to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.
-- Mary Oliver [Starlings in Winter in Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays, Amazon Beacon Press, Boston, 2003]
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Comments
That's a *wonderful* picture -- any chance there is a slightly higher rez version floating around for our computer desktops?!
Mike
Posted by: Michael Porter | January 22, 2006 9:40 PM
I am glad you had such a great time. You deserve it! good on ya!
Posted by: Dawn | January 22, 2006 10:04 PM
Bee-eater is avicentric nomenclature and supports the paradigm of oppression of the Apis class. Er, genus.
Posted by: Jamie | January 22, 2006 10:12 PM
I'd love to share that picture with you at a higher resolution, Mike, but it is currently floating around out there, homeless, unattributed and without a larger version to link to. I did link the image to the largest version that I have, so it will pop up in its own window.
Posted by: GrrlScientist | January 22, 2006 10:44 PM
Ah, well, thanks for trying. The pop-up isn't actually that bad as a desktop, just a bit of pixellation.
Posted by: Michael Porter | January 23, 2006 9:30 AM
checkers Probaly you should read this. checkers Hope this helps. See you next life. Buy checkers now
Posted by: checkers | March 27, 2006 7:42 PM