Update
Hi all,Sorry I have been so terrible about putting up blog posts recently, but I have been extremely busy. I recently had some fairly major lung surgery on my left side to keep it from collapsing any more (three collapses this semester prompted this) and have been trying to catch up in school. Nevertheless, I have seen some good birds since my last post.Over Halloween weekend, I went to the Louisiana Ornithological Society convention with Kevin Morgan in Cameron Parish. It was a great weekend, with Kevin and I finding/seeing some of the best birds of the weekend. At Peveto Woods, Kevin and I found an odd warbler that turned out to be a femal

Fun With Sparrows
As I sat at LSU, I couldn't help but think of everything that was going on. I have suffered from two partially collapsed lungs in the past month and a half, perfectly timed for midterms. As one may expect, my grades began falling like a lung with a hole in it. Luckily, I am getting everything worked out now, and am under less pressure from school, but this last weekend, I knew exactly what I needed: a mental health day. A day that I could let myself slip away, and have fun before the tests this coming week. And as I walked out the door to my dorm and saw Jeff Harris drive up to pick me up, I knew that we were going to have a great day of birding the next day. Of course, how can you go wrong

Game Day in Cameron
I walked around nervously, glancing upon the shelters in various states of disregard. Sections of grass were warning taped off, concrete areas fenced up, and the ESPN stage was surrounded by semis and people wanting to get the best seats for the show. The parking lots were filled, and people were everywhere. A giant semi truck full of beer drove by. I shuddered. The game was almost 24 hours away, and the campus was already starting to go into party mode. It was at this moment I realized how thankful I was that I would not be on campus tomorrow for the LSU x Florida game, and how much I was looking forward to Grand Isle.4:45 AM: GAME DAY.The lights of Baron Rouge refl

Big Green Big Day / Fossil Fuels Find Flycatchers
This weekend, my friend John F. Garrett of Los Angeles, California and I decided to do Green Big Days in our respective areas. I have yet to hear of his final results, but have no doubt he got more than me. Regardless, I had an awesome day. Venturing out to the levee several times and wandering through the live oaks on campus produced several good birds, 56 species in all. Highlights are below:Wood Duck: Presumably going towards a communal roost, the seemingly endless stream of Wood Ducks overhead around 6:45 PM totaled around 120, though I probably undercounted greatly.Common Nighthawk: Not a bird I am used to seeing this late in the year, the five bird

Unexpected Problems
For those of you who follow my blog, I know I alluded to a good post this week, but alas, life intervened. As I write this, a pelagic trip is being conducted out of Venice, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. I was one of the first to sign on for the trip, but on Monday night, I suffered from sudden extreme pain in my upper left chest. When the pain remained Tuesday morning, I went to the doctor and was informed that I had suffered from a spontaneous pnuemothorax. In layman's terms: my left lung partially collapsed for no reason. I was in the hospital for most of the remaining week, and avoided my dorm room for a few days as one of my room mates was just diagnosed with swine flu. For the time be