Hehe, ok that's a total joke. As far as I'm concerned, my work here is play... at least some of the time. My main project-an oak pine forest covering the mountain that looms large over the town center- is starting to pick up pace and get very interesting. I'm finally being used in the capacity of my biological interest and knowledge as we start canvassing the park's flora and fauna. We are starting the process of applying to change the park's status from county land to protected area. This will require an exhaustive study of not only the park's wildlife and status but also the political climate, the opinions of the surrounding citizens, etc etc. On my part, i've been grabbing lizards and snakes (which are sadly few and far between) and id'ing them; and have also started birdwatching... early in the mornings-although still not quite early enough. I'm working up to it. Bella has been very helpful in motivating me to grab my binoculars and field guide and do a little casual birdwatching before heading to the office. Of course, bringing a dog birdwatching sounds a little counterproductive, i realize, but i'm (excuse the figure of speech) just trying to kill two birds with one stone.
Some pretty birds that I have seen already include the Painted Redstart and Pink-headed Warbler, and my counterpart got an awesome picture of a pair of Blue-throated Motmots... Google it as i'm not dealing with putting photos from google on here... the headache!
Also I'm very excited about my newest project-trying to put together a group of kids for a summer camp-like thing in the park-school here ends in mid october and resumes in January. I want to bring a group up hiking in the forest weekly and show them a little bit about the wildlife that lives right in their backyards. This is really what the park means to me-education and appreciation about the environment and wildlife for the local people that live directly around the mountain. When I initially heard that I would be working on Ecotourism here, i had grand visions of internationally acclaimed tourist sites receiving foreigners from all over. But this project, realistically, is geared towards local tourism; the way Mt. Diablo back home is used mostly by the people who live near it, and love it. I have a dream that this park will grow to be loved by its local people too, and that I can help them learn to appreciate the forest enough to want to conserve it.
The park, just in its beginning phases, still needs a lot of work, and that work is picking up pace since I arrived. But it is only one facet of the work that I'm doing here. More to follow on other 'secondary projects' that I think are just as cool!
peace,
amber
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