# My son, doing what he does!



## Clementine_3 (Aug 11, 2009)

This is my goofy kid  
He'll be starting his last semester of college in a few weeks, his major is Wildlife Management. He spent last summer and this working for a research group up in Maine, he traveled a lot last year but not too much this year. Anyway, he is waaaaay up in the boonies so this is the only picture he has sent, he has no computer access or even a cell signal. They are banding Loons and taking blood and feather samples. He mostly works with bats but is helping finish the Loon research before summer ends.
Anyway, here he is with his new friend the Loon.







Here are some from last summer.
I forgot what kind of bats these are, don't tell him that though or he will roll his eyes at me!!










This is a Barred owl that they accidentally caught in the bat nets





They stumbled across a Turkey vulture nest too! This is just a wee baby!! No worries, they have proper permits to be handling them.





Hope you enjoyed seeing what he will be doing for a living. I also hope the bats didn't scare you, I only posted the 'happy' bat faces. lol


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## BigBiscuit (Aug 11, 2009)

Those are some cool pictures. I had no idea that loons were that big.


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## Gulf Coast (Aug 11, 2009)

Ummm okay~~ I can tell you what kind of bats those are.. They are UGLY bats thats what kind they are.. lol.. J/K I love bats too.. just not up and personal like that..  The picture of your son and the Loon I swear looked like he had a fake duck in his lap.. Because its so big... I too didn't know they got that big.. oh my..

Thanks for sharing.. ​

oops forgot to say..I would have loved to seen that baby turkey vulture.. look at his face..


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## Madortoise (Aug 11, 2009)

I thought the bats looked pretty cute there, but the owl and the baby turkey vulture are amazing. You must be proud to have your son pursuing a career in this field.


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## Yvonne G (Aug 11, 2009)

BigBiscuit said:


> Those are some cool pictures. I had no idea that loons were that big.



That was exactly my thought when I looked at that picture!!

Thanks for sharing.

Yvonne


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## Stazz (Aug 12, 2009)

Well to be deadly honest, I've never even heard of or seen a Loon before !!!! Bats yes, they loved my Avo tree in Cape Town, the little buggers. I could never get a nice avo off it because they couldn't share ! lol


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## Traveller (Aug 12, 2009)

I love the pics, thanks for sharing.
Loons are gorgeous birds.
Up here in Canada on our lakes we're very protective of our loons.
Nothing beats waking up early at the cottage to look out across the lake,
with the mist rising off of it and see and hear loons.
Their call always sends shivers up my back.
Just this past week we had 6 cruising in front of our boathouse.


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## Stazz (Aug 12, 2009)

Sheesh Sue, that truly sounds amazing!! can I come live with you? haha.


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## Isa (Aug 12, 2009)

Wow amazing pics! 
The loons are so beautiful, it is the first one I see.
And I love the bat picture, it looks like she is smiling to the camera 
The owl is beautiful and the turkey vulture looks really mad 
You must be very proud of your son


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## Crazy1 (Aug 12, 2009)

Clementine, what exquisite pics of your son at work . I love all the pics. I am in a Red Hat Chapter and the Loon is our mascot . I knew they were large birds but seeing the one our son is holding really puts it into perspective they are huge.
I also love bats and looking at those pics makes me just want to give them hugs. You son is very handsome and looks like he truly enjoys his work. Congratulations to you and our son as it is his last semester. And thank you for sharing him and his work pics with us.


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## Clementine_3 (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks everyone! To give a little more perspective on the size of the loon and vulture...he is 6'1", I was very surprised at the loon myself! He told me they were big but I did not realize how big until I opened my email. lol 
To say I am proud of him is a huge understatement at best, it's been a "long and winding road" for him. He initially was going to school for meteorology, it's what he had wanted to do since he was a wee small one...it's all he ever thought about doing. He went to college for 2 1/2 years and hit a brick wall in calculus III, no amount of tutors or study groups or private sessions with the professor or even summer school could get him past that dang calc III. There were two more levels of math beyond that, his world literally fell apart when he realized he could not be what he had always wanted to be. He crashed and burned, left school and was in a terrible mess for a year. 
I will backtrack a bit and tell you that when he was just a toddler I suddenly got a 'snap-shot' picture in my head of him as an adult in a field holding a clipboard. I had no clue what it meant but it was so clear, like it was a real picture someone had taken. Knowing he wanted to be a meteorologist I sort of thought it made sense, he would be off researching tornado damage or something yet it didn't exactly fit that picture I had in my head. 
Well, when he announced one day, out of the blue really, that he was going back to school for Wildlife Management every bell and whistle sounded...*THAT* was my snap-shot of him!!
He is very involved at school, he won a small scholarship for local reptile/amphibian research he did and was invited to present it to the Wildlife Society. He has gone to many symposiums and was invited to attend a national banquet and conference on bats (only two other college students were invited to go!). He volunteers at the state pathology lab when he is home, they are studying a deadly "white nose fungus" that is decimating the bat population here. 
He couldn't be happier or more involved if he tried and I could not be prouder of him if I tried!!


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## Nay (Aug 12, 2009)

What a great post. I , for some reason, don't usually go to the unrelated topics What a suprise to click on my most treaured animal, the Loon.AND someone who is watching them. I have loads of pictures, and nick knacks all over of loons, but have never ween one in the wild. I'm jealous!!! Hope my son gets on a great path too. Thanks for sharing.
Na


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## bettinge (Aug 12, 2009)

Wish I could get more bats at the house! I had several that would fly over my pool at dusk, but I have not seen them in years! Its not that I love bats, but I hate biting bugs.....and bats love bugs!


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## BethyB1022 (Oct 17, 2009)

I love loons, I lived in Maine for a few years while I was in college, and I really miss hearing them on the lake at night. Was he up in Rangeley? I had some friends that banded loons up there a few years ago. Thanks for sharing a picture of one of my favorite birds.


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## K412 (Oct 18, 2009)

What a cool job! I've heard of white nose and it's a horrible thing.
That's awesome that he is working toward saving them, very commendable.
You did a great job raising a young man like that!
Loons can be as bad as a Gannet sometimes, he's really brave too!
Thanks for sharing the pictures!


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## Laura (Oct 18, 2009)

I would LOVE to do what he is doing.. 
And I had no idea loons were that big either.. how funny...


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## Clementine_3 (Oct 19, 2009)

I actually just got an email from him (he never calls his mother!), his research has been cited on a poster/publication and he's been given proper credit! I guess he is officially 'published' now! Pretty cool.
He said Blue Herons are the ones to really watch out for, they have bad attitudes and big beaks to back it up with! I'm glad I really don't know what he's doing on a daily basis, I'd be a basket case.
That town (Rangeley) does not sound familiar but I don't know where he really was. It was a very, very small town way up by the boarder...he just loved it.


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## Sudhira (Oct 19, 2009)

Oh wow...amazing photos, and amazing work! At the risk of repeating...I had NO idea Loons were that large!!!


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