Good morning!

I'm sure most of you just got to work and are only beginning a nice long day. Well, I have managed to complete my day of work, and it's only 9.30. Granted, I did have to get up at 3.45 a.m., be coherent enough to drive 45 minutes, and then be awake enough to hike and ID birds by sight and sound. On the way to the meadow, our lead car pulled over; I stopped too and got out to discover what was wrong. Apparently, a bat had hit their windshield and fallen down into the engine. Easy to understand as I imagine that more than knocked the wind out of the poor little thing. We couldn't get him out, so we finished our drive. When we finished our training, we checked again and he wasn't there. I like to think he made it.
At the meadow we practiced what we would do in a survey situation. This placed is jammed with Lazuli Bunting, a very beautiful bird who has a song that is very difficult to remember. I also saw a Yellow Warbler, a MacGillivray's Warbler, a Black-headed Grosbeak and many others I won't bore you with. No Willow Flycatcher. This is where we saw the WIFL before, so we were hopeful, but no dice.
We all split up to search. I loved to be out there with no one else around. There was a light mist that hung over the meadow. It slowly burned off as the sun rose. It was just me and scores of birds. I had to cross 2 barbed-wire fences and 1 stream, several times. I got these great waterproof boots that go over my hiking boots and I wore my rain pants so that my regular pants wouldn't get soaking wet from the dew on all the tall grass. The bummer is that the waterproof overboots seem to have sprung a leak already. My feet were completely dry and I was comfortable the whole time, but when I took them off I noticed water in the bottom. Then, I noticed light shining through a small hole in the boot. It's quite possible I caught them on the barbed wire as I was going over it. I tried my best, but it's hard when there's no one around to hold the wire for you. I should check my rain pants for holes, too. Nothing a little duct tape won't fix. I also found some Red-winged Blackbird feathers. I don't think the blackbird made it, if you know what I mean.
The plan was to all meet up towards the back of the meadow. When only 6 of us showed up, we had to split up and find the other two. They had gone way into a back corner, and had missed all of us. I managed to drop all of my food. I went to have a snack and found no food in my pack. I had just finished my tasks, so decided it would be prudent to walk back to my car and find it. I figured I had left the food in there, and didn't want a bear to rip off my trunk to get at it. You cannot leave any food or anything smelly (facial tissue, sunscreen, lip balm, etc.) in your car in Yosemite or you are asking for a new paint job. I walked the whole way back to find no food, so then had to hike the whole way back in to rendevouz with the others. Whew. Kind of tiring. And, all without any nourishment. When I met up with everyone, Chris said, "Did anyone lose any food?" He had left it where it was because it was so neatly laid out, he thought someone was using it as a marker. I guess maybe I took it out and didn't remember -? I don't know. I think waking up that early makes me a little loopy.
I have to study backpacking first aid and my birds. Bird test is tomorrow. Then, off to Sonora to do laundry. There is no laundromat in Groveland.