ABI 150 Section A: A Day in the Field: Stilts, Sun, and Survival
Overall Aims:
Our overall goal for the day was simple: collect as many stilt observations as possible while also trying not to get heatstroke or get fried from the sun. With the temperatures rising quickly, teamwork, water, and sunscreen have become just as important as our data sheets.
Morning Shift Adventures:
The morning crew consisted of Marshal, Lianna, Tanya, Samantha, Sam, Hannah, and Riley. After a slight delay, morning shift left campus at 6:33a.m and arrived at Lot H around 7:07a.m.
Once we reached Stilt City, we split into two groups:
Group 1:Tanya, Sam, and Riley
Group 2: Hanna, Lianna, Samantha, and Marshal
Because group 2 had four people, they had the fourth person act as a species and nearest neighbor spotter for the rangefinder observer and as the timekeeper.
The Silts Were Watching Us...
Group 2 quickly spotted a pair of stilts with babies. The adult stilts were not fans of our presence and spent most of the observation period circling above us and staring us down suspiciously. Apparently, we looked like a threat to their parenting plans.
At 7:49 a.m., we also encountered a pair of deer that reacted almost exactly like the stilts: staring intensely for a moment before sprinting away.
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| Very blurry picture of the deer |
Because many of the birds were nervous and frequently flew off, only a handful of observations from both groups were complete datasheets. Still, we managed to collect a decent amount of information before the heat started getting to us.
Sad News for the Killdeer Nest: while out in the field, we noticed a swarm of large trucks roll up to Lot H to make a U-turn, which is where the Killdeer was nesting. Hopefully, the eggs had already hatched beforehand.
Retreat, Regroup, Repeat
At 8:56 a.m., we took a much-needed break after deciding that Stilt City had essentially shut down for the morning, with the adults moving their babies away from us, the strange college students invading their habitat.
At 9:15 a.m., we headed back out into the heat and explored the Stilt Suburbs. Thankfully, we still found a few birds there and were able to continue observations.
By 10:41 a.m., we officially called it quits for the morning. Group 2 collected 12 total observations, including 8 complete datasets, while Group 1 collected 10 observations with 5 complete datasets.
As we were leaving, Marshal rejected our suggestion to bring a barrel of Beer for our final field day but instead gave us an unexpected but very interesting lesson about the tenure process and how professors are evaluated based on their teaching, research, and service.
Morning crew returned to campus at 11:19 a.m. and were dismissed right afterward.
Afternoon Crew Takes Over
The afternoon team had one major challenge: the heat. Once temperatures reach 88°F, the plan was to head back to campus and work on the data sheets indoors.
The afternoon crew left campus around 10:15 a.m. after a short delay and arrived at Lot H by 10:40 a.m. After a quick debrief from the morning crew about the best observation spots, the groups split into three teams.
Group 1: Lily, Heuijae, and Harvey
Group 2: Taylor, Carissa, and Isabella
Group 3: Josie, Olivia, and Ryan
Group 1 worked near Lot F and had a rough start with only spotting three stilts total. However, they reported zero incomplete data tables!
Their observations were of an extremely loud and vocal male stilts, a female, and a baby stilt. SO, naturally this family was thought to be Nasty Nathan, Nasty Nancy, and their unamed baby.
Group 2 worked near Lot H where they observed at least one baby stilt staying close to the nearby adults.
Group 3 followed the water way between Lots H and F and discovered a newly named "Silt New York." The area had around 10 stilts, making it the largest concentration of stilts that we observed today!
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| Stilt York |
At 12:40p.m the temperature officially reached 88°F, so field observations were ended for the day and the afternoon shift headed back to the classroom. Once back, they worked together to scan, upload, and enter all of this day's data sheets from both shifts! Thank you!
Tasks before Monday
Create a "cheat sheet" from the R studio homework. You should include commands you believe are important and will be using for data analysis, such as making graphs and generating summaries.
In your notebook:
- Write at least 3 "y is a function of x" ideas that Marshal taught us about on Monday
- Draw prediction graphs for each of your ideas
You will not have to upload anything for these two tasks to discord. Their only to help later on with the data analysis and guide your thinking for what you want your manuscript to focus on.
Tasks After Monday
- Choose one of your graphs to make in R Studio and calculate the significance value (p-value, f-value, or R²)
- Post a picture of your graph in the R Studio chat on Discord
- include your variables written as y~x and your significance value
- Share either one complication/question you had or one helpful tip if everything went smoothly
Morning crew:
- 6:30 — Depart
- 7:00 — Arrive at Lot H and start data collection
- 9:00 — Break
- 9:30 — Resume data collection
- 10:30 — Meet afternoon group for debrief
- 10:40 — Head back to campus
- 10:00 — Depart
- 10:30 — Arrive and debrief with morning group
- 10:40 — Begin data collection
- 12:30 — Lunch meetup
- 1:00 — Leave if temperatures hit 88°F; otherwise continue observations
Whenever temperatures reach 88°F, fieldwork ends and data entry begins.
Important Reminders
- No school on Monday because it's Memorial Day
- Next morning crew consists of: Lily, Heuijae, Carissa, Harvey, Sam, Hannah, and Marshal
- Next Thursdays forecast shows a high of 92°F, so everyone should come prepared with:
- Plenty of water
- Sunscreen
- Hats/sunglasses if needed
- And a willingness to possibly be judged by angry stilts again!
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