Saturday Work Day - Post 16

An early morning after roaming around Gibraltar Island until about 0200 means that I'm actually  tired as I sit in the lab to write this.

After breakfast we were divvied up into groups and put on boats to leave the Island (or stay on the Island - dependent on one's work assignment).  After making it over to South Bass we split up again and my group went down south to the Lighthouse.  Having visited a couple of years ago, I was excited for the opportunity to finally get inside and see what it was like.

We quickly walked through the lower level before heading up the tower.  Roughly 60' up, the view was pretty solid and we could easily see Green Island and the Mainland.  Unfortunately, since the USCG put in the automated light adjacent to the Lighthouse the tower was stripped of its Fourth-order Fresnel and lay bare inside.  (I'll post some photos when I make it back home tomorrow or Monday.)

After taking in the sights, we divided up again - Rich and Ed took the porch by the Tower, while I joined Katie on the porch off the kitchen.  Things went pretty quick on the porch, so we painted the stairs and a stretch of concrete all the way around the porch before stopping to enjoy our packed lunches.  

Renewed from onboarding some calories, we found the 1st coat of paint dry and hit it with a 2nd before moving to help Rich & Ed on their porch.

Then, it was time... 

BUTTERFLY TAGGING!

As it turns out, the tranq guns were overkill (who would have guessed?).  

Kidding aside, this is nearing the tail end of the Monarch migration - so, we didn't catch that many.  The idea is pretty simple: you see a Monarch flying and capture it with the net then twist it off so the butterfly can't escape.  Then you hold the net up and the butterfly will try to fly upwards - whereupon you reach in and trap the little critter holding its wings shut and pull it out to examine it.

There's a log sheet to be filled out with date, location, sex, wild/captive-bred and tag number.  The tags are simple weather resistant paper dots (with a website, ID number and phone number on it for individuals to call when they find one) that affix to the underside of the wing with a super adhesive ummm... adhesive.  

Once we finished making the rounds and were certain there were no more rogue butterflies to capture and tag - we returned to the Lighthouse to gather up our equipment, clean the area up and head on back.

A mental note was made to stop by the PIB Brewing Company.

On our return to Gibraltar, there was just barely time enough to hit a shower and run over to the Wine & Cheese event - where I randomly ran into one of my Comm professors...  

Over to the stairs for group photos, back up to the dining hall for dinner (perch or veggie lasagna - and the aforementioned salad bar was back!).  After dinner, Matt filled us in on all the renovations over the past year and turned us loose to do as we will.

I headed over to South Bass to try out the Brewing Co. (Pumpkin & Octoberfest are both pretty decent brews) while reading a bit.  From there, I walked through the village in an attempt to find a coffee shop / place for dessert - a thoroughly fruitless endeavor.  To interject briefly - I don't care for PIB - I find the whole scene to be very... Sad.  Especially if you're looking to do anything other than go to a bar.

And now - I'm enjoying the solitude of the computer lab and contemplating how late I can sleep in without missing any part of brekkers...

We have a "Tweets & Treats" activity planned for the morning after brekkers - A walk around Gibraltar to identify birds and edible plants.  Should be fun.  Then back to S. Bass to the ferry to the mainland to the road that will eventually lead home.