"In Dave we trust" - Posted by Shivani Patel

“In Dave we trust” was our motto for a majority of this incredible, life changing trip. It started when we drove up the mountains and we were about five inches away from the edge, and it stuck with us ever since. However, yesterday I thought to myself “In Dave AND NIKKI we trust” because while setting up our 50 m plots we hit a rock wall and one of our teammates got stuck up an extremely steep hill. We yelled to Nikki to come save her and she was there in under a minute. I got stuck up there myself, but Terrence and Nikki guided me down because they know how terrified I am of heights. We truly are “all in this together.”

We worked hard all day with minimal breaks and went back to 8 points that night and went to bed at 1 am. It was very tiring but extremely rewarding at the same time just to know how much you’re contributing to the science community even though our legs were sore, our toes had blisters, and our arms had scrapes by the end of the day. In the end it was all worth it and although we encountered some challenges, we faced them head on.

The car rides are always my favorite part of the day because we blast music and try to come up with lyrics that are applicable to the work we do here. Some of my favorite include:

1). Breaking Free from High School Musical Parody (By Shivani)

They’re soaring, they’re flying

There’s not an owl in Portal that we can’t reach

Yeah we’re trying, but they’re breaking free

Oh they’re breaking free

Can you hear they’re hooting

Like a ghost is boo-ing they refuse to come to

The nets are high up there oooo the night is gone, night is gone

2). Single Ladies by Beyoncé Parody (By Jacob, Nishi, and Kayla)

All the Portal owls, all the Portal owls, all the Portal owls

Now put your nets up up

Up in the tree tree, looking at me me

Doing just what I should

Decided to swoop swoop

Now they wanna hoot hoot

Trying to fly away

 If you like it then you should put a band on it

If you like it then you should put a band on it

Don’t be mad if you can’t get an Elf owl

If you like it then you should put a band on it

Oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh, oh ,oh

Oh, oh, oh

Oh ,oh, oh, oh ,oh ,oh

Oh ,oh, oh, oh, oh

Oh, oh ,oh

3). Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus Parody (By Ms. Calabrese)

We have our nets up

We’re playing those calls

The chattering fades away

Watching the skies like yeah

Listening for calls like yeah

We got our headlamps and all of our gear

We’re working the night away

Yeaaaaaaahhh we’re conducting an owl survey

All jokes aside, this has been an amazing trip, and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my spring break than meeting new people, making incredible friends, and eating dinner outside while the sun is setting, and lemonade is coming out of our noses because we were laughing too hard. I am extremely grateful for this memorable experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity.