Fieldwork. Of sorts

I have just spent two full weeks in Australia. Yes, it’s not much, considering how long it takes to get there from the UK. 

The trip was an odd one. The length was dictated by several factors - I wanted to get out and meet my Australian supervisor, as well as see the set up and my study system, in order to get a better idea of what I’m dealing with and discuss my PhD project in a bit more detail. On the other hand though it’s quite late in the year and the breeding season is pretty much over by now, hence there wasn’t much point in staying down under for a prolonged period of time.

I think that the trip was a successful one. The people are great there and the supervisor was happy to share his insights about all kinds of things. It was helpful to see the birds I’m working on and get a look at the field site. I hope it will aid me in fleshing out my ideas for next season’s fieldwork (behavioural observations, yay!), so that I’ll be off to a good start when I come back in September. Additionally, I feel like I managed to do some networking and for the first time it came easy to me - maybe it’s just the atmosphere there in general, but everyone was so chatty, nice and helpful that having a conversation was a pleasure.

If anybody I have met over there ever reads this I’d like to say thank you for all your hospitality. I really appreciate it and I hope our paths cross in the future and maybe one day I can return the favour.

On top of a successful PhD trip I also managed to spent some time bird watching, chasing the wild parrots (I’m a bit of a parrot geek). Some of the photos of Oz wildlife below if you fancy seeing them.

Crimson rosella

     

Superb fairy-wren chick

      

Wallaby

Sulphur crested cockatoos on a bird feeder