the dust is settling...

i'm back stateside and have been for a couple of weeks. i'm sure you all can understand the time involved in moving, unpacking, and everything else that comes with settling into a new place. my point is...the blog wasn't a top priority, but i'm here now...so lets get going!

after the island, i spent a week with amanda traveling around canada, upstate new york and parts of new england. after reading a comment left on amanda's blog...i felt REALLY shitty. a friend of mine (from taiwan) lived only a few hours away from where we were traveling. i feel horrible. j...we both thought you lived over near vancouver! please accept our apologies...we would've been there in a heartbeat if we knew. i'm just kicking myself in the ass because of the lost opportunity to see my friend. big sigh...anyway...my trip with amanda was cool. i enjoyed spending time with my friend and seeing some beautiful scenery. if you want to know more...visit amanda's blog by hitting her link on the right-hand column of my blog.

after visiting amanda...i headed on to scotland to visit my friend clare and her family. the last time i had seen clare was at her wedding in france 10 years ago...which i freaked out about...i couldn't believe it had been 10 years! the cool thing was...it didn't seem like 10 years at all. it just seemed like i had just seen her a few months ago, but now she has children.

clare and ian have a wonderful family. her children are wonderful and i truly had a good time getting to know them...i still miss tom and lizzie...clare too! we spent a week in scotland, a few days at their cottage in wales and then a few days in cambridge. i had a fantastic time...and i'm determined to make sure that it's not another 10 years before i see them again. i wish you all could meet her...she's such a wonderful, sweet, genuine person. i will write more and start posting photos in my next update...baby steps in updating this blog!

this was the last thing a gull saw on metinic island!!

URGENT: ALL VISITORS MUST REPORT TO THIS MAN WHEN VISITING THE ISLAND. UNAUTHORIZED VISITORS WILL BE SHOT WITHOUT WARNING...SURVIVORS WILL BE SHOT AGAIN...HE'S NOT JOKING.

ok...so alex got a little carried away shooting gulls and started shooting people, sheep, anything that moved really. i had to put this notice up in the cove. ok, ok...we were just goofing around and took some photos of us with the gun. unfortunately, i can't find mine. i will post it however if i can find it. just to let you know...the mighty hunter was not alex...don't be fooled by this photo. the fluffy girl from northern wisconsin bagged more gulls!!

here is a cute little photo of one of our roseate chicks. you can still see quite clearly the white egg tooth on the end of the bill...this is what helps the chick break out of its egg. gotta love the hairdo of the roseate 'punk' chick.

my fav guille photo

this little guy or gal was not too happy about being dragged out of their burrow...especially when alex and i had a good laugh looking at its' belly. this is the awkward stage for the black guillemot. don't you love the little buddha belly?