I really like the first week of classes because the energy and excitement is high among the students. What interesting things will we learn? What exciting things will we do? I am on sabbatical this semester, so I am not getting questions like that from students, but the questions are still worth asking of myself. I will surely learn a lot during these months, and there will be plenty of excitement. So far though, I’ve simply been staring at a computer screen and just beginning to formulate a strategy for finishing my paper on Downy Woodpecker home range size.
That’s right. I am about to write a paper about the amount of acreage individual woodpeckers use as they go about their lives finding food, finding mates and playing musical instruments. (I have no evidence for the latter, but who’s really to know? Not many people study these birds.)