Summer Doldrums

Seems like I have had a hard time getting any words down on this blog for a while and now I can't even get a photo posted very often.
One excuse is that I have had my heads in the tropical clouds trying to figure out not only my Tanzania assignment, but also trying to get familiar with East African birds. I have a feeling it is going to be a bit overwhelming. I am not sure yet exactly where I will be going in Tanzania and I am not sure if any of the people I will be working with have an interest in birds so it may be trial by fire in my first foray into tropical birding. Some should be fairly straight-forward, but I am sure there are going to be many more I am going to just have to try to get photos of and take notes about to try and figure out after I find the right section in my field guide to assist in identification. There are over 1000 species of birds found in Tanzania, in a country about twice the size of California. Nearly all of them are species I have never observed before so I am sure the species accumulation curve will be fairly steep for much of my trip. It will be exciting to bird again in a place where all will be new. That hasn't happened for quite a few years.
I think all the paperwork is nearly completed- just a couple more shots to get up to speed, a visit to the doctor for anti-malarials, and travel arrangements to make before a can feel like this is really going to happen.
Getting up to speed on the project I will be working on has also been a challenge and I will let you know more as things get figured out.
Maybe I will even get a few posts up soon. Maybe.