I woke up because of an unpleasant nightmare. Half asleep and rubbing my eyes trying to open them, I looked around, but no one was there from the host family. There was only me and Sumiya in the ger. It was 6:30 in the morning and very quiet inside, except the noise the boiling tea makes. I threw my deel (traditional Mongol wool jacket) on my shoulders and stepped outside. The morning fresh air made me feel fully awakened, but very soon I caught the chilly wind and wanted to go back inside. Just then Dorjoo, the man of the family, arrived on his horse and followed me inside. Inside the ger, the warmth from a dung fire in the zuukh (round stove placed in the center of ger) made me feel warm again. While kicking his one foot with another to scrub the snow off, he said, “There are some fresh kills for your vultures today.” He continued, “Early this morning our sheep herd was attacked and those “zevkhii saaral” (noxious gray wolf) have killed two of our sheep... At the least, I better go quickly for the sheep’s skins before the birds tear them apart.”

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I left Boise early February with my wife, Bayarmaa, and daughter, Nomin, for home far away on the other side of the globe. We were so happy to see our families again in Mongolia. Particularly, I was excited to begin collecting breeding ecology data on little-studied Cinereous Vultures in mountains and steppes of Mongolia. The Cinereous Vulture is a glorious bird, the largest among the Old World vultures. Its foot is almost bigger than an adult man's hand, and its wingspan is longer than our stretched arms. The Cinereous Vulture is the commonest among vultures in Mongolia; however, very little is known about this bird. My study objectives were simple but not easy to achieve, included finding and monitoring nests, collecting data on vulture food and nesting habitat, and trapping vultures and attaching radio transmitters to find out where they go to search for food.

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July 28, 2000

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March 3, 2000

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Day One - Rob’s wife Tara, with 10-month-old Will, who had an ear infection and was running a fever, held in her arms and four-year-old Jackson tugging at her pant leg, waved a smiling goodbye as Rob and I bolted down the jet way. Although sad to see him leave, having the whirlwind of activities preceding his departure over was probably also a relief to her. We were the last two on board and somewhat sheepishly hurried to our seats as the plane door was closed by an understandably grumpy flight attendant. The adventure finally had begun!

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Day One - Rob’s wife Tara, with 10-month-old Will, who had an ear infection and was running a fever, held in her arms and four-year-old Jackson tugging at her pant leg, waved a smiling goodbye as Rob and I bolted down the jet way. Although sad to see him leave, having the whirlwind of activities preceding his departure over was probably also a relief to her. We were the last two on board and somewhat sheepishly hurried to our seats as the plane door was closed by an understandably grumpy flight attendant. The adventure finally had begun!

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