The Birds Got Quieter. So Did I.

I used to think fieldwork would be the hard part—muddy boots, early mornings, waiting for the nightingales to sing. But the real silence started when the data came in. Fewer songs, every year. I logged the numbers, but I stopped telling people how it felt to listen for something that wasn’t there. We tagged them, tracked them, mapped their desperate winter migration to a strip of land I’ll never see. I keep writing up reports, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that the birds aren’t the only ones running out of places to go. My advisor calls it an important finding. I call it another reason to wonder if any of this matters when the world keeps getting smaller. I still show up. I still listen. But some days, the quiet is heavier than the data. #ScienceFatigue #FieldworkTruths #LabBurnout #Science