It is 6:00 a.m. in Konstanz, Germany. It’s March and spring has arrived a bit too early for everyone. The weather is a little unpredictable; windy, cold and rainy days are squeezed between some sunny days.

I am getting ready for another adventure with researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology (Dechmann Lab). Lara, a new Ph.D. student, is going to lead the charge today. The team includes Marion (technician), Pino (enthusiastic but quiet dog), Lucy (a visiting scholar from the Czech Republic, studying rodents and insectivores) and Klaus (director of a local volunteer group for bat box monitoring).