For my Capstone I decided to write a twenty-four part novella to reflect on and hone my skills in writing. I aspire to be a published writer one day and I thought doing a writing piece for my Capstone would not only give me practice with long pieces of writing but also allow me to discover who I am as a writer. Every part (or chapter) came out to be approximately 5,000 words each. I say "part" instead of "chapter" just because my novella is not broken into chapters but rather parts that can be read out of chronological order. When writing something so extensive your process is very tedious. Some parts I spent months on because revisions were hefty. I revised the first part at least seven times, and not just small grammar mistakes. The first part actually went through seven full out structure changes, each one making the story read differently than the last. As of now, I am still undecided on which structure works best for setting the scene of my novella. It is something I can reflect on over the summer. Although I did learn a lot about what I was capable of as a writer, I learned more about what my true work ethic was. I saw when I worked best and learned how to know how much I could get done before even starting. I also taught myself to sit still long enough to put at least 3,000 words on paper at a time. In the end, I am more confident as a writer and have this enduring obstacle under my belt. Please enjoy part 2 of my novella which is attached below. 

           For my Capstone I conducted a survey of birds in the two Wissahickon Valley Meadows (Houston and Andorra), during the fall and spring migrations. I posted the survey results on a blog so that people could see what birds were passing through the meadows. This served as scientific data, and a reference for bird enthusiasts. I went to the two meadows on a weekly basis to count individual birds. I recorded their specific locations in the meadow, as well age, sex and the size of their flocks. At the end of each migration, I created spreadsheets accounting for each species, and each individual bird seen. This data showed how common each species was, and when they were seen. I learned about what types of birds pass through the area, and how many. I also learned more about birding and surveying. I learned about diversifying my surveys, going in different types of weather and different times of day to get a broader range of data. I learned about the birds themselves, their habits and behaviors, as well as how to better identify them. I learned how to distinguish the sexes and ages of certain species. I hope that this data can benefit the Wissahickon, and the people that bird there.