01x05 - Bird in the Hand/Bye-Bye Birdie

[bunniefuu]

Hey, everyone-- it's me, Molly!

♪ Molly of Denali ♪

Let's go!

♪ She's Molly of Denali ♪

(laughing): Whooo!

♪ By plane or sled or snowshoe ♪

♪ She is ready to explore ♪

♪ From Kaktovik down to Juneau ♪

♪ Always wanting to learn more ♪

Yeah!

♪ Together with her best friend Tooey ♪

♪ Always by her side ♪ And Trini!

♪ Discovering the outdoors ♪

♪ On adventures day and night ♪

♪ Come along with Molly ♪

♪ Molly ♪

♪ Through fields of fireweed ♪

♪ Come along with Molly ♪

♪ Molly ♪

♪ From tundra to the sea ♪

Mahsi'choo-- let's go!

♪ Molly of Denali ♪ Yeah!

♪ She's Molly of Denali ♪

♪ Come on ♪ ♪ Let's go! ♪

♪ Molly of Denali ♪

♪ She's Molly of Denali ♪

MOLLY: "Bird in Hand."

(wind blowing)

♪ ♪

(chainsaw whirring)

MOLLY: Why is Mr. Patak

cutting down that tree, Tooey?

So it won't fall in the road.

(gasps): What if it fell

on that spooky house and all the ghosts

came squirting out?

I would be, like...

(groans and screams slowly)

I would be, like...

(slowly): "Oh, no!"

And my scream would still be here,

but I would already be home under my bed.

I would be on the other side of Qyah barefoot,

because when I saw the ghosts,

I would jump straight out of my shoes,

like this.

(yelps)

Weird.

(laughs) They can do it in cartoons.

(wood cracking)

There it goes.

Woo-hoo!

(tree crashes)

Wow.

Spooky house is still scary, even without the tree.

(scoffs): It's not that scary.

What?

You're more scared of it than I am.

No, I'm not.

Then you would have no problem

knocking on the front door right now?

Uh... sure, fine.

No problem.

Good-- let's see it.

♪ ♪

(house creaking)

(voice trembling): See?

Not scary at all.

It's just an old house.

Maybe one full of ghosts.

(moans)

TOOEY: Just a door that I'm going to knock on.

Mmm.

Hmm.

(knocks)

Naljat! I'm scared!

(yelps)

(screams)

(phone camera clicks)

(Molly and Tooey laughing)

I laughed so hard, I have to use the bathroom.

(laughing): Me, too.

(metal clanking)

DAD: The water's shut off in here, guys.

If you need the bathroom, you can use the outhouse.

Ugh, there's a million spiders in there.

DAD: Or the bathroom in the bunkhouse laundry.

Much better.

♪ ♪

(hinges creak)

(straining): You can go first,

but hurry up, because I have to go.

(door creaks)

(creature hoots faintly)

(yelps)

I think there's a ghost in that broken dryer.

I heard a really weird noise.

There's no ghost-- let me in.

I have to go.

(door creaks shut)

(creature hoots)

I heard it, too!

BOTH: Naljat!

(both screaming)

Outhouse!

Woods!

MOLLY (yelps): Spider.

Gwideedril! Stay in your corner.

Phew.

At least the ghost didn't follow me into the woods.

You know, if there really is a ghost in that old dryer,

we should take a picture.

Or lock up the building and move to Fairbanks.

Here's the plan:

We sneak in, you open the dryer door,

I take a picture of the ghost,

we publish it in a magazine,

scientists throw us a parade!

You're forgetting the part where the ghosts eat us.

(sighs): Okay.

I'm gonna need protection.

(door creaks)

MOLLY (whispers): Be totally quiet while we get into position.

(unclearly): I got a bad feeling about this.

(whispers): Take out your mouth guard-- I can't understand you.

(normally): I said, I have a bad feeling about this.

It's like there's a sign

that says, "Don't feed the bears,"

and I'm holding a ham sandwich.

Shhh.

(door creaks quickly)

(whispering): One, two, three.

(hooting echoes) (both scream)

(phone camera clicks) (screaming)

(laughing)

Whew! That was close.

(gasping): We got it!

We got a picture of the ghost!

Look!

Hmm.

That's a mop.

It is?

Is it a ghost mop?

(gasps): It looks angry.

It looks damp.

(sighs): Okay, then.

We're going back in.

(groans)

(door creaks softly)

(whispering): Do you hear it?

(whispering): No.

(hooting echoes) (yelp)

Wait!

That didn't sound like a ghost.

(trembling): It sounded like something that could eat a ghost.

(hooting echoes, objects flapping) (yelps)

No, it sounds like a mouse got caught behind the dryer.

Huh.

After all this, it's just a mouse?

I bet it's in that silver hose thing.

Let's catch it and put it outside.

Come out, little mouse.

(rustling and hooting)

(yelps)

(hooting)

(computer chirps) And that's how we found

this really tiny owl in the dryer vent.

We got Dad to help us rescue it and set it free.

In some Native cultures,

owls can mean bad news, or a change in the weather.

Dad thinks that this owl is telling us

that winter is coming.

But in this case, I think it just means

we needed to put a cover over the dryer fit.

This is Molly signing off.

(taps key)

TOOEY: All right, Molly.

What's this bird?

(cawing on speaker)

Dotsoo-- raven.

Okay.

This one?

(honking)

Canada goose.

(clucking)

(clucking)

Ptarmigan.

You're good.

Yeah, but I don't know what kind of owl we found.

Is it in the book?

I don't think so.

I've been flipping through the pages.

Let me see.

TOOEY: It kinda looked like that one.

Pygmy owl.

Huh, what does pygmy mean?

Half bird, half pig?

MOLLY: Pygmy owl is named for its small size.

Oh, so pygmy must mean small.

Let's listen to it.

(hooting steadily)

That's not it.

Our owl kinda makes that...

(hooting rapidly)

Hmm.

Maybe it's this one, the boreal owl?

(gasps): It has markings

just like our owl.

Play it.

(hooting rapidly)

Yes!

That's it!

That's the one, definitely.

The boreal owl is a cavity dweller.

What does cavity dweller mean?

A cavity is a hole in your tooth.

But dwelling means where you live.

That owl was small,

but not small enough to live in a tooth.

Keep reading.

Maybe it'll tell us.

The nest site is usually a natural hollow

or an old woodpecker hole.

A hole!

A cavity is a hole in your tooth.

Woodpeckers live in holes.

So I bet cavity dweller just means they live in holes.

I'm going to vlog about this.

(warbling and calling slowly)

Ooh, that's a loon.

(exhales): Talk about spooky.

Uh-huh.

Imagine if we heard that in the dryer.

(creature moaning faintly)

(whispers nervously): What was that?

A ghost?

(moaning faintly)

(whispering): It's right around the corner.

And yet, we're not running away.

On three.

One, two, three.

(whining, panting)

It's Suki chasing rabbits in her sleep.

(laughing): Go back to sleep, Suki.

Good girl.

I knew there was nothing to worry about.

(hooting) (gasps)

(yelping)

Oh, it's you again.

(hooting)

MOLLY: So, we read in the book

that boreal owls mostly nest in forests

with spruce and fir trees.

So Tooey and I decided to move the owl

back to the woods, where it belongs.

(saw whirring)

Hey, do you think the owl was living in that dead tree?

And it's been looking for a new, uh, what was it called?

Cavity, to dwell in?

Maybe.

The tree was cut down,

so the owl moved to spooky house,

then to our dryer, then to the log pile.

Next, he would have popped out of my lunchbox.

I'm glad we're taking him to the woods.

Hmm, cavity, cave.

Cave is a hole.

Cave-ity.

It's like the meaning of the word

is hidden inside itself.

Like pancakes.

They're cakes you cook in a pan.

MOLLY: Or fry bread.

It's fried bread.

Or sandwich-- it's...

Oh, no, doesn't always work.

♪ ♪

Here's a good spot.

(hooting)

Goodbye, owl.

Good luck finding a new home.

Thanks for not being a ghost.

Hey, it's snowing.

Dad was right.

The owl is a sign of winter.

♪ ♪

(hooting)

Hey, everyone, Molly here,

to answer your questions about life in Alaska.

Kelsey in North Carolina asks,

"Who takes care of birds that are hurt?"

Let's find out.

♪ ♪

GIRL: Today, we got to meet someone named Sharon

and she brought an owl.

GIRL: It was a great horned owl.

GIRL: And he was really big.

GIRL: And his name was Mr. Hoo.

See this wing here?

And see this wing over here?

Can you see a difference in the wings?

Okay. 'Cause that's what I'm gonna tell you about,

as far as why we have this bird

at Bird Treatment and Learning Center.

GIRL: The Bird Treatment and Learning Center

take care of birds

that were in wildlife that got injured.

GIRL: Mr. Hoo was found on the ground with a wing injury.

GIRL: He had got really nervous,

so he went crazy with his wings.

And they'll even eat skunks.

Can you imagine that?

Then we read a sign to help us learn more about owls.

"The great horned owl's thick feathers

"help it stay warm in the winter

"so it can live in Alaska year-round.

"Great horned owls that live in desert

"or colder snowy environments

"have paler... plumage

than those found in forest regions."

GIRL: I don't know what a plumage is.

Do any of you guys know what a plumage is?

GIRL: See, dark plumage is dark,

and pale plumage

is light.

Maybe plumage means feathers.

GIRL: Yeah, well, it could be.

GIRL : Could be, like, it could be feathers, like,

and the colors of their feathers. Yeah.

Yeah.

GIRL: The owl's plumage can be different colors,

depending on where they live.

GIRL: We figured that out by reading the sign

and looking at the pictures.

GIRL: I had a lot of fun today

and I liked learning about birds.

And they're awesome.

Mahsi'choo.

Thanks for asking, and see you next time.

MOLLY: "Bye-bye Birdie."

(panting)

MOLLY: Blanket, sunscreen, and...

Here you go.

Thanks.

Where are you going this time, Nina?

Molly's mom is flying me to the Kenai Fjords

to observe puffins.

(grunts)

Did you say puffins?

Uh, yeah.

I need to study them for an article I'm writing.

Puffins like the bird puffins?

Yeah.

Puffins, that are black and white?

With webbed feet?

And orange beaks?

Yeah.

BOTH: Please take us with you.

(barks)

Hi, everyone.

Trini and I are super-excited

because Nina's going to take us puffin watching.

When I moved to Alaska,

one of the things Molly and I found out is...

BOTH: We both love birds.

We made this table to keep track

of all the Alaskan birds we want to see the most.

See, this column lists the names of our favorite birds,

and this column shows what each bird looks like.

I cut out that picture

of a belted kingfisher.

And this column is really important.

Every time we see a bird, we put a checkmark in it.

And I learned what noise it makes.

Here's a white-crowned sparrow.

We saw it in a spruce tree near Lake Minchumina.

Its call sounds like this.

(whistling)

And here's a northern flicker.

We also saw that in a spruce tree,

but in the middle of a forest.

It sounds like this.

(calling)

We've checked off every bird except...

BOTH: Puffin!

That's why we asked our parents

if we could go with Nina,

so we could see a puffin and check it off.

And so I could hear if a puffin makes a sound like this.

(meowing)

Or if it's more like this.

(quacking)

Or this.

(howling)

Uh, probably not that one.

Yeah, probably not.

Nina said we could join her,

as long as we got permission.

So we put together a puffin presentation

about why we wanted to go.

MOLLY: First, we talked to my parents.

TRINI: Then we brought in my dad.

MOLLY: Then we brought in more people,

because we were really proud of our puffin presentation.

TRINI: When we finished,

they all said...

BOTH: You can go!

MOLLY: So the next day,

Mom flew me, Trini, and Nina

to the Kenai Fjords.

We had to take a canoe the last little bit.

(water churning)

(birds calling)

Whoa!

(gasps): Shroonchy'aa.

Is that where we're going, Nina?

Yep.

All the way to the top of the cliff.

That's where the colony of puffins nest, their rookery.

(camera shutter clicks)

Wait, nest?

We get to see baby puffins, too?

(laughing): Yeah.

The babies are called pufflings.

(Molly and Trini shriek)

BOTH: Best trip ever!

♪ See a little puffling and they're so sweet ♪

♪ They're fuzzy little kitties with a colorful beak ♪

(chuckling): Can you celebrate

a little quieter?

You're gonna tip us over.

(both hum song)

Yeah.

Are you sure this is the right island?

Yeah, I don't see puffins or pufflings anywhere.

That's because we're only halfway up.

Halfway?

There are so many switchbacks.

This is exhausting.

If you're tired, Trini,

we could rest for a while.

I'm not tired!

Come on, race you to the top!

(giggling)

(laughs)

(Molly and Trini huffing)

NINA: They should be right around...

Here.

(puffins calling softly)

Wow.

(wings flapping)

(puffins calling)

(loudly): So that's what noise they make.

(quietly): We need to keep our voices down,

so we don't scare the birds.

Let me try.

(imitates calling)

Hold on. (clears throat)

(makes short calls)

I think it's... (makes long call)

(calls)

(calling)

It worked, Molly.

We're talking to each other.

(laughing): Over there is a puffling.

(squawks)

MOLLY: Óosk'.

How cute.

Aww. Aww.

How long are you two going to keep doing that?

Can we have, like, three more seconds?

Fine.

Aww. Aww.

They're adorable.

Okay, time to work.

This is a table I use

for keeping track of how many birds we're able to count,

and whether they're healthy.

I need you to count the puffins.

This is the row for puffins.

Make tally marks like this

for each puffin you see in this column.

Then do the same thing for the pufflings in this row here.

So that's it? We just count them?

Nope.

I also need you to observe

whether or not they're eating,

and write your totals in this box.

Here's a table for each of you.

But why two tables?

Can't we just share one?

I want both of you to count and record the data.

That way you can compare

to make sure you got the same information.

Then there's a better chance that it's correct.

Here are some binoculars, so you can see

into the crevices of the rock. (both laugh)

While you're counting puffins,

I'm going to get some photos of the island.

(groans): I left my camera on the path.

Are you two good to stay here while I go get it?

Um, more quality time with puffins and pufflings?

No problem.

Thanks.

I'll be right over there.

I won't be out of your sight.

Look at that one.

He's digging a hole with his feet.

Let's call him Footsy.

Trini, they all dig holes with their feet.

So let's name them all Footsy.

I like the way you think.

Five, ten, , plus one is .

I counted puffins.

And five of them were eating.

And I counted

five, ten, , plus one is puffins.

And-- one, two, three, four, five are eating.

It's the same.

Yes!

Let's move on to pufflings.

MOLLY: I counted five, six, seven pufflings.

And one, two of them were eating.

I got the same numbers.

(gull screeching)

(both gasp)

(calling)

Hey! Leave that alone!

Get your own lunch.

Yeah, shoo, you big bully.

Get on up outta here.

Go on, get. Get your own food!

TRINI: Shoo, shoo!

That's right, buddy, move it along.

Whoa, look at that guy.

Footsy number three is getting a little close to the edge.

Hey, little puffling, not so close.

(shriek)

Why'd he do that?

I don't know.

(gasps)

There goes another one.

Quick, talk puffin to him.

Stop him!

Uh... uh...

(calling)

I did it!

(yells): No, I didn't!

Quick.

We need to make a fence to stop the rest of them.

♪ ♪

Sorry about that.

Uh... what's with the fence?

The pufflings have gone wild.

I tried to talk to them, but they wouldn't listen.

(laughing): Whoa, whoa, slow down.

Start from the beginning.

First, we got a ride from Molly's mom in her plane,

and then we took a canoe...

Okay, not the beginning, just the part when I wasn't here.

We were counting puffins and pufflings, just like you said.

And then, all of a sudden,

a puffling jumped off the cliff, and another one.

And others are trying to do it, too.

See?

Guys, don't worry.

It's not a big deal.

How could you say that?

Don't you care about them?

Of course I care.

It's just, pufflings are supposed to jump off the cliff.

What?

But it's so high.

Won't the pufflings get hurt?

No.

It's time for them to leave the nest

and fly out to sea.

Jumping gives them the boost they need.

Oh.

I know you meant well,

but it's important not to interfere with the puffins.

Come on, let's take down this fence.

You did a great job with this data.

It'll make writing my article so much easier.

Look!

That's the first puffling we saw, Footsy number one.

Oh, yeah.

Come on, little guy, don't be afraid.

You can do it!

♪ ♪

(gasping): Wow.

Fly little puffling, fly.

July , the historic day that I, Molly Mabray...

And I, Trini Mumford...

...saw our very first puffin.

From Qyah, Alaska, this is Molly signing off.

And to all you puffins out there watching...

(imitates calling)

What does that mean?

(laughing): No idea.

(laughs)

♪ ♪