'You Start to Realize What's Really Necessary.'

At dinner, our camp checks in with a radio call to McMurdo Station, write in a daily log of events, and try to fix the leaks in the roof.

You have to watch the clock and make yourself go to bed, since the sun shines 24 hours a day. I'm looking forward to seeing the sunset in a couple of months.

Is it lonely?

This is a bleak landscape, but a cozy place to live. When life is limited to a tent, a hut, some penguins, and staying warm, you start to realize what's really necessary.

Describe your creature comforts.

I sleep in a tent with no frills. Inside my sleeping bag, I usually wear three pairs of long underwear, three shirts, socks, gloves, hat, and down jacket. There is no shower. The bathroom is a bucket under a toilet seat, or a water bottle in your sleeping bag if it's too cold to get up. We melt snow to make water. Our kitchen and living area is in a 12-by-20-foot wooden hut, where we sleep if winds get above 50 mph. We use a propane stovetop and oven; at the end of the day, a hot dinner is well appreciated. Keeping meat frozen is easy: it is stored outside at ambient temperature. Food almost never goes bad here, since there is no mold; we just opened a pack of tortillas labeled 2001.

Do you miss anything?

I miss being able to go for a run, play tennis, or just walk outside without spending half an hour layering up. And fresh meals: All our food was dropped with us, so it's all frozen or canned. But that can wait. Few people ever get an opportunity to visit Antarctica, and I feel very lucky just to be here.

Why birds?

Birding is addicting. I see it as an outdoor sport that also combines adventuring, collecting, and gambling. Birds are relatively colorful, easy to see, and universal; people respond to them on a familiar level. For that reason, birds can be used as environmental indicators and educational tools. Penguins in Antarctica are affected by melting ice in an age of global warming. That's an easier concept for most people to grasp than some scientific formula.