16° Fahrenheit!

What a fun surprise to wake up to this morning! Several of the ski resorts have already opened and Craig is getting ready to put on our first set of snow tires....it's hard to imagine how the time went by so fast. If this continues it sounds like I'll be wrapping things up in Wyoming - the survey work that needs to be done requires that the vegetation not be covered by snow, so I might be heading into my winter hibernation! Made an appointment for Sunday to meet a trainer at a local barn. I'm excited to use some of my hard-earned funds to start taking horseback-riding lessons again (after ~ 15 years!). Bought my helmet and breeches yesterday, now am on the lookout for deals on boots over the internet.

Orionids

Just a reminder that Orionid meteor shower will be peaking early in the morning on October 21. Look to the constellation Orion, the meteors should appear to be coming from there (hence the name!). If you are viewing them the night before, look to the east after midnight.
Also around October 13, Venus and Saturn should be visible in the early morning sky very close together.

Recent travels....

Craig and I just took a week's vacation to canoe in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. It's a land of berries, loons, and leeches. Thankfully the leeches were mostly found on the ends of our hooks, a tasty temptation for small-mouth bass and northern pike. The blueberries and raspberries were insane! We feasted on berries and fish (and the occasional mac & cheese burrito - coming soon to a store near you).

Gwen and Ross

Craig

Craig with his first small-mouth bass

I think we were all baptized by a leech between the toes during the week, only Ross was lucky enough to have a mom with babies attach!


Paddling through the lilypads

We also spent some time recently working nights, spotlighting and catching sage grouse to attach radio-transmitters, which happily coincided with the Perseids meteor shower.

Prior to that we spent some time mapping prairie dog habitat in the Pinedale area, which put us close to the Tetons, where we got to meet up with friends and go hiking in the ominous-sounding, but very beautiful Death Canyon.

Pinedale

Lost prairie dog

Yellow-bellied marmot

Death Canyon

Death Canyon

Fun things I've seen lately...

I love spring! It's so easy to be uplifted in the spirit of life! The birds are singing, newly fledged meadowlarks are all over the roads and baby pronghorns are hiding in the grass. Craig actually touched a deer fawn that he came across in a meadow. Here are some photos of north-eastern Wyoming where I've been working...

Coal seam running through cliffs

Elk Antler

Mourning Dove Nest

Unidentified flowers (anybody recognize them?!?)

Snow....in JUNE!!?!?!

Does anyone else find it ridiculous that I'm sitting in my hotel room, unable to work because its snowing on June 7th!?! And I'm not on a mountain top or anything, Buffalo Wyoming is only at ~4,600 feet.
On a happier note, yesterday I found my first lark bunting nest - it had 6 beautiful blue-green eggs (an unusual number, I think the average is 4-5), and I flushed a Great Horned Owl which had been sitting in the shade of a sagebrush, with a pellet nearby which included the tiny vertebrae of a rodent.

Appalachia Restoration Act

Exciting news! There is a new bill going through Congress right now that would prohibit coal companies from dumping waste into streams in Appalachia mountaintop removal mining. Please follow this link to the NRDC to read about the act and to send a message to your representatives asking them to support this bill. This would be a great stride toward protecting our water and the communities in the vicinity of these mining operations.
Consider it a belated Earthday action!

Beautiful memorial of the Battle of Little Bighorn

Frosty morning

3 degrees!

More time spent in Baker, Montana! Craig and I are continuing to conduct sage-grouse and sharp-tailed grouse lek surveys. I love seeing these birds on the lek. I'm attaching a video of the sharpies, to give you an idea of what fun it is to see them in action!
We were briefly in Sheridan, Wyoming last week to trap grouse and on the way there drove past the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn (aka Custer's Last Stand). Its been made into a park and is also a national cemetery. There's a neat museum with lots of things found on the battlefield. I learned each cavalry company had a specific horse color, I suppose for organization.
We hope to finish up around the beginning of May, then we'll take a couple days off at home in Fort Collins. After our lek surveys we have a lot of time to kill, and we've spent some of it watching interesting videos on the TED website. Thought you guys might want to check it out.