Bat House

There’s a street light at the end of my driveway which attracts moths and other flying insects that are hunted by bats.  Recently I discovered some of the bats were roosting under the wooden trim of a house next door.  I didn’t think they would pose a noticeable problem but could be exterminated if my neighbor found out therefore; I built a bat house to lure the critters to a safe haven.  It is installed 15 feet from the roosting area, on a 15 foot poll and stabilized with support rods.  At dawn I waited for the bats to return, hoping they would enter their new house.  They didn’t and I realized my expectation may have to wait a while for success.  More than likely they are Mexican Free-tailed Bats  (Tadarida brasiliensis).

 ( http://www.batcon.org/

Conspricy Theory

Does a malevolent, powerful evil genius take delight in assembling slack-jaw zombies to stand in front of me at the grocery store and post office? Does he make people:

1. Haggle with coupons at the counter.

2. Ask the clerk to walk across the store for cigarettes.

3. Wait until the clerk says the price for groceries to dig out the checkbook.

4. Act like they are writing a novel on the check.

5. Forget for the 10,000^th time to dig out their driver’s license to verify check identity.

6. Repeatedly dig out change after told they do not have enough money to pay for their items.

7. Have 25 items at the 15 item counter.

INDEED!

I spent two days in the Durango area visiting Rob and Sue Graham -  friends from my college days.

There was only time for a short 4-hour, 6-miler in the mountains.  The trail head started off Dry Fork Road; meandering on trails overgrown with Gambles' Oak until reaching a plateau.  This oak is diminutive by oak standards.  Heights average 15 feet with a circumference of 15 inches.  A wildfire had burned off the above ground portion of the trees, resulting in regrowth of dense thickets from the base.  From there we walked to a view point of the La Plata mountains; still snow capped.

Had I stayed a week or two my lungs would adapt instead, I gasped for breath hiking to 9000 ft. in elevation.

Mule's Ear (Wyethia amplexicaulis)

A break from bushwhacking thickets of Gambel's Oak (Quercus gambelii)

 

                                        Rocky Mountain Clematis (Clematis pseudoalpina)

Greater Short-Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi)

"I bow to no mountain"

Rocky Mountain Iris (Iris missouriensis)

Skepticle

Oregon Wildfires

I spent 20 days on the road with a wildfire crew, eventually making our way to the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. The Bald Sisters fire was 550 acres but costing over a million dollars to fight due to the extensive use of air tankers dropping fire retardant. The Murderers Creek and Buck Fork fires were pushing 66,000 acres and nearing one hundred million dollars. Our concern were several smaller fires that required a quick, initial attack. Most only required mopping up but this was just as important to prevent them from growing bigger. This sudden increase in physical effort was a harbinger for strains, pulled muscles, and a knee that was reaching the limits of its' usefulness.

Note to self: next time bring a knee brace and plenty of painkillers.

Fellow Fish/Wildlife coworker - Roland "Sasquatch" Davis

California Quail (Callipepla californica)

Dropping in gear for over-nighter.

Western Pennyroyal (Monardella odoratissima)

Woodland Pinedrops (Pterospora andromedea).  A parasite using it's symbiotic relationship with mycorrhizal fungus to extract nutrients from pine roots. It's chlorophyll content is negligible therefore, it does not use photosynthesis to turn sunlight into chemical energy.  

Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium).  Not a true grape but as a herb it is proported to cure digestive problems.

Best restaurant in John Day, Oregon.

The Crew.  11,000 feet.

The Squad: Thomas Adams, Roland Davis, Mike Kuhnert, James Harbour  and Robert Allen.

4,600 feet of hose.

Texas City Oil Spill - Matagorda Island

Almost two million pounds of oiled sand have been removed from after an oil
spill one month ago.
Credit: Jeff Adams

The spill – named the Texas City Y Spill because the site is near the intersection of three major waterways – comes just as the migratory shorebird season approaches.  A significant amount of oil drifted to Matagorda Island, winter home to the only naturally wild flock of whooping cranes. When the spill occurred, approximately 70 percent of the estimated 304 whooping cranes had not yet begun their migration to Canada and about 40-60 were on Matagorda Island. Matagorda is part of a barrier island chain that extends along most of the Texas shoreline. In addition to wintering whooping cranes.The island has 11 pairs of nesting aplomado falcons, a resident bird that was extirpated from the United States in the 1950s and is being successfully reintroduced.  Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are currently staging in the Gulf and are expected to begin nesting on area beaches, the most northern extent of their historic range. The barrier islands along the Texas coast are important for many other migratory birds, including piping plover and shorebirds that feed on the sandy beaches and roost in the vegetation of the foredune. 

- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

After the 170,000 gallons of oil spilled into the waterways of Texas City it slipped through the control of the U.S. Coast Guard and drifted south.  I was called in to join a contingent of resource advisers to monitor the contracted cleaning crews to insure they didn't destroy more habitat in the process of cleaning up. The oil came ashore then was buried under sand from 1-5 inches.  Rather than only directing crews I joined in the shoveling for 7 days - piling up oiled sand for disposal into dump trucks to either a landfill or cleaning (?).  By the time I left the cleanup had completed its objective but monitoring by other federal employees is ongoing.  I worked from 0600-1930 with only time otherwise to shower, eat and hit the rack.  

On my last day a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)  was discovered on the edge of a huge swath of sargasso seaweed.  It appeared exhausted but showed vigorous life when picked up.  It was taken to rehab in Port Aransas and then released back in the Gulf.

Beach Evening Primrose (Oneothera drummondii)

Here's what's cooking at the Kroger Dumpster Diner!