Owl Night Surveys, Round 2

This week we visited our spotted owl site for another round of night surveys. This time proved to be less stressful due to melted snow and ease of travel (last time we had to navigate snowmobiles in less than desireable conditions). It was even enjoyable riding the ATV's (pow, pow, power wheels!), especially since the weather warmed considerably. For those of you who really have no clue as to what I'm doing, let me break it down for you.

My job consist of two parts: spotted owl surveys and goshawk surveys. The goshawk part has yet to begin. For spotted owls, we have designated call points throughout our survey area (various locations in the forests of the Sierras). Before sunset we travel via snowmobile, ATV, truck or by whatever means necessary to reach these points. Once the sun sets we can start our survey which consists of imitating the spotted owl call at each point and listening for a response. If we are so lucky to hear back from our feathered friends, the next day we return to the spot pre-sunset and seek them out. The fun part is feeding them mice. The fate bestowed upon the mouse tells us whether the owls are nesting or not (male gives a mouse to a female, or female brings mice to juveniles...obviously nesting). If we find a nest, we'll check up on it throughout the season to determine its success (whether or not there are fluffy white baby owls inside). Best part of this week was finding another nesting spotted owl pair. Unfortunately the pre-sunset light doesn't lend itself to clear pictures but you'll get the idea.

I like the last one...the female is eyeing the mouse on the branch moments before snatching it. The nest they've chosen allows for quite a bit of privacy, but the male decided to poke his head out and check us out. Supposedly this is a pretty unique nesting spot. Considering I've only viewed two nests thus far, I'll take Jay and Taylor's word for it.

Devil in the White City

With the recent discovery of the Arnold library, I have begun reading at a voracious pace. My first victim is "Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson, recommended to me a ways back by Jess. It is a must for any Chicagoan. In fourth grade I did a report on the World's Columbian Exposition (the fair is the focus of the book) and naturally, I didn't remember a thing about it except that there was the first and largest Ferris wheel ever built (seriously, what else would a kid take away from that?). But now, despite my aversion to history in general...I've found the story behind the fair remarkable, and I'm ashamed that alot of the information was new to me. Many of Chicago's present-day features are due largely to this fair. SO, it's time for me to get nerdy again...

Anyone recognize this building? It is one of a few buildings out of the over 200 built for the fair that are still in existence. In 1893 it was the Palace of Fine Arts, today it is the Museum of Science and Industry. Another fair-remnant now houses the Art Institute.

And not to mention a few other choice rennovations the city underwent just for the occasion:

-The L, then called the Alley L was built solely to accommodate the influx of visitors into the city and bring them to and from the fairgrounds

-the reversal of the flow of the Chicago river meant to clean up the drinking water and keep breakouts of cholera and other illnesses low

-the nickname "the windy city" was conjured not because of the gusts we are so familiar with, but instead referred to the boasting the city did when pitching for the role of fair host

-The post-fair City Beautiful Movement lead to an aesthetical clean-up of the city including the rise of city parks, fountains and anything else pleasant to contrast the dark and dingy city of the early 1900s

Considering the atmosphere created by team of artist and architects, who would want the city to go back the way it was? Nothing of this magnitude has been established in Chicago or anywhere in the country since. And this concludes your history lesson for the day. Be sure to complete your question and answer workbook for tomorrow.

oh and fun fact: Pabst Blue Ribbon is thus called b/c it won best beer at the Fair

White sox baseball in the golden state

How does one go about having a perfect Sunday afternoon?

Here's how...

By spending a clear, beautiful, 70 degree day in San Francisco watching the white sox sweep the giants. And of course, my man Crede delivered for me when I asked him to hit me a solo shot to tie the game. It started off as a pretty tense pitchers' duel but then after Crede's solo homer, both teams started an insane streak of hits and runs. Alot of back and forth kept me both swearing, shaking my head in disbelief (three walks in a row!??), and jumping up and cheering my head off (one homer after another, Swisher's three run double!). Even Taylor got some enjoyment out of it, being his second baseball game ever after a 20 year baseball-less streak (how does he survive?). All in all, it was just the thing I needed to end the weekend. Unfortuntely the next game I can go to isn't until August in Oakland. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.

Triumphant return to the pointless world of internet blogging

Thanks to my enjoyment of following Sheri's Colorado adventure via blog, I've decided to start my own...again. Who knows how long this one will last, but it's an easy way to share any interesting occurrances or insights I may find while traveling about. Speaking of...

yesterday while traversing the Stanislaus National Forest in order to flag out our survey area for the summer, I came across a couple fascinating little fellows.

Let me introduce you to Thamnophis elegans elegans, more easily remembered as the mountain gartersnake (a subspecies of the western terrestrial gartersnake). Unfortunately these aren't my pictures as I didn't have a camera on me, but who doesn't love visuals?

And these two lovebirds (they don't shy away from a little rough biting during mating) are Elegaria coerulea palmeri or the Sierra alligator lizard (subspecies of the Northern alligator lizard). We actually did find them in this exact pose along with two or three other non-mating individuals in the area later that day.

This creature is really one of two reasons we're in this forest to begin with. Strix occidentalis occidentalis or the California spotted owl is one of the birds we're surveying for here this summer. Techincally we weren't surveying at all when we came across a female nesting yesterday, with her mate calling not far off. Hopefully when we check back on these nests later in the season they will be filled with little puff-ball owls.

And all this in just one day! If the rest of the summer proves to be this rewarding, it will be worth the insects bites, struggling through brush and shrubs, suffering the intense dry heat, and climbing up and down ridiculous slopes.