Owls_Rattlesnakes_Coyotes_and_Newts_oh_my!
Greetings woofers fans!
I edited some of the spotting scope/iPhone video of the Great-horned Owl nest many of us watched move along at Batiquitos Lagoon. From talking to others who observed the nest, it sounded like the three owlets all fledged and were being cared for outside of the nest in the area by the adults. The last visit I was at the nest, one lone owlet was left in the nest and the adults were nowhere to be seen. A few of us were a little worried about this little guy! Following the nest was a fun side-track for over a month; visiting Batiquitos once a week or so was well worth the time! I hadn’t experimented with the iPhone adaptor I made for my spotting scope until this owl nest appeared. It is neat to see the system works fine and will improve with more practice. Also, in this little set of videos are the first two rattlesnake encounters I had in my vegetation plots that we are in the middle of doing on Camp Pendleton for a California Gnatcatcher study. Both snakes were literally in the middle of my plots – the first BIG one looked like it had eaten a small rabbit based on the bulge in its mid-section (this was right around Easter time, actually! Uh Oh!). The snake alerted me just in time as I was about 8 feet from it hiking uphill when it rattled. I snapped a little video and let this guy digest its meal. Just a few days ago, I was in another plot and a tiny rattlesnake appeared. This snake had only one or two rattles, so it was a light rattle and, again, I was glad it rattled as I was only a few feet from it. On one of the Least Bell’s Vireo surveys I do at a place called Roblar Creek on Camp Pendleton, I was surprised by the amount of water that was flowing in the creek and collecting in various rocky (granite?) pools. Not only was there water, there were also a number of California Newts breeding in the pools. I will be re-visiting this survey next week and hope to see some development – perhaps eggs or larvae? This past weekend it rained a bit on BASE, so I am guessing the pools and water will still be in good shape up there! The video series ends with a quick peek at one of the 4-5 coyote pups I spotted in the brush in the same plot that had the baby/young rattlesnake. They were tiny little guys – maybe a foot long and quick to scurry of and hide quite well in the ravine brush. As there are some Great Egret nests with nestlings at Batiquitos Lagoon nearby, I will keep and eye on those for fun and take more video. Along route 101 today, it looked like Least Terns were getting active in an area near Leucadia – I plan to visit that group of birds I saw tomorrow! Down in La Jolla, some of the cormorants have 2-3 nestlings along the cliffs…took some photos of them today. Walking on the beach today near Torrey Pines I continually see too much plastic in the rocks and sand. Having worked with sea-turtles in Tortuguero, Costa Rica a small amount and similarly with the Waved Albatross in Galapagos, it is quite sad to always see plastic waste near the ocean. These species (sea-turtles and Albatross) are hit particularly hard by free-floating plastics in the oceans and seas. It is such a wonder to see wildlife going through cycles of life – but – to see what a lot of species are up against in terms of human/wildlife interactions makes one wonder if things are moving forward in terms of humans becoming more conscious/conscientious about living in balance with the rest of the species out there! Anyhow, I like to post photos and videos of mostly nature and wildlife as a sort of celebration for those other species we share the planet with….so, enjoy the video, buy less plastic/packaged goods, re-use and re-use a good coffee mug, and focus on reducing waste (recycling is a good thing, but avoiding/limiting consuming packaged products would be a higher order goal!!). This video is dedicated to the Camden, Maine Kindergarten class and my mom – who has been volunteering in this class for years now (along with her regular work with Habitat for Humanity (among other things)) – at 75 yrs old she seems to blaze through days accomplishing as much as (or more) many of the 20-40 yr olds I know…..How many of you wake up at 5am and are at the local YMCA working out by 530am nearly every day?
Season #3_USGS
Greetings from Davis, CA!
The weather has changed here in NorCal and we’ve had some light rains and cool days here lately. It is nice to have some changes in the weather and signs that the seasons continue to revolve….
I pulled out about 100 photos from the 6-month period I spent in San Diego County from March 8th, 2015 – August 24th, 2015 while working on a 3rd season with USGS as a surveyor for three bird species there (Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, Least Bell’s Vireo, and California Gnatcatcher).
The season started a little earlier this year than last year. We began with some new vegetation protocol learning lead by our fearless leaders SL, BK, AH, and KF. I thought some of our crew looked a little suspicious in their face masks (sun protection) – border patrol must do a double take if they see these USGS characters way down south in SD County? After the major fires of 2014 on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton (BASE) and elsewhere in San Diego County, a lot of habitat was lost for all of the birds we work with – the fires last year just kept erupting/popping up for a couple days in many areas it seemed. Some of the photos here show the extent of some of the burns – a lot of the areas were filled with invasive mustard (yellow flowered hillsides) as well as tons of burnt shrubs, cacti, and trees when we first got to BASE. The Gnatcatcher surveys were an addition to our surveys this year, and this gave us a good chance to see and explore a lot more of BASE via back roads, tank trails, and fire breaks. At times, I felt like I was preparing for a truck commercial while driving 4WD up steep hillsides and up to panoramic vistas on the BASE. Before too long, we were into out Bell’s Vireo surveys and shortly after those began, we started the Willow Flycatcher surveys. There was plenty to stay busy with this season, I felt. Added perks to the season were yet another CPR/First Aid class with our return instructor who always amuses us – and, we got to try out the new choking vests! (photo/video). Up at Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve (SMER) we had a new mix of people, some of the same local rattlesnakes, Red-Tails successfully nesting in the same tree just off the dirt road we use to get to SMER, and plenty of oranges and avocados for all! MAPS banding filled in some time once again with Warner Springs being one of my regular jaunts some Fridays. It was fun to see some birds in hand and keep in touch with the Pyle Guide. The Vireos seemed to have a decent year from my perspective (not sure what the esteemed science gurus in the OFFICE have found out from the DATA?) – there were plenty of nestlings and fledglings seen in many of my sites (photos/video). Surveys for Flycatchers even yielded a few nice highlights of color-banded birds, nests w/ eggs, and fledges (video). The Upper Margarita survey became a tactical/strategic adventure this year with truck leapfrog, escaping the survey via hillsides, and use of Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station for entrance and exits – fun. As usual, the end of season was filled with doing vegetation quads and transects – lots and lots of them! Finishing up the veg work in the area inundated with homeless camps added a little to the diversity and variety of the work – though, it really isn’t that fun to do a veg quad in the middle of an active homeless camp! Seeing a Vireo nest amongst a bunch of TP on the ground was a first for me – not the best sign of cooperation between Vireos and Homeless folks. Some transects through Typha/Scirpus proved to be a good excuse to sit or lie down on the job (photos). I don’t have any photos of the end of season SMER party – but I do have a few cool videos of long-boarders surfing Trestles (the end of one of my surveys) accompanied by Beyonce cuts (one of our featured musical guests at SMER party). Anyhow, I think the photos sum up much of the season. RD gets credit for foto of JG tactfully monitoring some Vireos in the SLR. I’m not sure who took the foto of Dr. Bowling with that cast of characters in the SLR – either way, I think we need to consider those dolls as possible SLR buddies next season?!?! Life in Davis is moving along with a few days a week spent working in Elementary and Middle Schools as a paraeducator III (working with students with ‘disabilities’) and wood work + a wood class I teach once a week @ UCD Craft Center. I’ll sign off for now – but, stay tuned…I’ll be posting more blogs soon!!!…warning, this is kind of a long slideshow (>16 mins?)…I figured 6 months is worth 16 minutes of photos, so be patient….
SMERriffic
Greetings!!
This slideshow/video shows some of the life at the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve (SMER) where I lived from March 16th until August 18th, 2013. There were 6 of us living in the main house and one caretaker (plus two dogs) a short walk away around the hillside from us. The reserve is owned and run by SDSU Field Station Programs. In total, the reserve is well over 4000 acres of protected land and is closed to public visitors unless one is on an organized tour/trip. Most of the land is dry scrubland, but there are also lush ravines filled with Oaks and Cottonwoods and the main gorge (riparian area) which the Santa Margarita River runs through. The gorge area has some amazing swimming holes and is quite picturesque. One of the major fringe benefits of staying at SMER is access to the 400 or so Valencia orange trees and to the avocados that fell from the 400 or so Avocado trees! I have no idea how many avocados and oranges I consumed in total (over 5 months), but enough to gain a few pounds and to have frequent spikes in my vitamin C intake….healthy fats and good vitamin C source for sure. Although this set of photos shows lots of rattlesnakes, they were not seen daily. We did have a few that stuck around for many weeks and it was a good idea to stay on your toes anywhere at SMER and especially near our home. A couple of snakes resided in or near the garden, the shed, or under the air-conditioning unit for various lengths of time – hence, easy to get photos of these guys. Coyotes could be heard some nights (as you will hear in video) and their barks echoed in the canyons nicely. As far as field houses go while working with the birds, SMER stands out as one neat places I have lived; a great way to be immersed in one of San Diego County’s natural environments – and add to that spending up to 8 hours a day in the field in other areas nearby (like MCB Camp Pendleton). The photos should speak for themselves as far as what the reserve is like…..neat place, hope to return there some day again……thanks for visiting bay salt blog and hope you like the show!!!
This blog revolves around just about anything I happen to be doing, it documents places I travel to, and it is a place to share my interests with others online.
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