Update part 2 - Thou shall not pass!

Ok, this part of the update is about the last two days of my field work, which presented many challenges. I've got all my count sites of common grassland habitats chosen (like agricultural fields), but the area under the jurisdiction of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, with whom we are cooperating, was underrepresented, and so they requested that I target what they call their "Priority Bird Areas". They're all grassland, and of course I was happy to do so. They sent me a map so I could find them, but this proved more difficult than anticipated. I don't know the area at all (south and south-east of Rice Lake), and the map they gave me didn't have all roads marked, or any roads named. However, each site was named according to a road, so I figured between knowing that road name, and matching site areas to Google Maps, I should be ok. I was not.
The difficulties lay in a) I wasn't sure whether their maps indicated natural or artificial grassland and b) neither Google nor the paper map I have distinguishes between normal roads and rocky dirt tracks meant for 4-wheel drive. Did I mention I'm driving a little Civic bomb? The first issue meant that once I got to the road in question, I drove up and down looking for natural-type grassland when in fact there was only agricultural land to be seen. The second meant that I danced around one site in particular for more than an hour, trying to gain access to the damn road. The map showed many access points, but at the first one, on the western end, I was greeted with impassable unmaintained road and a large sign saying "no cars or trucks beyond this point". Okaayyyy. So I went a little further east and tried at a second point. Also impassable. Third try? Nope. Fourth? Nada. Oh, this looks better - it's paved! Paved roooaaaaddd :D yay...wait...what does that sign say....

"Unmaintained road past this point."

Damn you, Gandalf-sign. 

I finally managed to access that road by coming at it from the furthest eastern point. Go figure.

The other sites were thankfully better, although only one of them was a natural grassland and not agriculture or the strip underneath big power lines. The natural one was an oak savannah, and it was dramatic in its increased bird population. In only two bushes, about 5m x 2m area, I saw a song sparrow, two alder flycatchers, a red-winged blackbird pair duelling with a baltimore oriole pair, a tree swallow who divebombed me, and two hairy woodpeckers doing....well I don't know what the heck they were doing. I have dubbed it the Madness Dance. I don't even know if it was territorial, courtship, or alarm at my presence. It involved tail-fanning, pointing beaks to the sky and head-throwing, accompanied by squeeze-toy squeaking. I have never seen anything like it. 

I'm still waiting on confirmation from the NCC that I even found the right sites. In the meantime, today I went out to first do point counts from dawn until 10 am, then to go in search of a sand barren site and a prairie savannah site, as indicated on maps I got from the MNR. The counts were great, except for an hour during which it rained...but that means I got to sit in the car and read/do crosswords until it stopped, and I can think of many worse ways to spend my time. Before anyone judges me for not counting in the rain, I didn't make the rule! I have no problem standing in the rain, but it means I can't see or hear the birds as well, which affects the data I collect and makes it statistically invalid. Of note in the counts today were: 

- a female mallard I almost stepped on before she took years from my life by exploding up into my face

- an osprey on its nest being mobbed by red-winged blackbirds

- a red-tailed hawk that flew over and drew every blackbird out of my site as they went to mob it

- four male bobolinks in hot pursuit of one female

- upland sandpiper calling way in the distance

So then it was off to site-search. I was hoping that it would be easier than yesterday, but unfortunately the first site proved to be even more difficult. I was looking for a sand barren/prairie site on the south side of the Ganaraska Forest. The road which gave me closest access almost immediately turned into an ATV trail, with a sign saying I needed a membership to the Ganaraska Forest or I could be fined for being there. Considering that for this project I am also cooperating with the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority, I figured I was an honorary member :P so I parked the car and decided to hike in to locate where the forest changed to sand barren. The car itself has the MNR logo plastered all over it which I hoped would also deflect questions. Well, I hiked for an hour and a half, and saw nothing but forest...very beautiful forest, but still forest. 

(Not pictured: sand barren.)

Many ATVs roared past me, with the drivers looking at me like I was a hallucination - I don't think they get many people on foot in there. From plotting the GPS waypoints I took while in there, I see that I did indeed go right across where I thought I would be able to see prairie. God knows what I should do about this site now. I'd like to forget I ever wasted three hours of my life trying to find it.

The other site was blessedly straightforward to find. It's savannah habitat in the strip under the huge power lines, close to Pontypool. Nothing remarkable to say about it. Had to take the car back to MNR after that :( I much preferred the Escape Hybrid I drove first, but the Civic was also a hybrid and was light years better than no car. Tomorrow I need to meet with Joe and de-brief about my adventures, then hopefully sign out a car for the next little while and get going on real data collection!

:) merp. Until next time.

Sarah