So why don't you meet me down behind the old school, we'll waste away the weekend with perfect regard for how cavalier we used to be, that beautiful insanity...It's no Whitman or Yeats, but the song's catchy. Anyway, I'm way off topic for this blog! There is a segue: the last three days have presented many challenges, and I adopted a fairly cavalier attitude towards them as a way of dealing, and I must say the results have been pretty good. Mostly because there wasn't anything I could do anyway, but that's beside the point :P
Tuesday, May 31: also known as The Huminferno. It was sunny and hot, and with the incredible 91% humidity, temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius. I must say early morning point counts were most pleasant, as the air was still and warm enough to wear shorts and tank top. That day was the beginning of counts which count for real data, towards paper-writing and my Master's thesis. Nothing of note in the counts. Around 1030, I met with two people from the NCC, who had offered to escort me to the sites I was having such trouble finding (see previous post). Turns out that only one of the sites I "found" were sites at all. I'm actually not sure how they expected me to find them without help. Without exception, they're down ATV trails with huge rocks heaved up by the frost, followed by hiking through woods without a trail, climbing over wooden and metal wire fences and through thigh-high poison ivy. Which brings me to the first point of cavalierity (which is now a word): remember I said I had shorts on; now I had to hike for a couple of hours through poison ivy. They had failed to mention the expeditions into the Valley of Urushiol Death. However, I had to know where the sites were, and so outwardly I put on my cavalier armour and trekked onward, trying to ignore the horrified looks from the people I was with. Inwardly, all I could see was this:
He should have been more cavalier, obviously.
I am happy and somewhat incredulous to report that I haven't had any reaction. Yet. Apparently it can take up to five days to appear, but usually does within 24-48 hours, which have passed. I have no idea what shred of karma was protecting me, but I'm not tempting fate again. Pants will be worn to those sites from now on. Although now that I know what it looks like (no, I didn't before Tuesday), I've realized it's bloody well everywhere, even on the roadsides where I do my other counts. Bah.
Anyway, we spent almost three hours touring the sites and sweating to death. We found their bug-collection tents and equipment utterly shredded and trashed, and inspection determined a bear was the cause. Wonderful. Not so keen about being in the forest alone anymore. They also took me up to Alderville, which is the First Nation reserve just south of Rice Lake. They have a Black Oak Savanna conservation center there, with cool savanna and prairie in various stages of restoration. They gave me permission to do counts there, which is great.
Wednesday, June 1: More counts in the morning, of course. Was warm right from dawn onwards, but also very windy, which meant I had to stop my counts early :( if the wind gets over 20km/h, counts can't be done because my distances estimates for birds which I don't see but only hear will be skewed. Heard my first eastern towhee, but no visual sadly :(. I did hear strange noises at one sight, and scanned around in time to see a male wild turkey displaying in the middle of a barren field, which was possibly the funniest thing ever.
Ladies...are you not impressed?
After my counts were cut short due to wind, I went back to the Black Oak Savanna center to properly scout out a count site and mark it with my GPS. No one was at the centre, but two dogs were kind enough to escort me around the property: one very excited black lab who would run back and thunk his paws into my chest every now and then, and a quieter goofball of a brown dog with a huge head who just wanted pats, but had jaws big enough to take my leg off. Apparently they're regulars around the savanna, and belong to someone whose property borders the BOS property. After that, I drove around north and east of Alderville, scouting and marking more agricultural sites for counts, since the people from NCC had expressed concern that their jurisdiction wasn't completely represented - most of our sites fall into the GRCA jurisdiction, who we are also in cooperation with. At this point I was starting to panic about being able to count all of these sites, since with the new ones I have just over 70. In fact, I was pretty sure it was impossible, but out came the cavalier armour again, since I didn't want to complain to Joe. But when I got home and got an email asking for yet another tough-access NCC site to be added, I was at the end of my rope. I sent out an email asking for the end of site additions ASAP because I would soon have to start dropping sites in favour of the new additions, since it's just me counting at the moment. Joe swooped in and saved me, sending me an email saying that I was not responsible for counting the new sites I had scouted (thank GOD), and that the NCC could look after those counts if and when they got volunteers or hired contractors. Cavalierity wins out again!
Thursday, June 2: Counts foiled again by winds. I hope they die down tomorrow. I did get some done but not many >< and one of the sites I thought was hay has decided to sprout corn, so I had to go scout out a new hayfield. Also, I don't know what is up with the weather but today I froze my butt off. It was ten degrees for most of my counts. Ten. Down a bit from 42 wouldn't you say??
Of note today: there was a black blotch in a cornfield where I was counting, and binoculars turned up a rose-breasted grosbeak just chillin' on the ground. The field was just bare earth and old cornstalks, so I have no idea what a forest bird like that was doing there. Weirdo. Also, what made my day was an indigo bunting :D I heard unknown song, found darkish little bird 50m away, and upon approaching found this brilliant little blue gem singing his heart out:
I'm blue, da ba dee da ba di...
After counts it was off to do what I hope is the last of my site-searching. I had gotten detailed directions to the Ochonski prairie in the middle of the Ganaraska forest (remember my fruitless searching before?), and so was making another attempt at finding it. Success! Although to get there you need something better than a car, as the road is utterly ridiculously rocky at the beginning. I had the Escape Hybrid (AKA mah baby) so I was set.
Thanks babe.
The sites were really neat, and the only thing I have to say against them is that they're in the middle of wild woods, with no one around to hear me scream if a bear should appear and be less than friendly. After seeing the slashed equipment, my nerves were on high alert and everything that rustled suddenly made me freeze and do a panicked scan.
Not pictured: a bear
No bears today though. Hopefully never any other day either.
Well, that was long-winded. I should be off - have to get things ready for tomorrow's counts. Tomorrow is just counts! No site searching. Unheard of. Pray for low winds.
Love to everyone,
Sarah
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