Jellystone Campground

June, 2011

This campground, just a few miles away from our Boggs Lake field site, is where we camped throughout the field season. The facilities were nice – bathrooms with showers, a recreation room with wifi – and we had a permanent campground where we all set up our tents together. I usually spent about a week at a time up there, trading off as the field lead with my lab partner, Nicole. Since the turtles we were studying really only became active mid-afternoon, we spent quite a lot of time at the campground.

Continue reading “Jellystone Campground”

Hawk Hill (GGRO)

May 20, 2011
14:05, 70° F, sunny and clear, but windy

As part of our field trip to the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory at the Marin Headlands, we went to the top of Hawk Hill. It is not a migration time, so we didn’t see a large number of birds, but there were still a few feathery friends in the area, including California Brown Pelican diving in San Francisco Bay, Brewer’s Blackbird near Fort Cronkhite, and White-throated Swift near the top of Hawk Hill.

Continue reading “Hawk Hill (GGRO)”

Mojave Desert: Bajada and Microtower Road

May 14, 2011

With another full day ahead, I started out with a short solo walk on the property before the rest of the day’s activities. I saw a good number of birds, plus a Desert Cottontail. New birds included a Green Heron flying along the salt flat, a Spotted Sandpiper tail bobbing on the fountain in Lake Tuendae, a Belted Kingfisher flying and calling at the lake, and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks on the rocks near the road between Zzyzx and Baker – the first hawks I saw on this trip.

Continue reading “Mojave Desert: Bajada and Microtower Road”

Mojave Day 2: Kelso and Mid-hills

May 13, 2011

Desert Studies Center

(07:30; 87° F) On our first full day in the desert, I woke up early in the morning and took a short walk on site before breakfast. I walked past the swimming pool and south along the alkali flats. I didn’t see a lot of wildlife here, although I did spot another Lucy’s Warbler, and a Mourning Dove. Near Lake Tuendae, I saw the American Coot family, and a White-throated Swift flying over the lake. During breakfast, a Killdeer flew overhead while vocalizing, which made it easy to ID.

Continue reading “Mojave Day 2: Kelso and Mid-hills”

Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx

May 12, 2011
Located off the Zzyzx exit from I-15; arrived at 16:35
88°/32° Clear, very warm

After a long drive on the first day of our Vertebrate Biology field trip, I took a short solo walk near Lake Tuendae, where I saw a family of American Coot (with four chicks!) and a Mourning Dove. I then headed out past the swimming pool, and along the Soda Lake salt flat. Here, I spotted Desert Cottontail, Say’s Phoebe, and Yellow Warbler. I also heard (but couldn’t spot) a Phainopepla. The excitement for this day was was one of the birds I’d most hoped to see on this trip: the relatively uncommon Lucy’s Warbler. Super cute! I saw the bird bopping around in some mesquite.

Continue reading “Desert Studies Center at Zzyzx”

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑