New stuff 7 July 2001 Hello all! Well, so much has been going on since I last wrote. Aside from the regular work schtuff (data sheets, surveys, etc.) I've been learning all sorts of new things. We have a guy here, Andres, working on radar tracking of the planes that fly over our area. He sits up in an old Forest Service lookout tower on Negrito Mountain and watches for planes/jets all day long. He's got a pretty neat set-up of computers and radar tracking equipment in an air-conditioned trailer at the base of the tower. Since he's doing this 24/7 more or less 9 to 5, he's asked to trade hours with owlers so that he's not up there for the whole season. I got to go up there one afternoon and learn how to run the radar so that (hopefully) I can get an afternoon or morning out of camp on occasion. It's very relaxing up there. No one around, beautiful scenery, 360-degree view of the forest. While I was up there, we had a couple of prop planes fly overhead. So we ran down to the trailer to check out the radar. We could see the echo trail that one of them had left. I only got to stay up there for about 2 hours though because a storm came in and I was not about to stay up in an old metal and wooden tower (the tallest thing on the mountain) with lightning and thunder right on top of me. It was great to see the storm come in though. Big lightning strikes off in the distance that just kept getting closer. We finally decided to give it up when the lightning was literally over the tower...not even a 'one, one thousand' count away. I've also learned how to set up surveillance cameras. Well, not really. :) They're actually Video Monitoring Units (VMUs) that we set up on the owls so we have continuous video of them. It's not the greatest quality because the video is actually stills that are taken every 1-5 seconds. So you get an hours worth of information into a 1 1/2 minute video clip. Those get taken out into the field and set up on owls, usually pairs, so that we can see what goes on when no humans are present in the area (because try as we might, we are a disturbance). This past week we've had a major breakthrough! We actually had overflights scheduled, ahead of time, so that we could be in the field and ready to watch the owls. Mostly that's thanks to Andres because he seems to be able to get through the National Guard and sometimes the US Air Force to get the schedules. So we sent a bunch of behavior teams into the field on Monday, Thursday and Friday. I actually spent more time in the field last week than in camp...amazing!! :) Basically, behavior observations include a VMU, video camera (with a super zoom), spotting scope, and a computer. And usually 2 observers. We head out early in the morning (just like a normal morning follow-up) and find the owls. Once they've settled down for the day, about 6-7am, we pick a good spot far enough away not to bug them, but close enough to be able to see them and set up our gear. We watch them for a few hours (anywhere from 2-4 usually) and record all their behaviors on the camera and into the computer using a behavior program. So I went out with Ann (my boss) and we hooted up a pair of owls in Deep Creek Divide each day (different teams went to other territories). Monday and Thursday the owls were easy to find. Friday, however, they decided that we'd had it too easy and made us chase them all over the drainage for a few hours. At least they didn't head off into the other drainages, but I think I climbed that hill about 4 times. The area where we were has about a 45-degree slope and about 4 inches of duff (dead leaves, pine needles, loose dirt, etc.) that make it really hard to walk on without slipping around. I had a few spills, but nothing too bad. It's not easy when you have to carry a computer or a camera on your back and hike up and down while the owls decide which tree they prefer for the day. It's so great being out there just watching them. Spotted owls are just a bit goofy. After a week of behavior work, I was beat. I headed for my tent at about 3pm on Friday to get clean clothes so I could shower, and ended up sleeping for about 3 hours. :) Today was catch-up day...a lot of stuff piles up in a week. We had a pretty good 4th of July party out here too, which only added to the chaos of the week. We invited the Hot Shots over for pig and beer, but they got called to a fire in Nevada at the last minute. Someone got an idea into their head that we should roast a pig. So we did. We had a huge hole in the ground filled while rocks and coals and set the pig in Wednesday morning. Well, needless to say, our 4th of July pig turned into our 5th of July pig because it wasn't ready by Wednesday evening. So we had all the side dishes and beer for dinner on the 4th. I put in almost a full days work prior to the afternoon festivities of horseshoes, hacky sack and just bumming around. It was nice, but kinda weird to have everyone in camp. And of course, half of us had to get up at 3am to go do behavior stuff the next morning. I did get to go home for a week last month (sorry, I'm backtracking a bit here...random thoughts by Stefanie). It was SO nice. I wish it could have been longer, but I think that I packed a lot of stuff into 6 days. The first thing I noticed when I got outside the airport was the smell of the salt in the air. I hadn't realized how much I missed it being out here in the woods. It was definitely a wonderful break. :) I got to go to a concert (Randi Driscoll) and to the beach a few times...boy do I miss the ocean. And sleep in a real bed and take showers every day (it's the little things in life, really it is). Of course, I jumped right back into things here at camp after a long drive from Phoenix (cheaper airfare than from Albuquerque). We have two dogs up here, sometimes three. Mitchum belongs to Robert who is personnel person (is that redundant?) for GMI. She basically just wants to be petted all day. Dixie is Chuck's dog (the camp manager) and is only up here on occasion. Spirit belongs to Andres and is probably one of the best-behaved dogs I've ever met. And he is slowing depleting the camp's supply of pinecones. He will come up to you a toss a pinecone in your lap or at your feet, and then beg you with his big eyes and cocked head to throw it for him. He's also the most expressive dog I've ever seen. Also adding to our diversions from work are Christian and Solan. Two 5-year-old boys. Christian is Chuck's grandson and Solan in Dave's son (the head of the noise team). They come up for a few days and run around camp. I have never heard "Hey, you know what?" so many times in my life. I've also seen 102 Dalmatians about 3 times now. It makes me really miss my little brothers and sisters too. Wow, this is a long one. I hope everyone had a good 4th. I sure did miss the fireworks (no fireworks in a forest). I've only got about a month left out here. We are officially finished on the 23rd, but then we have to pack and clean up camp. I'll probably take a few days to drive around instead of heading straight home, seeing how I'm already out here. Take care, enjoy the summer! Love and sunshine, Stef ;) p.s. Oh yeah, it's been raining...daily. Monsoons have hit the Gila. It's a nice afternoon shower usually, but occasionally we get these huge thunder, lightning, knock over your tent winds, kinda storms. Needless to say, we've been watching more movies lately. :) We got dumped on Monday night. The thunder and lightning woke me up at about 1:30am, which wasn't good because I had to be up at 3:30. Naps are a wonderful thing. And it's great to sleep to the pitter-patter of rain on your tent, as long as it's not threatening to cave in on you. :) top of page letters from camp