Summer in the Gila 2 June 2004 Well, it's been almost a month since my last update, but I have a good excuse. :) I've been in the field almost every day. The owls and jets have been keeping me plenty busy this year. Last week we had 15 jets in three days! There is something to be said about a little too much cooperation. But unfortunately, that cooperation come and goes as we've had only one jet so far this week. I'm trying to catch up on office work and sleep. Today was a major catch up day since yesterday ended up being twice as long as we had originally intended. We were just finishing up in the field around 1pm when we go the call from camp that there was an overflight expected at 3pm. So Ky and I decided to stay out and send the rest of the weary crew back to camp. We had little water and only a few pieces of dried fruit between the two of us (running on a small breakfast and not much water since one of my crew forgot his water for the day and we were all sharing). And the weather up here has warmed up quite a bit. So…a few hours and one jet later, we left the behavior site and I was experiencing a mild case of heat exhaustion. I'm feeling much better today, after 12 hours of sleep, several bottles of Gatorade, and a dip in the swimming hole. That swimming hole is wonderful! Easy to get too, and the water temperature is perfect for this time of year. It's a bit small (no diving), but it has plenty of wildlife to watch (fish, snakes, bugs of all sorts). I just can't believe I've been here for four years and this is the first time anyone has found this place. Granted, the first two years, there wasn't much, if any, water in the creek. I have a feeling I'll be heading to the swimming hole a lot since it's now so warm out here, and we still only have enough water to shower every five days or so. I got to take an ATV ride last weekend into Devil's Creek South. The trip out there is an hour and a half each direction, and we probably only spent about two hours total hiking in and looking around for the owls (which we did not find). It was fun on the ATVs but I'm sure glad that I don't drive those every day out here (and I think my body agrees with me). It was a beautiful ride though, lots of scenery and so many flowers in bloom! I managed to sneak away from camp for a brief vacation at home. Sorry I didn't tell anyone. :) I wasn't home long. Just enough time to eat at a few places, surf a few times, and sleep in my own bed. Everyone at camp is doing great. We're halfway through the season already and the crew is still holding up very well. The only casualty we've had this year so far has been Robert, our equipment manager. He suffered two heart attacks about three weeks ago (and didn't tell anyone!) and finally agreed to go to the hospital. He returned just last Sunday with a new diet and a clean pump. Unfortunately, the heat and the elevation got to him quickly and we sent him back to the hospital on Monday evening. He's doing Ok, but we're not sure when and if he'll be coming back up to camp. Everyone is taking it pretty hard, Robert is well-loved out here. The good news for this update is (drum roll please!)….three owlets…in one nest! We've named the triplets Larry, Daryl, and Daryl (Larry is the much smaller than the Daryls, but still being fed) and Jack, Jim, and Jose (Jose is slightly smaller than Jack and Jim, but not much). Triplets are not unheard of in the owling world, but rare for Spotted Owls and never ever seen before in this study! And we have two nests with three owlets each! We're up to nineteen nests this year (a new record) and plenty of owlets (sixteen, I think, at last count). We've seen several prey deliveries (either male to nesting female or female to owlets) which make us hopeful that most of these owlets, even the tiny third owlets, will survive the season. I suppose I'll leave this letter here. Still not fully recovered from the heat exhaustion, I'll be needing more sleep soon. I hope the summer is going well for all of you. Take care! Love and sunshine, Stefanie top of page letters from camp