PJ
The day before:
Stuck in a wet field.
Made it to within 5 miles of the survey by sunset.
Found a working flashlight in the road.
Yesterday I didn’t have a flashlight; today I do.
I couldn’t get any closer to the survey because of this bog; I was scared of getting stuck again.
Next morning, I started walking around 0300 and got there by 0500.
The survey was in Ponderosa Pine and Juniper on the side of a hill; we call it PJ.
The prairie is beautiful, but this was the first day I felt at home. The birds, a different group than I’ve been hearing every morning, were birds that I recognize.
Pinyon Jays love PJ. They depend on juniper seeds which are wingless and too heavy for wind dissemination; the bird depends on the plant and the plant depends on the bird. Pinyon Jays are threatened throughout their range because of habitat loss.
Flocks of several hundred have predator sentries. The video is bad, but there is a sentry on the downed log keeping an eye on me.
Northern Flicker
Red-headed Woodpecker
After the survey, I walked this road back to the truck.
And found kitty tracks.
And a balloon.
And I found the place I had fallen down 8 hours earlier on the way to the survey. I forgot about that.
It was a triumph to finally get off that road.