Getting into the Refuge Groove - July 28, 2007

It's Saturday. Still a working day for me. But today, unlike the other days, I am in the office, answering phones and seeing visitors. Also reading, and supposed to be doing other computer work that doesn't get done during the week. That hasn't started yet. I promised myself I'd get started after lunch (today's hours are 10:00 - 5:00, so I have plenty of time) but by the time I got back here at 12:30, I had visitors. They're still here, browsing around the visitor's center. It's really pretty cool.

I have learned an unbelievable amount - especially for just one week of work. My projects include, thus far, a Texas horned lizard census (Horny Toads to most of us), Least Tern census, Drift fence census (It's a type of live trap set up that is supposed to catch toads, frogs, lizards, and snakes - and apparently lots and lots of wolf spiders. Sigh. I'm quickly learning to deal with that dreaded, huge, prey-hunting spider), and the Plant Book.

The Plant book was actually started last summer. An intern went out and took pictures of plants/trees/shrubs on the refuge. This is a huge undertaking as the refuge is home to many different types of habitats - grasslands, salt flats, woods, lake, swamps, wheat pastures, etc. The girl that started this last year focused mainly on the flowering plants. I'm focusing on the trees. So I'll walk around during free time and take pictures. If I don't know the tree, I'll take a cutting with me and identify it back in the office. It's been pretty fun, and very interesting. I can already identify a lot of the trees off the sides of the roads. I make pretty and informative pages of the pictures, and put them in the plant book that goes in the visitor's center. The idea is for the visitor to see the book and maybe be able to identify the plants on their own when they're exploring.

My favorite project has to be the Least Terns. Going out on the salt flats is a lot of fun - until the wind dies and it gets super, super hot. I'm definitely comfortable on a four-wheeler now, and the birds themselves are very interesting. I have found out what is "least" about them - other than their small size, that is. It's their nests! They basically consist of a little hole scratched out in the sand. They make these little holes around natural debris - sticks/logs/dried up plants. This is supposed to offer some type of camo, but coyotes are smart, and we've seen tracks that go from one pile of debris to the next. Coyotes have been a problem for the terns this year. Their eggs are the definition of "easy prey". The chicks are pretty easy prey as well. Many birds who nest on the ground (killdeer, plovers, etc.) have chicks who are up and running around within a couple hours of hatching. Not flying, but at least they can run. Not so with the least tern chicks. They sit until they are ready to fly. The only thing we've seen thus far is that they will gradually move away from the nest the older they get. So they don't run, but they do move a foot or so before they start with the sitting and waiting again. All I can say is, no wonder they're endangered! The parents do what they can, but that's just some serious dive-bombing action. One actually got mere inches from my head. They squawk in your ear as they do it. It can be startling. But nothing like what the Killdeer will do (they're the birds who act like they have a broken wing to lure the predator away).

But we have had some success with the Terns. Just yesterday we saw 5 hatched chicks. Once upon a time, I believed that all baby birds were ugly (this being when swallows and sparrows were my only point of reference). However. These least tern chicks are the cutest and fluffiest little birds ever. I cooed like a girl when I saw one for the first time - much to the amusement of the biologist I'm working with. It's alright though. I am, after all, a girl.

Another project I'm going to really enjoy, I think, is the Horny toad census. There used to be railroad track that ran through the southern (southwestern maybe, my directions are still a little hazy up here) tip. That was closed down and the tracks were pulled up. The railway however, has remained in tact for the most part. They are thinking of making that into another nature trail. But that area is wonderful horny toad habitat, and the horny toad is a "species of concern" (not endangered, or threatened, but close). So we want to see how many are actually in the area, so we can determine what kind of impact a nature trail might have on them. My job is to walk the railway, and count the number of horny toads I see. I'm also supposed to catch them, weigh and measure them, and sex them (have no idea how to do that yet). This project will start in earnest next week, because most of my mornings this past week have been taken up with the Terns.

So yeah. Doing lots of varied fun stuff. It's been great so far. It's really too bad it's still so hot outside. But such is the way of summers in Oklahoma. My "bunkhouse" is still great. I had a visitor on Thursday night. He was here to help us with the terns on Friday. Apparently I can expect to share the house like this from time to time with volunteers and researchers. I'm expecting Gerard Butler to stop in to volunteer at the refuge any time now.

Other than refuge life, I'm doing lots of movie watching, book reading, and piano playing. And I haven't even exhausted my knowledge of cooking yet. Course, by the time I get home in the afternoons, I'm normally too weary to want to cook so much. So I haven't been very adventurous in the kitchen. I suspect that'll change once I get tired of spaghetti and sandwiches. :)

My off days are Sunday and Monday - I'm planning on exploring the towns a bit more, maybe making some casseroles, and then more movie watching, book reading, and piano playing. Maybe some bike riding to mix things up a bit.