The herons did not want to come out. Amanda finally had to pull out some of them.
When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe - John Muir
Monday, July 27, 2009
Heron Release
Saturday, I got tapped to do a release of six Black-crowned Night-Herons with Amanda, one of our interns. These birds were raised at IBRRC after getting blown from nests, etc., when they were too young to survive. They are juveniles, and their color will change to mostly light gray with a black crown. My old camera flaked out after the first picture, and most of the pictures didn't turn out well, but at least the release is documented. Time for a new compact camera.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Marble Mountains Backpacking Trip
Did you ever dream about diving into a clear mountain lake on a hot day? Well our dreams came true on this trip.
It all started when Nick and I drove about 420 miles to reach the Shackleford Trailhead in The Marble Mountain Wilderness of the Klamath Mountains.
Driving through Scott Valley we saw this western kingbird on a fence.
Cooling our feet after a long drive.
Starting off the next morning.
The trail was crossed by many small streams.
The flower season comes late up here.
Nick spotted a couple ants carrying a grain of sawdust at a time from their tunnels, and dropping it over the edge. We noticed a division of labor between the smaller ants and the larger ants of the "nest".
This plant appeared to be a wild rose.
We passed several bogs covered with water lillies.
Our base camp destination - Cliff Lake.
Boiling water for another delicous Mountain House dinner.
We slept under the stars our first 2 nights. Don't worry, we moved the food cannister far away before bedding down.
The sun lingers on the peaks.
Looking down at Summit Lake as we climbed a trail up to join The Pacific Crest Trail at the top.
We saw the white marble of distant peaks and also a lightning fire smoldering away in the distance.
We hiked along the PCT until we came directly above our lake (Cliff Lake). You can see Mt. Shasta in the far distance. There were still a few patches of snow in the near mountains, but much less than usual, I believe.
Our lunch spot that looked hundreds of feet below to our campsite
There's our lake with an interesting chute from top to bottom. Several times, over the four days we were there, we could hear rocks rolling down the chute for no apparent reason other than gravity and erosion.
A Nick shot, naturally.
Our campsite the last two nights.
On day three, we rested around the lake, reading, swimming, and watching fish leap clear out of the water to grab damsel flies perched on grass.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Archer Taylor Preserve Revisited
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