SUN! and rain...

Since the weekend, the weather has been off and on sun and rain. But at least there has been some SUN!!! I miss the warmth, Vitamin D, and happiness that it provides. But, of course, it is usually raining when the sun is out...can't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Well, I've got some catching up to do...

Things from Monday...I went into the forest with Cristiana to collect her samples from her traps. (No photos...) Her traps are designed to catch beetles, so there are plastic/glass panels that stun the beetles (imagine walking into a sliding glass door) and then they fall to their death in RV antifreeze (the nontoxic stuff)...We enjoyed the sunny walk back to the compound, watching newts and huge slugs cross the road.

Yesterday, I talked with Mark about my project, which will be a comparison of Pulse-sampling and high-frequency-sampling results: an investigation of methods. I will be sampling a subset of Pulse sites at a high frequency (every day or every other day) and comparing these results to results from the Pulse. I will also look into patterns in the development of vegetation and insects as they relate to the microclimates in the Andrews (as a result of differences in elevation, cold air drainage and pooling, etc.).

The real world is slower than the Block Plan: by this time I would already be collecting data...But I think this slower version will be good for me...I will have more time to prepare, be really thorough in the field, and most importantly, I will have a lot of time to mull over my data. I just need to remember not to procrastinate when it comes to writing my report at the end of all of this...

In the afternoon, I went out to the forest with Jay to collect emergence traps and collect data at Phenology Core sites (which consists of locating the study plants and determining what stage of development and reproduction they are in). It was nice and sort-of sunny at the beginning, but then it started to rain, and it got really dark, and then our morale went kaput.

At one of the sites, I spotted a teeny tiny frog, and Jay caught it and I got to hold it!! It was a tinier version of the Pacific Tree Frog I saw last week. It was grey and had black stripes across its eyes. No, I didn't have my camera :(. And there were also some delicious views of the neighboring ridges from the car.

Jay has been really great in teaching me to learn my way around the Andrews. He makes me lead us to the site, and find the way back. I also follow on the Andrews map when we are driving and point out every once in a while where we are based on landmarks. So, he doesn't directly teach me: he lets me learn it on my own, and guides me in the right direction when I go astray. This is the best kind of teaching.

Last night, I watched the National Geographic documentary Climbing Redwood Giants. It's not worth watching...but the footage from the ascents of the tress was amazing (so maybe it's worth watching just for that...)! And there are magic huckleberry bushes at the tops of the trees!

The Pulse was supposed to be tomorrow (Thursday), but it has been postponed until next week because of sloppy weather. But I looked at the forecast, and it looks like sun and heat may be headed to Blue River!

the weekend

On Saturday, I went with Cristiana to Eugene to grocery shop and toot around. We began the day at the Saturday Farmer's Market:

Starting the day off with a delicious smoothie...maybe a poor choice because I got really cold.
Cristiana got her espresso; she only drinks coffee once a month in the US. In Italy, she drank 3-4 everyday!
SALADSALADSALAD

Some slippers I had my eye on...

AND THE BEST PART IS THAT I GOT SOME LOCAL HONEY! it is in a jar and the jar has a mr. potato sticker on the top, and the sticker says I yam what i yam! it's delicious

Yes, so the farmer's market was just lovely, and we did some more shopping and sat in a bagel shop and made phone calls, did some reading etc.

It was nice to be in a city after a week of quiet in the woods! But we did have to return. When we got back to the Andrews, we moved all of our stuff to the apartment across the road because there are more people coming this week, and we got shuffled around. This apartment is more open and light, but it is very cold. We keep turning up the heat, and it keeps turning off...

Today (Sunday), I woke up late (10 am...) and Christiana and I went on a hike on Lookout Trail. It took about 2.5 hours, and I brought my camera along...

Rough skinned newt!

goop coming out of a dead tree...my guess is oozing sap--but I will ask Jay...

Calypso orchid!
gorgeous!
tea cup fungi
a HUGE slug!! out of curiosity, I poked him a bit , and his head retreated and he got tense...

After our hike, Cristiana and I both went for a run/walk (an active day!).

And we made the most delicious dinner!! She made mushrooms and chicken, and I made roasted onions, steamed spinach, and Ari's leftover tortillas...it was delightful!

I have started reading The Hidden Forest (Jon R. Luoma), and it is fascinating. He's a very good writer, and he covers a lot of good stuff about the origins of ecology. There is an interesting bit about the Sand Dunes of Michigan and Indiana and the succession of flora seen on the dunes (that there are specific plants that grow in younger areas that prepare the area so that other plants can successfully grow there later, and that this change that occurs over time can be seen on the dunes because of their age differences). But the book mainly focuses on the Andrews forest.

So tomorrow, the science will resume, and there will be more science-y posts to come...including an explanation of what phenology actually is!

rainy daze and shaggy carpets

I ate some of my fresh homemade bread for breakfast, and it was delicious! I may have a future here... I am planning on trying my hand at bagels, english muffins, naan, pita, etc in the next weeks.

I did not go out on any surveys today. Instead, I stayed in and did a lot of reading on phenology in general, and, more specifically, projects at the Andrews. It rained all day, and I am really sleepy, even though I don't really have anything to be tired about.

I did some data input from the last pulse for Mark today. The next pulse is a week from today, and it seems that it will be a big day for everyone here because the entire forest is canvassed in one day...

I also talked a bit with Mark about my project. He said something like we don't expect you to have your idea nailed out by next week. If this was the block plan, I would have already written a proposal draft...But I'll take it. It is summer after all. My project, like I may have previously discussed, will most likely be an investigation on the differences in results collected across a variety of temporal scales. I will also probably look into how the community of insects at a plant changes over the season. yaddah yaddah, more on this later...

I also chatted a bit with Kathy, one of the lovely ladies who works in the main office. She showed me the secret key to the locked bookcase, and showed me how to check out books--I ended up checking out 4 books... One, called The Hidden Forest (Jon R. Luoma), is specifically about the Andrews. It's very interesting as far as I can tell--I'm doing a very block-plan like skim so far...

Ari (apartment-mate) and Jay (her partner in crime, lives next door) left today until Monday. Cristiana (other apartment-mate) and I move across the road on Sunday... I'll probably go to Eugene on Saturday to grocery shop and make some phone calls.

And some photos I took while the rain subsided...

kids climbing trees! it's a program called "canopy connections"
Hopefully, I'll get to do this sometime!
Just like the Wild Trees by Richard Preston!
Iris flower (taken 2 days ago, when it was sunny)

Trillium, Oregon's state flower (also taken on a sunny day)...they apparently get a little pinkish later in development. this is one of the study plants in the vegetation phenology study

tiny water droplets perfectly placed on this plant (clover-thing maybe?)
I believe this is a huckleberry, but there is a 50% chance it is something else
nice vine maple leaves (I'm sure about this one) with drippy droopy moss
there are shaggy moss carpets all over the trees...this makes everything nice and soft!

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" Lao Tzu

Wednesday

This is from Wednesday 5/25...there is a little glitch in the Blogger program, so I am on Safari internet...
Today, I joined Evan and Sean (looks like Ben from Parks and Rec), “bird people,” in the forest. Our task was to record the bearings of species that are part of the “pulse,” which is coming up next week. The “pulse” happens in one day, and, as I understand it, it is a forest-wide leaf-turning count. Confused? Yep, me too. Anyway, so we went walking around the forest at sites, looking for hemlocks, huckleberries, vine maples, and something else I can’t remember... We took bearings on all of the plants to make the pulse next week much easier.

Ok, picture yourself on a treadmill. You are walking on the 6 speed--now increase your inclination to 15ish. So the treadmill should be about perpendicular to the ground. Now, imagine that there are laser beams in your basement workout room that you have to crawl around, above, and below (like a spy) to avoid death. Also, it is raining and there are slippery surfaces, and you are trying so hard not to break your ankle. That was my day today. I was trying to keep up with Evan and Sean, who were like two monkey/mountain goats (fast in precarious, steep places). Another sort of humorous thing was that when I was tagging plants, my hands were so cold that I essentially lost all of my dexterous abilities. It was kind of funny watching my hands move so slowly...but not that funny because they were soooo cold.

Also, rain jackets and pants are only waterproof to a certain point. Did you know that? Well, now you do.

One of the “bird people” is also named Sarah, so, of course, we have to be distinguished in some way from each other...Here are some of my nicknames so far:

• other Sarah
• new Sarah
• little Sarah
• bug Sarah
• Sarah bug
• greenhorn
• our Sarah
• their Sarah

I’m sure that there will be more...
And, since it rained all day long today, I have no photos of anything in the forest to show you. I did see a few rough-skinned newts in puddles, and there is a nasty plant out there called a Devil’s Club. Eeek!
Ari is quite the chef. She made peanut butter pie yesterday, and it is soooo delicious! We made pizza tonight, and Jay came over to our (Ari, Cristiana, and I) apartment. It had tomato sauce, cheese (I’m pretty sure the lactose intolerance is over...), asparagus, red pepper, mushrooms, and olives. YUM. And I just made my first bread!! I used the special pan Mami and Papi gave me, and it turned out wonderfully! I can’t wait to eat it!

Greenhorn

Let me pick up from where I left off...

So it's Monday, and I just slept for 2 hours after the point count...I was told that Jay and Ari (no idea who they were at the time) would be back from Corvallis (where the university is) between 11 and 1 pm. So I sort of sat around until then: some unpacking, etc.

Well, nothing was happening, so I went and talked to Mark about my project and the Andrews forest in general. I'll write more about my project later I'm sure, but the basic idea is that I will most likely investigate the differences in methods in terms of the results they yield. Mark gave me a map that looks like this:

He also told me some interesting things about the topography of the area: the Andrews is in the Old Cascades, and to the east are the High (or new) Cascades. Since these ones are older, they are very eroded and quite steep (something I have indeed discovered). The newer Cascades are shield volcanoes, so they are apparently more spread out. And, now I have a lot of reading and learning to do!

So finally Jay and Ari came, and I went with them to collect the emergence traps from 3 streams. Emergence traps collect larvae as they emerge from the water after they hatch (get it?) and fly up to meet their demise in a tupperware full of antifreeze. The traps look like this:

It's amazing to me how different the patches of forest are. Some are old growth, and they have trees that are 500 ish years old and there's lots of moss and life etc. I like these the best. Then there are new growth in cut areas, and these trees are younger. But within these two categories, there is a lot of wiggle room, and I like that. And I'm starting to learn various plants in the forest!

I made couscous and roasted veggies for dinner--it was delicious! I have a feeling Ms. Carnivore Club will not be eating much meat for the next 10 weeks... :( I am planning to make bread soon, and Ari made a peanut butter pie!

I'm "new Sarah," and Terry (the fix-it man who makes planes in his shop and has a cat) called me Greenhorn--which reminded me of the one time I watched the Deadliest Catch...

OK--now for Tuesday (today)!

Jay, Ari, and I started out the day with chocolate (the love poem kind, with crystallized ginger). So we were off to a good start, and I went out with Jay today to collect the bugs from the Malaise traps. These traps use the same idea as the emergence traps: to collect insects who instinctually fly up when they are confused, like flys, wasps, moths, butterflies (not beetles...) These traps look like this:

Jay would start to look at the study plants while I emptied the antifreeze of the traps and sifted out the bugs (aka the good stuff). Just so you know, the antifreeze is non-toxic and does a nice job of preserving the bugs (to prevent rotting). The samples:

Then, I would join Jay with my cheat sheet and help him to identify plants and what developmental stage they were in. I've gotten pretty good at doing this with the vine maple and the twinflower, but the evergreen violet and trailing blackberries are still a struggle...

Oh, and there was snow!! Lots of it too! Proof:

The trees are huge here:

And now for the best part: animals/cool stuff I have seen!

Coyote! no photo, he just ran across the road

Deer--apparently a normal sighting at headquarters

Pacific tree frog! soooo cute, I wish I had a photo

bugs that respond to sound waves...veryyy cool

(drum roll please)

SPOTTED OWL--aren't they just the cutest??!! Jay called them and...

It's another roasted veggies night, and Ari's PB pie is ready!!

HJ Andrews Experimental Forest

My apologies for the bullet points yesterday--it was late (9 pm) and I had to wake up early this morning (4 am).

Yesterday, I drove myself from Seattle to Blue River. I didn't even use the GPS to find the freeway! The drive was super easy, and there wasn't any traffic. When I got to Andrews, it was dead silent, and there seemed to be no one here...so I went poking around and found some people and got some answers. I moved myself in (why did I bring so much stuff?!?!) and got settled.

I also went down to the river to look around...

nice little creepy crawly guy

it's so good to see water again!

the moss makes the trees look like they're wearing clothes

biiiiiiggggg trees!

Yes, so this morning I woke up at 4 am and went with Sarah and Ashley on a point count. It was dark when we started walking, and I was just waiting to break my ankle. It was very slippery and I couldn't really see anything. I was just along to watch and familiarize myself with point count, which is a method of counting birds when you can't see them. (curious?: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/ptcounts/index.htm)

Those ladies have some good ears! We heard: pacific wren, hammonds flycatcher, pacific slope flycatcher, western tanager... I'm not sure which is which yet, but I'll figure it out! Oh, and we also saw a rough-skinned newt--these are poisonous, but so cute!

When I got back from the hike, I slept for 2 hours.

It just rained here, and now I can see blue sky!

I have a couple pals graduating from CC today, and I would like nothing more than to call them, but the closest place to get cell service is in a land far far away. Maybe I can get some calls in later today...

No idea what the day has in store for me...

Road Trip

Wednesday
Colorado Springs, CO-->Rock Springs, WY

-class presentations
-senior champagne on the quad
-the "rast" lunch :(
-saying goodbye
-on the road to Wyoming!!

-Some terrible weather on the way
-not-so-great decision to get food in Sinclair, WY
-great decision to stop in Rawlins, WY for delicious Thai food!

Thursday
Rock Springs, WY-->Boise, ID

-Thank goodness for Boise, we had some wonderful hosts!




-Nice warm day in Boise
-race with Tessa, trampoline with Tessa, chalk with Tessa
-I don't think I am lactose intolerant anymore!





Friday
Boise, ID-->Seattle, WA

-almost ran out of gas...33 miles with the warning light on...filled up just in time in Durkee, OR
-We made it to Seattle after a long drive of Eric talking about how much he was going to eat when he got home, and we had a delicious steak dinner

-Regal the one-eyed cat!


Saturday in Seattle

-Washington Park Arboretum







-Pike Place Market

-first salmon of the season!!

-Queen Anne Overlook (needle, but no mountain!)



-delicious (first catch of the season, Copper River) Alaskan Salmon, and Lemon Meringue Pie mmmmmm for Steve's bday dinner (also: I met Auntie, Oma, Kate, Martin (funny man), and Wally)

Sunday
Seattle, WA-->Blue River, OR

(photos to come)