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!
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