RIP Porcy

I'm not one for stopping on the side of the road to inspect some roadkill, but this one was special. I usually try to avoid catching a glimpse of the mess. The animals I've seen hit and still partially alive throughout the years will forever haunt me, but this one caught my eye. I've never seen a live porcupine in or outside of NJ. I've seen its quills and I've seen other people's photos of them in NJ but I have never seen one. So I left the car running and jumped out for a quick peek. Poor thing was intact (thankfully) and didn't smell (also thankful). Then I drove for a minute or two and thought that I really wanted a pic. So I turned around, properly parked, and ran back with camera.

Which leads me to my new questions, how fast was porcy going when it was crossing the road? Seems weird that it would be intact...all internal injuries? How fast can they go on foot? Do they make noises? All new questions.

The happiest and most stressed time of year.

For most, it usually is the major holidays that involve presents or around tax time. For me, it's spring. Let's see what's on the spring agenda. Spring entails hawk and owl surveys, vernal pool surveys looking for frogs, salamanders, and friends, and various turtle surveys and turtle radio tracking. Plus we are just getting started with real spring weather that's conducive to such activities....aside from this non-stop drizzle that seems to never end. Hours upon hours are spent planning our weekly schedule and it usually goes to hell quickly. Weather changes so we all have to adapt. No point in doing those surveys when it's pouring, cold, and everything we are looking for will be hiding.

We are only a couple weeks in and the hijinks have started. It's pretty well known that if you leave me alone in the field weird things happen. Turns out that even means leaving me alone for 5 minutes. Like when I was radio tracking a turtle and thought I had found it but that it's transmitter had died. I was looking for one of our turtles that we knew the transmitter had recently died but she's a homebody so she should be easy to find. Turns out it was not her but a poor turtle with a 10 year old dead transmitter. I realized this when I asked my coworker when and why this turtle had gone from being a girl to being a boy. Then phone calls had to be made in an area with now cell reception. But in the end, we ended up removing his transmitter and now he's living the happy life with a weight lifted off his back.

I stayed late after radio tracking to try to find some bears. I met up with a friend and spent over an hour searching in what was supposed to be prime time and area. Nothing was seen so I was started the long drive home after the long field day and spotted a mama bear and her two wee cubs basically in a brushy area by the highway. I love seeing things in the wrong spot after searching the best areas.

Then there's the owl survey from the car that illicited a pack of coyotes to respond. They did their locational calls and it was far away and faint, but definitely interesting. I'm just happy they weren't closer and that I was in the car. Or the almost coyote incident my co-worker had on foot that same night where he progressively encountered 7 pairs of glowing yellow eyes in woods where he's heard that same coyote locational calls. Alas it was just deer.

So I leave you with several shots of turtles I've found in the past couple weeks. Those are the good days where I'm solo with nature and can really enjoy spring.

Winter projects

This winter I had plenty of time for indoor projects. I have had a sewing machine for a few years now, which was forced upon me from my mother. My mother is an avid crafter and borderline craft/fabric hoarder. She made a bunch of my clothes when I was a child. That went over well with my catty classmates in elementary school. By junior high, we had to take home economics which included sewing. I excelled at the projects like draw-string bag and was usually done a million hours earlier than others. In high school, I would ghetto alter my skirts and pants behind my mother's back. Prior to me obtaining the sewing machine, I made a bunch of things just hand sewing and of course I patched a bunch of my field pants and vests.

I found myself at a fabric store and fancied this teal wool which was on clearance. So I bought myself a yard or so and went about making a mini skirt out of it with my mother's guidance. Unfortunately, the junior high home ec never taught things like different sewing techniques. I'm not good at interpreting pattern directions but once I understand what to do, it's pretty easy. So teal skirt was done and I set about making a black version. The black wool that I coveted was camel and pricey. It went on sale and I bought what I thought was the minimum amount I needed. Of course I had ample left overs of the teal wool, teal lining, black wool, and black lining. It wasn't enough to make anything big, but I figured it's too bad to throw out or get lost in my mother's. I decided to make headbands with the remains and add some random colorful buttons from my mother's ample supplies. I then would have my mother sell them at her craft shows. So here they are. The black ones will have to wait until probably summer. Spring is just too busy for me.

Little bit of everything

For President's day weekend, we headed to Vermont for some much needed R&R. We got lucky and didn't encounter any epic blizzards or crazy driving conditions. So it was relaxation all around. For a day or two, we had very warm conditions that approached 50 degrees. Then moments of cold and snow showers. The dogs certainly seemed to enjoy the snow even though there was plenty back home.
I ate a ton of amazing food this trip that is beyond words and description. I certainly came home weighing more then when I came in. I wish I spent time showshoeing rather than plain walking in the 2 feet of snow. It was a crap shoot every step you took. Sometimes you stayed on the surface and other times you fell through. Nevermind the drifts that were thigh high.

We didn't do any sledding, which was probably for the best. Last winter, I went partially down the ice ramp, caught air and landed on my head. Thankfully I wasn't really hurt although my neck was a bit sore. Others had the same fate as I did.
The best thing of all is seeing the plentiful stars at night. We had full moon or nearly full moon the entire trip so you could see everything without a flashlight. We were eagerly anticipating seeing some northern lights but once again we got skunked.

True winter

This has been one hell of a winter and it's not over. Snowstorm after snowstorm with no thaw or melt in between. My condo's snowbay has been full for weeks and they have become creative on where to put the plowed snow. Parking spots are now taken over by snow or its just dumped in random spots. Right now, we're coming off of a 2 day event. It's been all ice/sleet/freezing rain this round. It's 2 pm and the plows are just getting to my condo.

I've been working from home the past 2 days and I'm READY to get out. I tried to get out yesterday and this morning. Both were failed attempts. I almost made it to work yesterday morning but turned back when I realized that if the roads were that bad in the beginning of the storm, it could only get worse on the evening drive. That and the various accidents I passed or where almost part of. We were driving on the highway and almost everyone was respectful and driving appropriately. I was in the second from the left lane with a car just to the left of me in the far left lane. I was going a smidge faster than the car in the far left lane. Then this white sedan...like a circa 2000 ford taurus...comes flying up in the left lane and I do mean flying. I lightly tap my brakes to avoid having that car come into my lane. Then I notice that it turn into the median. That was weird. I don't recall seeing an emergency vehicle u-turn area. Then I see it do a full 360 in the snowy median and it's now facing the wrong way. Must have lost control. Plus it's now pelleting frozen rain. Then I see another remains of an accident on the other side of the highway and decide to turn around. I'm eagerly anticipating the aftermath of the white car median excursion on the way back. Except I now see that this car someone has escaped the snowy median and is now on the other side of the highway perpendicular and blocking the 2 right lanes. Cops are blocking traffic before the car. I never got a good look at the driver but seriously what is going on. It has to be three things.....drunk, high, and or just totally clueless.

This morning I was one of the few souls on the road. The driveway and parking lot was covered in at least 1 inch of ice. Water was pouring off the roof. My road was a mess and the roads were not the best. Branches were down and traffic lights were out. I decided that if it was that bad by me, it must be much worse up at the office. So I turned back home once again.
So you say, what else has been going on? Well there's been absolutely no field work in January with no field work in the near future with this deep snow. I've been sick and just now am getting healthy. I've bought a new camera...a digital dslr. It'll be my new project to learn on how to work it. I've taken up sewing and have made almost 2 skirts. I just took down my Christmas tree last weekend and found some sort of weird white fibrous fungus all over the bottom branches....the cause of my illness?? Since I was sick, I didn't use my fireplace for a couple weeks. I store my firewood on the deck in plastic bins. I opened a bin this weekend and found 2 mice living in it. It was a lucy episode trying to get them out. Let's just say one almost climbed on my leg.

Spring-Autumn turtle radio tracking recap

I realized that I never once blogged about my turtle searches and radio tracking that took place in the spring through autumn in a place we collectively call "the park." We did numerous snake, rare plants, raptor, and turtle studies at the park in the past couple years. I was never involved until this spring when everyone was mobilized there at once. More people = more trouble and harder coordination in my eyes. This was no exception. We had 4 walkie talkies spread over 10 people in an area where cell phone reception was null to spotty at best. At times, it was comical. People without walkies would be yelling for attention and people with walkies thought they were talking to someone far away when in fact they were talking to someone 20 feet away. Total miscommunication and mayhem style.

Our mission in the spring for my group was to find rare turtles. I was one of the few that couldn't find any. It got to the point that I didn't want to go because it was pure frustration for me to see everyone find turtles but me. By late spring, we were allowed to place radio transmitters on rare turtles and we were radio tracking several turtles. Also by late spring, it was sweltering and you had to wear hot hip waders to get around the rocky, rapid, and deep streams. Bears and poisonous snakes abounded. Nevermind, the steep and foreboding terrain. You'd be in a dense brush area and you would see bear dump after bear dump....clearly a bear nest/napping area. It didn't give you a warm and fuzzy feeling and any rustling noise was met with alarm. We were told to never go out to the park alone due to all of the above reasons.

I had periodically radio tracked the turtles in the summer and it would be challenging. The turtles liked to hide in the most ridiculous areas....under dense barberry neck high in a wind-thrown part of the woods. It was a spot where dozens of trees had blown down in a wind shear event. Barberry has those nice needle thorns. You'd spend an hour searching one small area just to find one turtle.

By fall I saw on my schedule that I was go out radio-tracking at the park alone. We were all busy so I didn't have a chance to find out if that was a mistake for for real. I was apprehensive because weird things always happen to me when I sent out alone and I just had a feeling. But I geared up and tried to make the best of it. I attached the radio receiver to my belt, had a walking stick in one hand and the radio antenna in another. Radio antenna was wired to the receiver on my belt. I had a field vest one and a backpack on top of that. I felt like an one-man band. I found the signal of first turtle near this large hole along a stream in the top picture. I couldn't get a visual on the turtle but it had to be there. So I moved on.

I continued on and saw what appeared to be a rare turtle across the stream 1/2 in the water 1/2 out. As I got closer, I confirmed it was a turtle and not a rock/mirage. I reached out to grab it and it was really really heavy and I noticed another turtle was attached. Yikes! I couldn't hold them up with one hand so they slipped back into the water. This is when things get fuzzy. I must have thrown the antenna and walking stick onshore (and yet still attached to antenna) and grabbed the two quickly swimming and now separated turtles. It was a miracle that I grabbed them both. I get back to shore and now have two large, biting, scratching, and angry turtles. I'm now supposed to measure, take notes and photos, mark, and attach radio transmitters to them. I really can't swing this alone. It's a struggle just to hold them both. I frantically call the office (with cell phone held to my ear by my shoulder) and after numerous attempts I get through. Several phone calls later I get someone to come out and help. It's a 45 minute one way drive but that gives me time to calm down and start the work up. I dump the contents of my backpack out and the turtles are put in....jail if you will. I am hoping in the 1+ hour that I will forced to stand in one area that a bear, poisonous snake, random hiker, and the rain won't strike. The male was very calm and relaxed at the bottom of the bag. The female was attempting a jail break every 5 seconds. Each single measurement I took of him, I had to put her back in the bag. I managed to finish the measurements and markings before my boss came. We finished up and radio-tracked the others without incident.

I wanted to show my boss this hole and see if we could get a visual on the first turtle. That's when things kicked it up a notch. He crawled in the hole and announced "we got copulating turtles in here." It was the radio tracked female turtle and a suitor. So I crawl in. Mind you that if I am in that hole, you can't see me at all. I get down on my belly and snap the picture at the very bottom. That's when the hole was named the "grotto." We've been back to the grotto a bunch of times. But now with the break in the drought, the hole is no longer mostly dry. I'm off to radio track turtles this week and I am very curious if something rather large, furry, and black had taken up winter residence in there.....if you know what I mean.

Wolves, foxes, and bobcats oh my!

I went and saw the wolves again this week. This time I went during the week to avoid the flocks of small children. It was mostly a success. Also as compared to last time, most of my photos were in focus. These two wolves in the above pic were doing the typical contest most dogs owners will witness. One kicks up some dirt and marks and then the other nonchalantly, of course, will do the same. Then repeat until completely empty.

Midway through our tour, the wolves took a howl break. Here's a portion of the action. They preempted the howling section of the talk.

After the wolf talk, it was time for the bobcats and foxes. Apparently the one bobcat we saw last time no longer comes out for presentations. The characteristics in house cats that some people don't like is amped up in the wild ones. These bobcats can be demanding divas and when they don't get their way you won't win. I wasn't able to capture the nearly instant transformation from sweet meow to low guttural snarl.