It's the desert... so it's raining.

It has been raining on and off for the past week out here on Sheldon. This makes for lots and lots of free time since we can't spend the amount of time in the field that we normally would. For example, today, before coming into town, I went out to one of my plots and just checked nests before being completely soaked. It's pretty much useless nest searching in the rain. You can't get good behavioral/ territorial data either. We're suffering from an acute case of cabin fever.



Earlier in this rainy week (the day that it snowed) we made the obligatory trip out to Bog Hot. We spent the whole afternoon there, hanging out with some locals. We covered ourselves in mud, as tradition dictates, and then rocked out on the drive back to Electric Six. Jan and I realized that we were making quite the fashion statement with our stripey NZ spandex over our bathing suits... so we got Ben, one of the point counters to take a picture.



In the few breaks in the clouds we have had we've soaked up what little sun we can get. A short hike up the hill beside the cabin yielded a coyote skull that Keith had been searching for (the subject of an epic Badger Cabin original song), and another afternoon Keith and Berti were charming the baby Cleti with their guitar/ banjo music. That is until Mom decided to pick all four up by the scruff of their neck and carry them elsewhere... one by one.



Things have been a bit slow... and the drizzly weather has made it impossible to play anymore beer bottle bowling. Here's hoping the clouds clear off soon!

Cadger Babin

Life at Badger Cabin, or Cadger Babin, as we affectionately refer to it, has been good. We've found our first nests of the season, and point counts are scheduled to start tomorrow. (They would have started yesterday, but the weather on Sheldon decided to make the sudden switch from sunny and hot, to cloudy and very, very windy.)Aaron came out with me on one of my plots yesterday to give me some pointers, and help out with the nest searching. I was happy though that I was the one to find the first nest of the season on my plot. I found two Brewers Sparrow nests, Aaron found two, and a visiting grad student who was out observing/ getting ideas for his own starting project, found one.

The Sheldon Crew jam sessions have begun again, and I've been thoroughly enjoying sitting out in front of the cabin in the evenings, listening, and watching the sun set over the hill beside the cabin, while sipping some scotch. Matt is becoming quite proficient at the fiddle, Keith has some mad banjo skills, and this year Aaron even made a wash tub base.

Yes... all in all, life is good out on the Sheldon.

3,500 miles from Florida (about...)

Jan and I arrived at Badger Cabin on the 9th at approximately 6:20 pm, pacific time. But before we made the final sprint from the gas station/ bar/ restaurant in Denio Junction, NV, we spent a few days exploring Moab, UT. And by exploring Moab, I mean climbing. And more climbing. The first afternoon that I met her there we immediately hopped into a car with our gear and headed for Wall Street, where we met some other climbers from CO, who we later went out to dinner with. Wall Street is a great area for top roping, with some sport and trad climbing mixed in. It also has an awesome view from the top right over the Colorado River. (Since we were essentially climbing up the walls of the canyon.) One afternoon at Wall Street, when I was cleaning a route, I was the subject of approximately 10 tourists’ photographs as they cruised by on a boat on a tour. Since most of my experience climbing has been bouldering, it was a little strange to rely more on my feet (read: trust my feet), to get up a route. We did some fun climbs though, including one that Jan led, and two that neither of us thought we could do, but pushed through it. This one was particularly sweet… getting over the roof was the difficult part. (That’s Jan rappelling down another route we had just finished to the right.)


While in Moab Jan and I stayed at a pretty nice little campsite cut into a canyon. We even had petroglyphs on the walls not 150 meters from where we slept. At night we’d cook our dinner over an open campfire in a cast iron pan. Car camping can be rather luxurious.


We also made the short jaunt to Arches National Monument one evening to catch delicate arch as the sun was setting. The clouds made for a rather dramatic picture. That’s the La Sal mountains in the background.

Even before I drove to Moab I spent some time with Kirsten in Boulder. We spent a lazy Sunday morning walking around downtown Boulder. Downtown Boulder has a few blocks that have been shut off to traffic, paved in bricks, and lined with all kinds of interesting shops that you can check out on foot. Kirsten and I also played on the animal sculptures…


After lunch we decided to be a bit more active and drove about 10 minutes outside of town to hike in Chautauqua Park. Boulder is basically set in the foothills of the Rockies, and in the park were these interesting rock formations, called The Flatirons, that we hiked up. They’re named the flatirons because… well, they look like a flatiron don’t they?

There were quite a few people out that day hiking, and climbing up the flatirons too.

So… now, Jan and I have settled into Badger. Upon arrival I gave/ received a bear hug from Matt, then made my way down to the old tent party 2k7 wall tent to jump on Berti to wake him up. (Sorry I interrupted your interesting dream about fish, Berti.) Jan and I spent that Friday evening unloading our cars, and semi-unpacking. Saturday (after a VERY cold night… I may have gotten minor frostbite on my big toes…), the guys went to Alturas to get groceries, and Jan and I went out on plot. I showed her our focal species birds, then we came back, ate lunch, and set up our sweet pad in the second wall tent.

Later that afternoon I was in the Cabin, doing something, when Jan yelled out to me from the picnic tables in the front… there were Western Scrub Jays hanging out by the spring! I promptly dropped what I was doing, and chased the birds all over the hill behind the cabin. They’re not as friendly as Florida Scrub Jays, but their calls are pretty similar. I could hear them this morning, they’re still around... We think they may be nesting somewhere around the cabin. If they do, I’m going to find it.

Apparently a day or so before Jan and I got to Badger, the guys and Aaron constructed sleds out of scraps of wood around the cabin, and then tested them on a hill just up the road towards all the plots. (There is still a bit of snow in Sheldon in spots.) In a stroke of genius, when we realized Jan had her skis, we decided that we were going to ski it. So in the afternoon we packed up the skiis, hiked them up the hill, and did a few runs. Skiing in Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in May. It’s going to be the new craze I’m sure…




Living out in the middle of nowhere with no electricity and running water is the mother of invention. Your only form of entertainment is yourself, and the people around you. As a result, we tend to make up a lot of games. Last summer it was Rally Ball. This year, the toy of choice has been the "High Bounce Pinky." A rubber ball about the size of a lacrosse ball that cost 99 cents has given us hours of entertainment. Just add the flat road by Badger Campground, and 10 empty beer bottles and you have high bounce pinky bowling. We played two games yesterday... I won the first, Keith the second.

On the road...

I am typing this in my hotel room in Amarillo Texas. You don’t really realize how far it is across the country until you drive it, that’s for sure. On Thursday I was on the road for about 16 hours, driving from Archbold to Memphis Tennessee. Really, if you drove straight, it’s like 14 hours, but I stopped every few hours to get out and stretch… try to remain sane. Yesterday I drove from Memphis to Amarillo. Today I’m making the trek to Boulder Colorado, which is a shorter, about 8 hour drive. I took the chance to sleep in and relax a bit.

I thought I’d bring you some fun/ insightful observations from the road.

1. Like squirrels are the road kill of the East, Armadillos are the road kill of the southern Midwest/ West.
2. Drivers in Oklahoma and Alabama are really nice. In Alabama I almost missed a turn at one point, and the first driver that saw I had my blinker on to get into the proper lane let me in. In Oklahoma road construction deemed it necessary to drop traffic down to one lane. Everyone, (and I mean everyone) lined up in that single file line ONE MILE before the actual merge sign and construction began. No cutting off, or trying to jump ahead by racing up the side.
3. Going in to a gas station, or other place of business I am a little weirded out, wondering if the people here think I have an accent… (I think I confused a gas station cashier yesterday. I guess I talk kind of fast.)
4. It is really windy in Amarillo… I don’t think I saw more than 10 trees from when I crossed the OK border on I-40 to when I got here. That said, it’s kind of scary when passing an 18 wheeler you come out the front and suddenly get buffeted by a blast of wind that was previously blocked by the truck.
5. I go insane at about hour 12 on the road. (read: the permagrin appears for no apparent reason, I start bopping around in my seat, and generally being giddy.)

6. I do not fit the demographic of the most common visitor to Elvis’ birthplace in Tupelo Mississippi. (and the statue of the 13 year old Elvis is kind of creepy.)


Toejam has been enjoying the ride. As you can see here, he was working on his Godzilla impression for OK City.


Now I've got to go get ready for another day on the road...