Almost Normal

February 11-17

Our week was close to normal, spending Monday at the flight pens and Tuesday and Wednesday at the quail facility. Thursday morning we helped on another Pima Pineapple Cactus (PPC) survey and in the afternoon did our normal water readings at the Cienega. By the end of our week, we were beat.

The PPC survey found no plants after four days of searching. Each survey required 14 or more people bush-whacking 100-meter wide swaths near the border. On Thursday we were next to one of the fire crew. Sean is about 6 feet, 6 or more inches. In order to keep up with him, especially after he had jumped a deep wash, took everything we had … and then we had to keep looking for PPCs as well. This is how we spent Valentine’s Day but at least we had chocolates for desert.

Friday we went to Tucson for our regular shopping and decided to try something new for lunch. We went to Barrio Brewery. Ellen has taken a liking to their Rojo, a Scottish-style amber ale. Lunch was pretty good, big burgers and sandwiches, but nothing very special. Next time we have a yen for burgers we’ll go back to the Cantina in Arivaca.

A treat on Sunday, old friends from Boston came to visit us. We were able to use our truck to show them around the refuge. We were hoping for pronghorns but got a rattlesnake instead. Yikes!

February 18-24

This week was almost normal, whatever that means. We did our half day on Monday working in the flight pens as Bruce and Nyla are still away. It was a cold morning and Ellen fed and watered the birds while Steve cleaned out mouse traps.

Tuesday and Wednesday are our usual days at the quail facility, but Tuesday morning was spent at a CPR/AED/First Aid course. When asked, we signed up, but didn’t find out that it was a refresher course for those who just needed to re-qualify. We learned a lot but the qualification course is a full day, so we didn’t get certified. In the afternoon, we went to the quail facility to do half of the general quail care. Paula was also at the morning course, so it took all of us the afternoon to do the care.

Wednesday started late. It had been very cold overnight and our water supply was frozen when we got up. That meant barely enough water for coffee and taking breakfast dishes to the community trailer. On our drive to the quail facility, we couldn’t get the keypad to open the gate. Perhaps frozen, probably just old. We had to unlock the padlock, drive through, and relock behind us. Groan. Finally at the quail facility, it should have been an uneventful doing morning general quail care. Because the week had been somewhat confused laundry had not been done. As I said, it was cold and clean clothes (necessary because we were working with the birds) were in short supply. Ellen wore a plaid flannel shirt for the cold day. It seems quail don’t like plaid (who knew?). The birds became really jumpy, flushing often, until she figured it out and took it it off. Meaning she had to spend the morning, the very cold morning, in a tee shirt. Steve didn’t fare much better as two of the quails escaped their pen as he was taking out the food dish. One flew behind a refrigerator and then under the bottom into the compressor compartment. It took all three of us to dislodge and re-capture the bird. 

It was a little warmer in the afternoon, so we resumed our outdoor cleaning, taking apart a chick brooder by drilling out pop rivets to get doors off where crud had been building up for years. Next week we will actually clean it. Got back exhausted and still had to do laundry and cook dinner. By 9:00 we were asleep.

On Thursday the weather began deteriorating, starting out very cold and with rain predicted. We rushed through our well depth readings at Arivaca Cienaga in the morning, fighting a cold wind and several rain/sleet showers. We got back to the biology building just as the rain started in ernest. 

While we were taking water readings, we had spent extra time documenting the new procedure for taking readings with electronic depth loggers. This was a prelude to our afternoon project, developing g a written protocol for doing the well readings so others can do it once we leave. We were a bit ahead of the game here, as we had already done a very detailed document three years ago. We were able to spend the afternoon in the Visitor Center adding in the new procedures, with many photos and screenshots, for accessing and managing the new electronic loggers.

The weather continued to worsen and by evening it was howling and raining. Speedy really rocked all night and we woke up to snow. Which has continued all morning, about two inches so far but it is expected to end this afternoon. With the soggy, slippery, unpaved roads on the refuge, it isn’t a good idea to try to get Speedy up hill from the volunteer outpost, so our weekly shopping has been delayed to at least tomorrow. If the weather is true to form, the snow will disappear by then. We hope the slippery, snow-covered, clay roads also dry out.

Photos