Hot, hot, heat . . .

Alright, this heat has got to stop! I was drenched in sweat by about 9:30 again this morning. I know I live in Oregon and that hot weather is normal, but PLEASE . . . it's too much! I'm just glad I'm not doing these surveys in Southern Oregon, then I probably would want to cry. The birds were pretty inactive, visibility wise again today. I did see some Black-capped Chickadees but not many. There were very few black-headed grosbeaks too. Wilson's warblers and macgillivray's warblers were not to be found, but yellow warblers were there early this morning. Red-breasted nuthatches were really active today. I saw an adult with a fledgling "begging" along behind it. The lack of birds has become quite fascinating. Even the rufus hummingbirds and swainson's thrush didn't make an appearance. Weird. This could all relate to the increasing amount of mowing they're doing at the refuge. I must say that I'm quite disappointed in the EE Wilson management team. Not only are birds hunted at this refuge but so are large game (deer) and cottontail rabbits. My horror keeps growing as the bushes and grass become less. It all seems a little too "canned hunt" for me. Anyway, the best part of my day was watching an adult female norther flicker (red-shafted) chasing an adult female american kestrel. An adult female cooper's hawk made a very brief appearance as well. How do I know it was a female? The bird was quite large, in fact at the large end of the cooper's hawk size spectrum.

On the way back to the truck I consumed a large quantity of blackberries. They were delicious! I ran into a family picking berries too. The husband and wife were armpit deep in blackberry bushes and their son was standing in the middle of the "road" staring at me. It was rather amusing.

As I walked I pondered life. What I'm doing right now seems valid, at least I keep telling myself that. Both sites are managed for a very specific person. Finley is managed for the dusky canada goose and EE Wilson for the hunters. While I should feel like I'm doing a good thing I feel like it is rather pointless. This could be hormones talking, sometimes I get dejected when I'm hormonal. Either way what difference do the songbirds make? They won't bring money to either refuge. In fact EE Wilson doesn't even charge for its permits . . . they manage for the hunters who don't pay them a dime to hunt there. They pay for the license obviously, but what is the point of the permit if there is no charge? I suppose to keep track of how many hunters are coming through the area. Elk hunting on the outskirts of Finley opens soon. There is an extended season because of the elk population. People that live near the refuge complain about the elk coming onto their property and causing damage. My opinion? They're some of the last elk in the valley . . . shouldn't you think it's neat to see them? I know I do, and I've seen elk in Southern Oregon and near the coast. All of this brings me to my final point. I used to think I would rather live in a community kind of like Corvallis. Now I don't know. Maybe I'd rather live in a quasi-urban area so that I can try to restore what has been altered, and work to prevent damage as urban areas expand. Eh . . . this whole grad school thing has me perplexed.

On a more positive note, huckleberries should be ripe soon. The research paper I've been doing on huckleberries has them permanently on my brain. They are my favorite fruit EVER and they're really good for you (as are pie or tart cherries and the cherries native to the Willamette Valley). I need to go huckleberry picking, maybe it'll ease my mind.