2014 Nevada Bat Blitz

The Nevada Department of Wildlife holds an annual Bat Blitz to survey bats in an area. This year it was centered at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, and I was delighted to be able to attend. In order to handle the bats, you have to get rabies shots, three of them, which I did. They are very similar to the regular flu shot.

Our first night was rained out, so we didn't get to put up the mist nets, but the second night we did, right where we were camping, at Hobart Reservoir. We had some triple high mist nets, which were very interesting to set up and see how they worked. The particular net below stretched across the reservoir outlet. After we set them up, we closed the nets (tied them shut) so that birds wouldn't fly into them.

Once it got dark, we opened the nets and waited. The nets I was at didn't catch anything, but the one at the outlet did quite well, and a couple bats were brought to our group so we could take a closer look.

The folks from NDOW were impressive with all their bat knowledge. I tried to soak up as much information as I could, such as how to tell an adult from a juvenile by shining your light through the wing.

With our nets still not catching anything, I wandered over to the other group, where I found a net caught in the net and biologists working to untangle it.

They were so kind and let me do the workup for the bat, which included checking its gender and age. I ran through a dichotomous key to figure out what it was.

We also weighed and measured it.

It was a lot of fun, and even though I was worried about staying up late, sugar and caffeine did the trick.

The next day we went on a pika training up near the Mount Rose summit. I had never been in this area and was fascinated with the different trees and plants. The western part of Nevada is so different than the eastern part!

A few folks saw pika, and although I saw some movement, I can't say I definitively saw one. I did see pika scat and haystacks, piles of cut grass that they eat during the winter. I guess I'll have to go back!

The next night we were looking for our next site when Bryan caught a rubber boa, which Meg is showing off below. It's a rare sighting.

Then we put up nets and waited for it to get dark. Right after sunset we caught a bunch of bats, but then it tapered off. I got some practice freeing bats from the net.

The moon rose and was quite bright. We also watched some distant thunderstorms.

Since the bats were slow, we played around a bit with long exposures and painting. If you can't find a bat, make one!

Just a handful of folks who were at Bat Blitz 2014. It was a great experience, and I'm very thankful to all the biologists who shared their knowledge.

A Birthday Party Treasure Hunt

 I love it when a good party comes together! In this case it was Desert Boy's friend, Ava. Her mom had a great idea--a treasure hunt around town. Every time she announced the clue, the kids took off sprinting.

They paused long enough for a lineup and a photo.

But then they were off again after seeing the next clue.

It was a hot afternoon, so we paused for a drinking stop. Some of the kids discovered a puddle. I kinda thought I knew what would happen next.

And I was right!

By this time the photo stops were not well tolerated.

The kids were delighted to get to the water spigot in the playground. Some of the kids thought it was great to take off their shirts.

Desert Girl didn't mind drenching herself.

They eventually reached the treasure chest, where they found cool hats and sunglasses.

It was a great time. Happy Birthday, Ava!

Desert Survivor's Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge Check-in

Hi, are you taking Desert Survivor's Get-Out-And-Camp Challenge? If you missed the post, click on the link to learn a few details of the name-how-many nights you want to camp and then just-go-and-do-it challenge.

We decided we would camp out 12 nights this year, and last weekend we added nights 7 and 8. They were great, at Cave Lake State Park near Ely. The kids love it because it's close to the lake. I love it because they have hot showers! I also had some fun with night photography.

Reflections in the lake

Night sky over the campsite

UFOs

 Actually, stranger than the UFOs were the numerous lights along the lake edge. What were people doing? I decided to investigate.

What I found is that a bunch of teenagers were crawdading. They could easily see the crawdads with their flashlights close to shore, and then they netted them. One group had a bucketful!

The next night they were out again (under the Milky Way--what a blessing to have such dark skies!). We decided to join them.

The kids caught a few all on their own (I was busy taking photos). So when Desert Boy told me he was soaked up to mid-chest, I gave a big sigh and expected to run back to the tent. Nope, he wanted to keep catching more. I think there's something very strong in our genetic code to keep hunting and gathering!


Here's some of their catch:

Since I had no intention to cook any, we gave them to the teenagers (who I believe were planning on eating them.)

 Staying out to crawdad meant that the skies had darkened quite a bit, and the Milky Way really popped.

One of the trickiest parts of photographing the night sky are all the airplanes and the resulting airplane trails they leave. I'm starting to learn how to remove them in post-processing, as well as some other tricks, but it's a steep learning curve.

Nevertheless, it's fun experimenting with some different photographic techniques. And it's fun to go unplugged and just enjoy the scenery around us.

So there you have it, go out and camp! There's still plenty of time to begin and finish the challenge. Fall camping features cooler nights and gorgeous changing colors.

Hampton Fire Aftermath-Early August 2014

 In early August we went out one afternoon to see what Hampton Creek looked like after a recent wildfire. The clouds had settled over the tops of the mountains.

The road down into the canyon showed us our first burned trees.


We stopped a few times to take a closer look. The yucca had burned, but should be back soon. One of the most interesting features was a rock-lined ditch I had never noticed before.

This ditch continued a long way, across springs, through the trees. The story I heard is that a one-armed World War I veteran lined the ditch to get more water down the canyon, so it wouldn't sink into the alluvium.

That sure would have been a lot of work!

The other thing that really surprised me was all the springs that were close to the road that I had never noticed before due to the thick vegetation. Now they are much easier to find, and vegetation was already growing again.

We saw a variety of insects, including this charismatic fly. I found the feet particularly interesting.

The springbrook looked orange because apparently that's what color moss turns when it burns.

Up at the old garnet mill site we found the structures still intact.

We also took some time to look at the old equipment, which I had never noticed before.

The trailhead sign had burned and some indication of channeling was evident.

We kept looking for signs of life, and Desert Girl was pleased to find this fresh deer track.

It was an interesting afternoon checking out the burned area. We're going to have to do it again soon because last week a storm cell stalled over the watershed and dumped rain, causing a flash flood that washed away parts of the road. The landscape has changed once again.

Ode to Wet Rocks

 Last night we had a humdinger of a rainstorm, with lots of lightning and intense downpours. We hardly know what rain is, since we usually only get about 6 inches a year! We probably got close to an inch of that last night. Afterwards Desert Girl was eager to get out and jump in puddles.

Today we went for a hike with visiting family up to the bristlecones in Great Basin National park along the bristlecone trail. When we set off from the valley floor at 5300 ft, the mountains were enshrouded with clouds and we didn't know what would we encounter. Fortunately the clouds lifted and we had beautiful hiking weather.

The recent rain really brought out colors in the Prospect Mountain Quartzite. I don't remember the rocks ever looking so beautiful! Here's a sampling:

(and some limber pine needles thrown in for good measure)

We had to take quite a few breaks for Desert Girl, but she hiked all the way up and back. The promise of lunch at the cafe made for a no-complaining trip.

Desert Girl spotted this cool mushroom:

Before too long we were getting close to the bristlecone grove.

The bristlecones are always magical, and it was neat seeing them with the clouds drifting nearby.

The trail even had a few puddles, which reflected the bristlecones nicely.

We were really glad we made the trek despite the threatening weather. We heard a few rumbles of thunder, but didn't get rained on at all.

Definitely recommend checking out the wet rocks near the Wheeler Peak Campground!