08-14-16 Field Note

08-14-16 Field Note

August 15, 2016

Jeff Clarke's field note shows a small lightning sparked fire on Mt Baldy and the Roaring Lion fire, the discovery of a patch of invasive dalmation toadflax, and bright rabbitbrush flowers.

Lightning fire, dalmation toadflax, bird banding, hops, wild rice

The Roaring Lion Fire, located SW of Hamilton, started on July 31st. By August 8th the blaze consumed 8,270 acres of forest, 16 homes and 50+ outbuildings. Smoke in the valley shifted with the wind daily; lucky for us, the wind likes to blow South.

Lightning sparked a fire below the summit of Mt. Baldy on the eve of August 6th. Joshua spotted smoke, called in the fire, and within minutes firefighters and a helicopter were on site! Thanks to the 12 firefighters’ quick response, the blaze only consumed a few trees and a 40’X40’ patch on the ground.

We located a small patch of dalmation toadflax in the Northern Floodplain. We removed and bagged their seed heads and dug up the plants. We will monitor this infestation next year.

This year’s robust apricot crop tested the strength of every limb!

Later this week, ornithologists will begin a bird banding project in the dense shrubs of Lower Woodchuck. They will set up ten mist nets to catch any bird that uses the area. To help make trapping and travel possible, the field crew cut paths and net lanes through the dense vegetation. Wildlife other than birds will likely also use the new trails.

Last fall we started to dump all of our wood and plant remains into a small draw at the bottom of Lower Woodchuck. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen marmots in the pile.

The wild rice patch has doubled in size since last year.

Both of the floating islands in the Clubhouse Pond flourished. Island plants use nutrients from the pond water to grow. These plants should fill in the islands next year.

A sole raven used the Rock Pile to vocalize to all.

The field crew collected and released 10,000 knapweed root weevils over the last two weeks. The release sites were located in areas with few weevils and several native plants.

The hops stalks we planted this spring started to make their way up the buck and rail fences near the entrance.

Fresh rabbitbrush flowers overlooked a smoke-filled valley.

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08-14-16 Field Note

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08-14-16 Field Note

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