Archivos de diario de abril 2018

24 de abril de 2018

I'm Baaaack!

I just rolled into Austin last night at the end of my 4000+ mile road trip out to Death Valley and back—which started with the Del Rio/Amistad/Devil’s River BioBlitz on April 5-8. My subsequent travels took me to the following locations, in all of which I “found some Nature” (as @sambiology says):

Balmorhea SP, TX

  • Davis Mts SP, TX
  • Franklins Mts SP, El Paso, TX
  • Gila Nat. For., NM
    Petrified Forest NP, AZ
    Las Vegas (“What happens in…”)
    Lake Mead Nat. Rec. Area (Wetlands Trail, NV)
    Death Valley, CA (4 days)

  • Lake Mead Nat. Rec. Area (Katherine Landing, AZ)
    Meteor Crater, AZ
    Winslow, AZ (stood on a corner…)
    Roosevelt L., AZ
    Tonto Nat. Mon., AZ

  • Gila Box Riparian Nat. Cons. Area, AZ
    White Sands Nat. Mon., NM
    Sacramento Mts, NM

  • Monahans Sandhills SP, TX

I put up a moth sheet with varying success at each location marked with an asterisk (*). Results were very good at Davis Mts SP and moderately good at other locations except in the Franklins Mts where it turned windy and cool that particular night. The vast majority of moths at every location were new to me! I also photographed a few birds here and there including such things as Zone-tailed Hawk, Phainopepla, Townsend’s Warbler, and Red-faced Warbler, along with the occasional urban bird. And plants, plants, plants: I tried to document the dominant plant species and any flowering plants at each of my major destinations. That was pretty easy in Death Valley where the rocks, sand, and salt have the upper hand. As well, much of AZ and NM that I crossed through is currently in extreme to exceptional drought, so flowering plants were few and far between except at a few notable locations.

The many experiences and adventures on this trip were as diverse as the landscape. I experienced temps from 34F to 96F; I car-camped in temps from 85F down to 38F. I had some calm days, but also survived a sand/gravel storm in Death Valley (including broken windows on [other peoples] cars) and a wind storm at Meteor Crater where they clocked a gust of 110 mph while I was in the visitor's center. Varying skies throughout the trip with lots of sun, but including a very few snow flakes on the Mogollon Plateau in AZ, yet NOT A DROP of rain the entire time.

I don’t know if this is typical of my previous road trips, but on this particular journey, given the amazing cross-section of North American habitats, floras, and faunas that I experienced, I came home with about 1 photo per mile for the trip, i.e. about 4300 images for a 4200 mile trip. I’ll have them up on iNat by noon today….(and if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in Arizona that I’ll sell you).

In truth, it will take me weeks and weeks to edit and upload my haul of images. My priority will obviously be to start with the Del Rio BioBlitz ASAP, and then probably work my way chronologically through the trip. I’ll probably upload my moderate number of bird images first, then moths and insects, then plants. Oh, and the CNC starts this Friday!!! Geez….no rest for the weary.

My apologies to my fellow iNatters if I have been—and continue to be—a bit slow in responding to tags, requests for info, or just snide remarks. I’ll get to them all as time allows. PLEASE continue to tag me if you have comments or questions.

Exhausted in Austin…

gcwarbler

Publicado el abril 24, 2018 04:49 TARDE por gcwarbler gcwarbler | 12 comentarios | Deja un comentario