We made it to Admiralty Island early Monday morning, and after a safety briefing got right into the goshawk surveys. Southeast Alaska temperate rainforest is made up of towering hemlocks and spruces providing a canopy for an emerald world of mosses, ferns, skunk cabbage, blueberries, and the menacing Devil's club. Up until this point, my experience with Devil's club has been limited to a few encounters in the Pacific Northwest. The plant does an amazing job of protecting itself by covering its stem and palmate leaves with endless brittle spines that, despite our best efforts, find their ways into our hands and legs.
In addition to the hazards of Devil's Club, travelling between our designated calling points has proven challenging for numerous reasons. The temptation is to follow the straight line the GPS provides. For the most part, the topography allows that. What makes it impossible at times is the dense understory. Numerous times we have belly-crawled over and under moss ridden downed trees, cautiously scurried through tunnels of vegetation formed by well worn game trails, and inched our way up a valley slope only to be turned back by an impassable tree fall or vegetation so thick it looks like it was purposely weaved together to halt even the wind. But, we have always managed to eventually find a way to the next calling point.
We have yet to encounter a bear, but have seen plenty of sign. I am guessing we have been seen, or at the very least scented, by at least a few. Everything about the bears here is big - the population, the scat, the grub holes, and the tracks (one made my 10 1/2 boot look rather tiny). Part of the protocol for the surveys require us to be quiet for a five minute interval after we broadcast our recorded goshawk calls; these five minutes have proven to be quite long and we all keep our senses peaked.
In addition to the hazards of Devil's Club, travelling between our designated calling points has proven challenging for numerous reasons. The temptation is to follow the straight line the GPS provides. For the most part, the topography allows that. What makes it impossible at times is the dense understory. Numerous times we have belly-crawled over and under moss ridden downed trees, cautiously scurried through tunnels of vegetation formed by well worn game trails, and inched our way up a valley slope only to be turned back by an impassable tree fall or vegetation so thick it looks like it was purposely weaved together to halt even the wind. But, we have always managed to eventually find a way to the next calling point.
We have yet to encounter a bear, but have seen plenty of sign. I am guessing we have been seen, or at the very least scented, by at least a few. Everything about the bears here is big - the population, the scat, the grub holes, and the tracks (one made my 10 1/2 boot look rather tiny). Part of the protocol for the surveys require us to be quiet for a five minute interval after we broadcast our recorded goshawk calls; these five minutes have proven to be quite long and we all keep our senses peaked.
Up until today the weather has cooperated - at least as far as survey protocols allow. Rain has been a constant, but light for the most part. We did pull out of the field today because of a mix of rain and low clouds, figuring visibility is reduced enough to hamper sighting any potential birds. Depending on weather, we plan on finishing up this round of surveys on Friday.
As far as the status of the surveys, we have yet to see any signs of goshawks.
As far as the status of the surveys, we have yet to see any signs of goshawks.
No comments:
Post a Comment