Have you ever had one of those days you can just feel rain coming? Yesterday was one of those days. When I stepped outside in the morning, my immediate thought was “I wonder when it will start raining?”. The sky was ominous, and pretty much by the time we arrived at the Hjelm House it was coming down.
We spent the first part of the morning updating Stuart and Gretel on our individual projects, measuring, and demo. My yellow pan trap project is going well; I have the contents of approximately 120 traps in the Hjelm House freezer right now waiting to be pinned, and I tried to use the rainy weather yesterday to make a dent in all of that. My pinning is getting faster each day, and the pinned specimens are looking better and better. Soon I will begin identifying these specimens and analyzing my data.
It amazes me, when I think about phenology, how long it used to take to complete. I was able to do the whole of the Around Landfill loop in about half an hour yesterday, a task that would have taken two people a morning to complete only a few weeks ago. It amazes me how much time has gone by this summer already.
This brings us to the pivotal event yesterday: the great coaxial cable conundrum. In short, we need a new cable for the GPS, but the brand-name replacement is far too expensive. We spent some time discussing our options, and a decision has yet to be made. More updates to come?
The afternoon brought a little more rain, which for me meant more pinning. After the rain cleared, Wes, Ashley, Anna, and I embarked to Hegg Lake to measure at the Hybrid plot there. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish the plot, having only two or three rows remaining, but I’m sure they will be finished soon.
An old image, flowering Liatris at Hegg Lake; 31? July 2017.
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