Two visits to the land this week. On both the air was absolutely still, rare for even one day on the prairie. We spotted elk tracks and scat around and North of some cattail-filled puddles. The puddles themselves were much muddier than they were all summer, perhaps because of the increased amount of debris left from the fire? There was also a splattering of mourning dove feathers on a hillside, a meal for a hawk, most likely. A pair of small-ish mountain lion tracks were in the dirt around one of the North canyons, as well. Most of the leaves are off of the sumac bushes. New shoots of cheatgrass are sprouting below the dried grass stalks, though, and some of the burned areas (especially where the dirt is very compacted) are covered in new green mullein rosettes. This morning the cold moved in, so we'll see what changes that will bring in the next few days.

moonlight hike October 2

A walk under the full moon on a calm, warm evening--it doesn't get much better than that. At least two great horned owls were out, and the coyotes were singing to the South (one of them made a loop-de-loop sort of sound). There's evidence of badgers back at the prairie dog town on the East end. And we got to experience the dramatic changes in air and humidity that are unique to dry open climates. At the slough above an opening to one of the side canyons, the air was immediately cooler and more humid, returning to warm and dry at the top of the slope. A 'pocket' of air is really a great description, and sometimes walking up and down the hills in the evening is as dramatic as stepping through the door of an air-conditioned or heated room, though of course here the only 'door' is one we can't see. Photo by Paul Miller, one of our participants.