slooow

Things have been very slow around the refuge here. No new updates on the prairie chickens for the time being but it is almost about the time of the year where we go out at night and catch/radio collar the chicks. Butch, a master naturalist and one of the new volunteers here, and I went out this morning to spray herbicide on the invasive McCartney Rose. We used about 50 gal of herbicide to kill rose bushes around the acclimation pens. In the afternoon, I went out with Amber, one of the bird trackers. We drove around in one of the tracking trucks and listened for beeps from the radio-collared chickens. We drove down fire breaks and off refuge looking for "missing" birds (chickens they haven't heard from in a while). It was great learning about radio telemetry and finding out where the prairie chickens are hanging out. Right now, most of the chickens are hanging around the few areas on the refuge with standing water- the Teal marsh and Horseshoe lake and nearby the food plots. I do not have any new pictures to post so I've decided to post some older ones. I'll be back soon to keep y'all updated on chick catching until then enjoy the pictures.

cactus insects

flowers growing in disturbed soil on one of the fire break roads

Horseshoe lake- (back when it had water)

booming chicken cake

dew on a spider web

common snapping turtle in defensive position