An update from the field

Sunset at the Virginia Mountains field site

Hi Everybody! I am currently out in East Nevada near a small town called Ely trapping greater sage-grouse. The week previously I was at our Virginia Mountains field site north of Reno, NV doing orientation and training. There I learned how to spotlight and net sage-grouse at night, how to place radio collars on their necks and take measurements and blood samples. We used ring-necked pheasants to practice on (which we later ate- they were delicious). I also renewed my first aid and CPR training and some general safety protocols, learned how to change a flat tire, tow a stuck truck and got to learn more about the people and animals that I would be working with for the next couple of months. Everybody here is great. It was nice to get to know new people, learn about their past experiences and talk about birds! We got to our trapping field site on Monday and went out on a practice run that night. We successfully caught an adult male who was roosting around a lekking site at around 1am. I held him while Melanie, the crew lead collared and took his measurements. The grouse was huge! Much larger than the prairie chickens that I have previously worked with and the pheasants that we have practiced on. He was a feisty guy who fought to get loose but I was able to hold him tight throughout all of the measurements and blood letting. We eventually finished up and let him go around 2:30am. We will be going out again these other following nights from about 10pm to 4am. I will be on a nocturnal sleeping schedule.

For all of y’all trying to reach me, the phone and wireless service here at the SWIP field site is almost nonexistent. I will have time where I will be going into or near town to check my email, text messages and update this blog so if you need to reach me please do that there and realize that it will take me a while to get back to you. I hope everyone is well. I’ll post again soon!