Weekly Update (August 9-10, 2017)

Hi Mountain Lookout 2017 Interns –Emily Hermann, Cecilia Huizar, Gaku Ogawa, and Massupha Upachit

On Wednesday (8/9), we initially met up in SLO and Emily drove us up to the Pozo station and arrived around 9 am. Once we got to the Pozo station, we switched our vehicle to the US Forest truck and drove off to the fieldwork, which were a few miles away from the station. This field site was the second site that we’d been working on for the past couple weeks. As usual, we did our survey on the narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) alongside the streambed and collected the data on each plant to see if there was any breeding present in the area in this hot season. There was an abundance of milkweed in this field site and its colorful flowers make such a beautiful scene for us to enjoy. A couple of monarch butterflies were spotted flying in the patches and a caterpillar at its fifth stage was found devouring the leaf. As the heat temperature was nearly reaching its peak about 90 – 92 degrees, we decided to call off the survey and headed to the lookout for lunch around 1 pm. After lunch, Gaku, Cecilia, and I began our search for condor signals. Fortunately, we were able to receive two bird signals but have yet to see an actual condor. Hopefully, we could at least see one bird before our summer term comes to an end. When we finished the first round of the radio telemetry data collection, we walked back to the lookout and took a short break to stay out of the sun. In the late afternoon, Gaku and Emily did the second round of the radio telemetry but no signals received this time. After a hot day, we spent a wonderful night at the lookout enjoying the sunset, the full moon, and the stars.

On Thursday (8/10), we started our morning with a view of sea of clouds. It was just another fine day for us to work in the field. Around 9 o’clock, we headed back down to the second field site and began the data collection procedure. Things went smoothly because the weather wasn’t too hot and we finally finished up the second site and moved on to the third site. Yet again, monarch butterflies and a caterpillar were spotted in the area. Also, we found a lot of monarch butterfly’s wings laying on the ground so we assumed that in that particular area was a grave of monarch butterflies? We took a quick lunch break at 12.30 pm and resumed our work at 1 pm. When we were finishing up our survey at the third site around 2 pm, a small accident had occurred to the truck and Phyllis’s car. Fortunately, nobody got injured and both cars were zero damaged. For our vehicle, it was just a tiny scuff mark but it was easily removed by using some gel and a soft sponge. Thankfully, Eric, a captain from battalion 31 helped us remove the scuff mark and solved the problem.

I also attached pictures  that I took at the lookout from last week

- Massupha Upachit

Read More

Weekly Update (August 2-3, 2017)

Hi Mountain Lookout 2017 Interns - Emily Hermann, Cecilia Huizar, and Massupha Upachit

This week, a thunderstorm that swept through SLO county Wednesday changed our usual day's work. The different weather certainly made for a unusual day as it was humid, hot and temperatures stayed between 80 to 83 degrees, which beats the typical blaring sun and dry 90 degree heat any day! We typically start our day surveying narrowleaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) along the stream bed, but due to a flash flood warning, we did not risk it. (Thanks for the heads up Dr. V!) Instead, we opportunistically surveyed woollypod milkweed (Asclepias eriocarpa) along the roadside starting from the campground and moving our way up until we reached the lookout. We arrived at the campground around 9:45am and began our data collection. Similar to the A. fascicularis survey, we looked for evidence of monarch catepillars and butterflies' presence in the area. We were initially excited to see a monarch catepillars and two chrysalis but at the same time, were not so thrilled. Monarchs should not be here in our area at this time of the year, so hopefully these little critters survive the summer.

Not too long after we began our survey, it started to rain and we saw lightning. The rain was inconsisent. It would drizzle then pour out of nowhere and stop all together moments later. When it poured, we ran to the car so our data sheets would not get wet and we would wait in the car once the rain stopped. However, we only had to deal with the "rain" for the first hour or so. During the middle of our survey we heard first reports of the 2 fires that started on Highway 58/ Red Hill. Moments, most likely an hour, later we saw a smoke plume that was the Red Hill fire.

We returned to the lookout around 1pm and because we saw lightning earlier we decided to wait out until the late afternoon to do our condor radio telemetry.  We returned to the road to finish our A. eriocarpa survey, in which, we realized was not much left to be surveyed. We returned to the lookout once again, around 3pm. We decided it was safe enough to do radio telemetry, as we did not see lightning for a good couple of hours. Emily and I searched for signals until about 4:30 and had no luck. Unfortunately, we did not get any signals, this week. We ended our night reading up about the stars, animals and critters of California.

Thurday, we started our day, around 9am, back at the stream bed (Site: Tamarisk 1). It once again was humid hot and about 81 degrees. We resumed to our A. fascicularis data collection and saw a few more monarch caterpillars and butterflies. We had lunch between 12:30pm to 1pm and called it a day at 3pm. Was a tiring day but happy with our progress. Almost done with site two and will most likely begin Site 3 (after finishing Site 2) next week.

Other sightings:

Apart from our usual sightings of accorn woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos, yellow-billed magpies, etc., I saw an Oak titmouse, which was my first time seeing one (but they are probably common around here). I didn't spot any Northern Harriers this time around (I usually see one every week).

We found a bone of a medium-sized mammal (that I believe may have been a coyote tibia). I didn't think about taking a picture, unfortunately. We also came upon a few large rib cage bones (probably from a cow?)

-Cecilia

Read More

Weekly Update (July 26-27, 2017)

Hi Mountain Lookout 2017 Interns - Emily Hermann, Cecilia Huizar, Nelly Guerra, Massupha Upachit, and Gaku Ogawa

After weeks of preparation and training, we embarked on our first over-night stay at the lookout!
On Wednesday (7/26), we got to the Pozo fire station around 8:30 am and walked out to our first field site about 60 meters from the station. Our goal for the day was to begin the milkweed survey, as well as work through the kinks of the data collection procedures. We are looking at the relationship between milkweed plants (Asclepias fasicularis and A. eriocarpa) and their distance away from a nearby stream bed up to 20 meters. The presence of the patches provides space for monarch breeding to occur, so we record if any breeding is present on the plants, or if monarch adults are in the area. Overall, the data collection went smoothly as the group found our routine for measuring, recording, and conflict resolution.

We finished data collection in the first site before lunch, and headed back to the station to relax and get out of the sun. After lunch, Nelly drove us up to the lookout for Condor Telemetry data collection, as lead by Massupha and Cecilia. Thankfully, we all got a refresher on the different sounds the receiver can make from interference, as well as hearing and recording two birds signals; both signals came from the direction of Big Sur.

After packing the telemetry equipment back up, we all headed back down the mountain to our second field site about 50 meters past the creek crossing. There was an abundance of milkweed from the mouth of the dried creek bed, a very different scene than years previous. We worked for about an hour and a half when we saw Dr. Villablanca's "Mod Bus" roll over the hill to meet us. He came up for the night to ensure that the survey procedures would still be effective in the new season and that we would all be settled in for the night. We talked through how the first day had been going and decided to alter our protocol to include a larger span of milkweed plants from the center of the creek bed.

Our long and productive first day was over and we worked our way up the mountain to eat and relax at the lookout for the night. We even pulled out the telescope for a late night celestial viewing party.

The next morning, we woke up to a gorgeous sunrise, ate breakfast, and packed up the lookout. As we closed up we decided to put the chains from the North and South shutters in the top drawer of the desk in case of vandals. Dr. V pointed out the small animal trapping sites and the other milkweed survey starting points on our way to our field work site for the day. The timeline for getting through the sites is vague at this point in time because there is a visible increase in population size as compared to last year, but we will do our best.

The second day of data collection went smoother logistically, however it seemed like the heat and the long hours slowed us all down. We reached a stopping point around noon and decided to call it for the day, in order to stay on the safe side and avoid any heat sickness. When we got back to the station, we cleaned up the truck and all of our belongings and relaxed together for one last time as we ate lunch. It was a successful trip and we are all excited to see what the rest of the summer holds for us.

(We will be rotating who sends out the weekly updates. Nelly will be sending out next week's)

Read More

Hi Mtn. workday Dec. 11th

Hello all,
Eight of us put in a full workday at the lookout Saturday. An unrelenting
northeasterly -offshore- wind blew throughout the day from 20-35 mph, with a
maximum wind gust of 45 mph. Great visibility towards the coast and coastal
mountains south into the Santa Barbara backcountry. Two Red-tailed hawks hovered
into the wind throughout the day, hunting near the lookout. It was nice to make
a visit this time of the year and see the fall colors -oaks and sycamores -
along the drive up Hi Mountain Rd. and a spectacular showing of Toyon
-'Christmas Berry'- shrubs in bright color mixed in across the wooded slopes.

Marcelle, Kevin, and Joel updated the condor radiotracking frequencies, Chris
worked on repairs to the WeatherElement online weather station, Dave and Joel
dug away the slumping soil around the new post gate, Kevin repaired the roof to
the kiosk, Dave began installing the 12-volt display lights in the glass case
and I worked on organizing the recently purchased educational activities and
supplies for kids. We put in some time discussing and planning for the year
ahead, especially with the upcoming establishment of a condor supplemental
feeding/release site nearby in San Luis Obispo County.

Photos of the Dec. 11th workday event are posted at our Hi Mountain Lookout
facebook page...take a look at the last 14 photos in the "Workdays at the
Lookout" photo album.

Steve Schubert

Read More

Last intern update

Hello Everyone!
We just finished our last week up at Hi Mountain on Wednesday! We ended the year
with all of the interns up at the lookout for the last few days together. It was
a little squished with all 6 of us hanging out in the lookout but we were in
great company.
I will keep this update short as I am sure most of you will be up at the lookout
for open house. We will be rehashing our research experiences up there for all
to hear!
We got some great pictures on our wildlife camera this week including a
California Thrasher, Gray Fox and a Black Bear (that somewhat resembled
sasquatch, it had just rolled around in the creek and was soaking wet)! Grace
should be emailing out pictures soon.
Final P. boylii count: 10 speciminesFinal Dipodomes spp. count: 4 specimines
We are now working on entering/correcting data which will take a couple of
weeks.
Thank you all for reading the updates this summer and I hope to see you all at
open house!
-Hannah

Read More

Field Research Projects

Hello all,
This morning Los Padres wildlife biologist Kevin Cooper and I accompanied two of
the Hi Mountain Cal Poly student interns 2.5 miles along the Trout Creek trail
to one of their study plots within the Garcia Mountain Wilderness Area in Los
Padres National Forest. Ashley and Natalie checked the 15 small mammal
live-trapping stations within the study plot and came up with two newly captured
Brush Mice and one recaptured, ear-tagged Pinyon Mouse (what big ears they
have!). The interns weighed, recorded body length, tail and ear measurements,
ear-tagged and released the mice, then moved on to the next set of live-traps
within the study plot. Kevin and I enjoyed watching the interns at work,
observing the field techniques and their enthusiasm for the rigors of field work
-making long hikes in rough terrain to set up the live-traps in the evening and
rechecking the traps again early the next morning. We appreciate the efforts of
all the 5 student interns and volunteers working at Hi Mountain Lookout this
summer.

I posted photos of today's outing at the Hi Mountain Lookout Facebook page, at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookout/133314096701332<https://www.f\
acebook.com/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookout/133314096701332>
A nice view of Hi Mountain Lookout was seen on the summit in the distance.

Steve Schubert

Read More

Intern Update Weeks 7 and 8

Hi Everyone!
We have just completed out 8th week up at Hi Mountain and have several updates
to share.

In these past two weeks, both groups have been spending their time in a mixture
of oak woodland and chaparral plots. The chaparral plots are proving to be
extremely different from one another...depending on location a plot may be
extremely diverse (even harbor a few Dipodomys spp.) or extremely bland as far
as small mammal species go. This week our group trapped in chaparral plot #8,
which should be named "woodrat heaven". Although this plot had an extremely low
trap success, more than 50% of the animals we did catch were Neotoma macrotis
(dusky-footed woodrat). It was fun to practice holding those little fluff balls
that sound amazingly like doggie chew-toys when they are picked up. FUN FACT
(from Grace Mannell): It is rumored that Walt Disney modeled Mickey Mouse after
a woodrat he found in his back yard!

Last week we trapped in two special locations: 1) the long-awaited burned plot
and 2) a very interesting oak woodland plot that seems to have transitioned more
into chaparral in recent years. Both plots were incredibly different than
anything we have trapped in before. The burned plot harbored a great variety of
species (Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus truei, Peromyscus californicus,
Neotoma macrotis, Chaetodipus californicus and Reithrodontomys megalotis) but
unfortunately not any Dipodomys species. The chaparral/oak woodland plot also
harbored the same list of species in addition to Peromyscus boylii (we brought a
sample home), Dipodomes venustus and potentially Dipodomys hermannii. We were
not able to collect the Dipodomys species (because they were not caught on the
last day of trapping) but this information will be useful to future interns who
will use high-density trapping strategies in places where we have found
kangaroo-rat presence.

Camera Update: We have now had our camera up for two whole weeks! The first week
was quite uneventful...400 pictures of willow leaves and maybe one or two of a
song sparrow examining our cat food bait in a confused manner. This week was
much more exciting (after we got rid of the troublesome leaves): squirrels,
chipmunks, bobcats, birds, raccoons (which was exciting- at first glance they
look a lot like ringtails which are also in the Procyonidae family) and of
course, the classic pictures of us crawling around trying to make sure the
camera works. To top off all of the wildlife pictures, a brown tree frog covered
the lens of the camera when it was checked (yielding a few comical brown-smudgy
pictures of frog belly). Grace will be sending out exciting pictures in the next
week or so.

We had an eventful visit from Kevin Cooper and Steve Schubert on Monday. Grace
and Andrew had the privilege of working with them throughout the day to get
ready for open house and had lovely discussions on the lookout history and
geography of Hi Mountain and surrounding areas (I was playing hooky- backpacking
along the Carson River, but ended up meeting with everyone at the end of the
day).

One more last thing, we found a Giant Desert Scorpion milling about the floor of
the lookout JUST as we were about to fall asleep on Monday night. What a
surprise! Luckily, we were able to catch it and filled a nice little tupperware
with rocks and sand and fed it crickets that Ninja Andrew caught by hand! It is
rumored that Grace might keep it as a pet.Grace- "I think I really like scary
animals"Hannah- "Only when they are confined within tupperware"Grace- "Haha
that's SO true"
That's all for now!
-Hannah

Read More

pinnacles trip

Hi all,

Here is a little update from our trip to Pinnacles National Monument.
Working with Pinnacles intern Jess, four of us interns at the Hi
Mountain Lookout were able to explore the flight pen/release site and
practice telemetry while consistently picking up signals. We also saw
two condors with one flying right over head! It was a very successful
and educational trip and we all wished that the whole troop could've
gone to enjoy the sites with us. Here's a photo of condor #190 that
flew over head. Here is a public facebook link in case the photo is
not visible.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2207464395995.2131902.1528989704&l=e28d\
f31815&type=1

Have a great weekend!

Andrew Ruddock

Read More

week 5 and 6 update

Hi Everyone,

We are officially six weeks in to our Hi Mountain
internship, and as Dr. V says “still on a learning curve” (which is a good
thing). We have gotten our hands on so much more knowledge this week!

As many of you know, we took our intern trip to Pinnacles
National Monument last Thursday to practice telemetry, see their “cool condor
equipment,” drill the senior field tech with every condor question imaginable
and hopefully see a REAL LIVE CONDOR. Well, all of these things happened (and I
will leave the condor story for Andrew to tell…he is planning on emailing
everyone about this experience as well as adding a photo to the facebook
gallery).

This week, our Sunday through Wednesday group trapped in the
chaparral for the first time. What a cool spot (once the trails are made and
the GPS points are found)! We had some great diversity in our plot this week:
Neotoma lepida, Neotoma macrotis, Peromyscus truei, Peromyscus californicus,
Chaeotodipus californicus, Dipodomes heermanni (potentially) and Dipodomes
venustus. We were all very excited to get a potential Dipodomes heermanii
because it would greatly increase the range of the species.

We also obtained camera equipment from Kevin Cooper as well
as my bio-geek dad (who has wildlife cameras installed all over our 3 acre back
yard in Atascadero) who was generous enough to let us borrow one of his
precious toys. We installed one of the cameras in a rocky outcrop bordering a
riparian area about a mile or so up the road from the fire station. Last night
we baited the camera with canned cat food and checked it in the morning to make
sure it was functioning properly. We pulled out the memory card and found some
lovely shots of ourselves crawling in front of the camera imitating ring-tailed
cats. So far there have not been any wildlife sightings in the camera, but we
know it is working! The Thursday through Sunday group will be in charge of the
other camera, so we will have double-duty wildlife monitoring 24-7!

Thanks to Marcelle, we have found the adapter for the
headphones that fit the telonics equipment. If any of you receive the telemetry
data, you may have noticed that our group picked up about twice as many signals
as we usually do. This is most likely due to our now-functioning headphones
(and our new-found inspiration to track condors after seeing one last week),
thanks again Marcelle!

Yet another adventure that I must mention here is our trip
to the burned chaparral plot. We purposely decided to sample an area that had
recently burned to see if small mammal species in this area differ from
non-burn areas. We had some lovely directions from Dr. V “hmmm…..well, it is
about 2-3 miles down the ridge road on the left.” So we got in the jeep on
Monday and simply drove around looking for a “burned chaparral” area, not
really knowing what to expect. Once we saw it, it was obvious…at exactly 2.3
miles down the ridge road was a wasteland of what one could only discern as
Manzanita skeletons. Their charred, grotesque appearance stood out against the
shades of yellow, wispy, annual grasses that now dominate the scene. What a
cool sight! We took a gps coordinate and then began plotting out the areas
where we would set small mammal traps….it will be interesting to see what we
find there next week.

I think I have covered just about everything.

Thanks for listening,

Hannah Tillmann

P.S. below is the week 5 update incase you did not get a chance to see it!
Hi Everyone,

We just completed our fifth week up at Hi Mountain, wohoo! At this halfway
milestone we are finally getting in the groove of the "rugged mountain life" and
have learned to appreciate the "simple pleasures" such as traveling to gas up
the USFS Jeep in Santa Margarita and purchasing a diet coke and potato chips
(hits the spot)!

As of this week, both of our studly field teams have braved the horrors of the
chaparral ecosystem as we attempt to find GPS points and trap there. What a
crazy bunch of shrubs! I don't think I have ever experienced such feelings of
claustrophobia/adventure/accomplishment as we successfully bushwacked through
thick clumps of Ceanothus cuneatus, Adenostoma fasciculatum and Arctostaphylos
spp. (for several hours at a time) to the pot of gold that we call a GPS point.
In this ecosystem we are hoping to see some of those super cute Dipodomes!

Update on the P. boylii count: We now have eight out of 10 specimens! It is sad
to have to bring the little guys home, but it is also extremely exciting. Today
all of the interns checked out the Cal Poly Peromyscus collection to find out
that there were just a few, rag-tag P. boylii specimines, it is nice to make the
collection a little more representative of the area.

We are all headed up to Pinnacles for a day trip tomorrow. We will be traveling
in style (in Graces bright blue VW bug) and hopefully will return home with some
new condor knowledge to impress our friends with as well as pictures of us being
science nerds to post on facebook!

Highlights of the week:

(1) Andrew and Grace both tracked their first condors this weekend (data sheets
coming soon!)
(2) Finding one of our Sherman traps completely annihilated by an unknown
trouble maker (Dr. V says it is most likely a black bear). Maybe Andrew will
sent out a picture, it is rumored that he is bringing the trap home to hang up
in his bedroom (most likely to remind himself of how hard core his job is).
(3) Answering the question of "Do hummingbirds really drink out of hummingbird
sage (Salvia spathacea)?" when we caught an Anna's fly by and take a sip while
we were hiking in Trout Creek.

That is all for now!

-Hannah

Read More

Hi Mtn Intern Update Week 5

Hi Everyone,

We just completed our fifth week up at Hi Mountain, wohoo! At this halfway
milestone we are finally getting in the groove of the "rugged mountain life" and
have learned to appreciate the "simple pleasures" such as traveling to gas up
the USFS Jeep in Santa Margarita and purchasing a diet coke and potato chips
(hits the spot)!

As of this week, both of our studly field teams have braved the horrors of the
chaparral ecosystem as we attempt to find GPS points and trap there. What a
crazy bunch of shrubs! I don't think I have ever experienced such feelings of
claustrophobia/adventure/accomplishment as we successfully bushwacked through
thick clumps of Ceanothus cuneatus, Adenostoma fasciculatum and Arctostaphylos
spp. (for several hours at a time) to the pot of gold that we call a GPS point.
In this ecosystem we are hoping to see some of those super cute Dipodomes!

Update on the P. boylii count: We now have eight out of 10 specimens! It is sad
to have to bring the little guys home, but it is also extremely exciting. Today
all of the interns checked out the Cal Poly Peromyscus collection to find out
that there were just a few, rag-tag P. boylii specimines, it is nice to make the
collection a little more representative of the area. 

We are all headed up to Pinnacles for a day trip tomorrow. We will be traveling
in style (in Graces bright blue VW bug) and hopefully will return home with some
new condor knowledge to impress our friends with as well as pictures of us being
science nerds to post on facebook!

Highlights of the week:

(1) Andrew and Grace both tracked their first condors this weekend (data sheets
coming soon!)
(2) Finding one of our Sherman traps completely annihilated by an unknown
trouble maker (Dr. V says it is most likely a black bear). Maybe Andrew will
sent out a picture, it is rumored that he is bringing the trap home to hang up
in his bedroom (most likely to remind himself of how hard core his job is).
(3) Answering the question of "Do hummingbirds really drink out of hummingbird
sage (Salvia spathacea)?" when we caught an Anna's fly by and take a sip while
we were hiking in Trout Creek. 

That is all for now!

-Hannah

Read More

A day in the life of Hi Mountain Interns 2011

Hi Again,

Welcome  to the first rendition of "A day in the life of Hi Mountain Interns
2011." This will help you gain an understanding of what we do every day. Each
portion in broken into time steps and narrated. Enjoy!

SUNDAY/THURSDAY (depending on group)

4:00 pm Meet at an intern's house, unload various amounts of luggage/camping
equipment/field equipment into extremely packed, fuel-efficient cars. 

5:30 pm Arrive at Hi Mountain Lookout, grab GPS and 60 Sherman traps and a LOT
of Trader Joe's Old Fashioned Oatmeal. Run back to the car and drive, jump out
of car with gear in hand and hike to first GPS point. Hike in three parallel
lines down N/S axis of plot, dropping two oatmeal-laden traps every 20 meters
(run through poison oak if necessary, do this for 80 meters). Hike to next GPS
point and repeat above process.

8:00 pm Make dinner (most likely something cheep and filling...college kids) and
crash out.

MONDAY/FRIDAY

5:00 am Alarm clock goes off, everyone groans and proceeds to wake up. Breakfast
is consumed, sunscreen is lathered on, field equipment is tossed into the car
and the ignition is started...half asleep coffee addicts hold their cups for
dear life as the car winds down the bumpy roads. 

5:30 am Arrive at first plot, walk briskly (its cold!) to first set of small
mammal traps. Hold open a plastic bag, wrap it around one of the closed traps
and fling the unsuspecting animal into the bag. Everyone crowds around the bag
to take pictures and google at the cute, fuzzy, first small mammal capture of
the day! Handlers take animal out of bag and hold gently while other interns
take measurements, determine sex, age and species. One down....59 traps to
go....

10:00-11:00 am Finish opening traps and IDing small mammals at both plots. Begin
vegetation analysis...oh boy! On both plots, vegetation is measured at 5m
intervals to the North and South of the plot center for 25m in each direction.
This task is accomplished by rolling out a measuring tape and holding up a 7m
long pole to see which plants intercept the stick. Densitometers are also used
at each point to determine percent cover. By the end of the morning, most
everyone is pretty pooped...trying to remember plant scientific names, handling
feisty little critters, hiking all over creation/under large shrubs/through
poison oak bushes can take a lot out of you :)

11:00 am-3:00 pm Relax time! Usually consisting of eating lunch, doing
telemetry, greeting visitors, taking "Technu" baths and napping!

We have had several sets of visitors come up since we have been working, the
most fun group we had was a family from South Africa that brought their
grade-school children. We had a great time talking about condor history and
conservation, the kids had so much fun that the little boy pronounced he was
going to do a school project on condors and they will probably be visiting again
soon to get more information!

3:00 pm Begin searching for new GPS points to grid out for next week's research.
Usually consisting of driving as far as possible, hopping out of the car and
wandering around in the wilderness until the GPS gains reception and points you
in the general direction of the plot (this process is usually interrupted
several times by photo ops or wildlife sightings). Once plot is found, we all
run around with bright orange flagging like little kids playing with streamers
and tie them to trees/shrubs that correlate with our trapping grid. 

6:00 pm Repeat trapping step from 5:30 pm on SUNDAY/FRIDAY

8:00 pm MORE FOOD and sleep!

This process repeats for several days and then we return home dirty, tired,
satisfied and proud to be Hi Mountain Interns.

-Hannah

Read More

Intern Update

Hello All,

My name is Hannah Tillmann and I am one of the Hi Mountain summer interns. 

Our teams have been working hard for the past couple of weeks on small mammal
trapping, vegetation analysis and telemetry. We have been focusing our
mammal/vegetation efforts on 30 GPS locations situated in three major
ecosystems: oak woodland, riparian and chaparral. Finding the GPS points has
really let us get a feel for the land, and we have been enjoying finding new
trails, seeing wildlife and exploring. 

Our main focus for the mammal research is to document the species of small
mammals in the area and also to document the existence of a few species that are
not supposed to occur there (according to literature). We have already been
successful in one of these attempts, 5 specimens of Peromyscus boylii(brush
mouse) have been collected, this species has not previously been documented in
the area. These specimens (upon further genetic identification by Dr. V) will
prove that Peromyscus boylii does occur at Hi Mountain. When the summer is over,
we plan on adding all of our mammal data to the CNDDB (California Natural
Diversity Database) which is currently lacking in the Pozo/Lopez Lake/Santa
Margarita Lake small mammal department.

For those interested: here is a list of other mammals that we have trapped so
far: Peromyscus truei (Pinyon mouse), Peromyscus californicus (California
mouse) , Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse), Neotoma fuscepes (dusky-footed
woodrat), Neotoma lepida (desert woodrat), Neotoma macrotis (big-eared
woodrat), Chaetodipus californicus (spiney pocket mouse), Reithrodontomys
megalotis (Western Harvest Mouse), Thomomys sp. (Gopher), Microrus sp.
(Vole). We are hoping to get our hands on a few species of Dipodomes (kangaroo
rats) as well. 

We are also working on adding camera stations around the mountain in the hopes
to catch a glimpse of Bassariscus astutus (Ring-tailed cat), which historically
occurs in the area but has not been seen for quite some time. With in the next
few weeks the cameras should be up and if we find anything fun, the pictures
will be attached to future emails.

I have been keeping track of our "weekly highlights" in the Journal at the
lookout, but I wanted to add them to this page so everyone could hear them:

(1) First week of work: Grace Mannell (one of our interns) was sprayed by a
Coastal Horney Toad. FYI - Horney Toads spray blood out of their eyes and this
was quite a comical event (and no, this does not harm the animal).
(2) Second week of work: possible bobcat sighting on Hi Mountain road about 2
miles up the hill from the fire station.
(3) Third week of work: Humming bird seen on nest along Trout Creek Trail.

Stay posted for the feature issue of "A day in the life of Hi Mountain Interns
2011" to see what exactly we do all day.

Sincerely,

Hannah

Read More

ield trip to Hi Mtn. Lookout

Hello all,
Photos from the 'Condor Country' field trip to the lookout May 21st are posted
at the Hi Mountain Lookout facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookout/133314096701332#!/pages/Hi-Mo\
untain-Lookout/133314096701332<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookou\
t/133314096701332#!/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookout/133314096701332>

10 participants, including much appreciated assistance from volunteers Joel
Weiss, Marcelle Bakula and Carolina Van Stone...thank-you!

eBird report:
Location: Hi Mountain-- Hi Mountain Lookout
Observation date: 5/21/11
Notes: Cuesta College Community Programs 'Condor Country' van field trip to
Hi Mountain Lookout; S. Schubert, instructor. Light to moderate N winds, high
scattered cirrus-cirrostratus clouds, afternoon temp. upper 60's.
Birding observations from the lookout vicinity and Hi Mtn. Lookout Rd to the
gate; observer: S. Schubert
Number of species: 11

Mountain Quail X 'whook' calls
Turkey Vulture X
Band-tailed Pigeon 1 in flight near lookout
Mourning Dove X
Ash-throated Flycatcher X vocalizing, flying and perching among shrubs
near lookout
Western Scrub-Jay X
Bewick's Wren X vocalizing
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher X vocalizing
Wrentit X vocalizing
California Thrasher X vocalizing
Spotted Towhee X vocalizing

Read More

Hi Mtn. workday summary, 2-12-11

Hello all,

I was a passenger yesterday with Dave Berry driving his vintage 1966 Toyota Land
Cruiser - the high clearance and 4-wheel drive was necessary on the rough road
and many stream crossings along Hi Mountain Rd. driving in from the Arroyo
Grande side. At the lookout we met up with meteorologist John Lindsey, with
SanLuisObispo.com at The Tribune newspaper, and Chris Arndt, with
SLOweather.com, who reinstalled the improved and better working WeatherElements
station. View the online weather station at
www.condorlookout.org<http://www.condorlookout.org/> . During the day Dave
removed the damaged storm door for repairs and installed the new 12-volt lights
in the glass display case. I photo documented and evaluated a number of future
maintenance and improvement projects for the next upcoming workday event.

The skies were sunny and clear, afternoon temperature was comfortable in the
mid-60's, light SW wind throughout the day, and good visibility. The inland view
of the snow-covered Sierra Nevada was impressive.

A new mammal sighting for the Hi Mountain checklist was a black-tailed
jackrabbit running along the lookout road between the two gates. On the return
drive coming around a curve a startled black bear bolted off the road, crossed
Trout Creek and could be heard moving through the understory beneath the oaks on
the opposite hillside. That was fun.

Photos of the views and workday activities are posted at the Hi Mountain Lookout
Facebook page at
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookout/133314096701332<htt\
p://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Hi-Mountain-Lookout/133314096701332>


Steve Schubert

Read More