One of the coolest things about working in the wildlife profession is noticing how different each biome and ecosystem is from one another. This year, I had the opportunity to meet one of the wildlife biologists from the McKenzie Ranger District of the Forest Service during the Annual Meeting of the Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society. We just so happened to sit next to each other at one of the socials and we hit it off. Little did we know, we worked in the same area of the state! She was kind enough to invite us on a BioBlitz in the Diamond Peak Wilderness in some of the high elevation meadows and lakes. Boy was it beautiful! It looked like we were arriving just a few days after snow melt. Much of the ground was still packed down and bare. We even ran into some snow at times on the hike. Here are some of the sites that we visited.
During the BioBlitz, we split up into 3 groups, each led by a more experienced BioBlitzer, and surveyed 3 different areas. Other BioBlitzers were from the Middle Fork Ranger District, the McKenzie Ranger District, and the Sweet Home Ranger District. In particular, we were looking for Cascade frogs, spotted frogs, western bumble bees, threatened Fender's blue butterflies, and white-bark pines. Before heading into the field, we gathered maps, field guides, dichotomous keys, butterfly nets, and GPS equipment so we could correctly identify and collect information about where we found each species. Each group also carried a scat collection kit in case we found scat of the Sierra red fox or grey wolves that may be in the area. Before we embarked on the trip, we were warned about the ferocious mosquitoes, but we have been spoiled on the HJ Andrews with the lack of mosquitoes. Some of us fortunately had bug nets to cover our heads, but even those were not enough at times. Luckily, the pictures turned out great and you can't see the swarms of mosquitoes! Here are some of the species we were looking for in the Diamond Peak Wilderness.
After hiking far and wide, here are some of the critters and plants we were able to document. Unfortunately, the group I surveyed with did not find any frogs or bumble bees of special interest, but we did scare the wits out of a bachelor beaver on one of the ponds. We were also able to get some practice catching some other species of bumble bees and butterflies and identifying a western toad. Some of the other things we saw were a sandpiper nest full of 4 eggs, something that looks like weasel scat on the trail, lots of sign of beaver around the pond, some purple shooting stars (that the blue butterflies apparently like), and some white bark pine trees.
After our blitzing, we returned to camp and started making dinner. While the people BioBlitzing another day came up with a plan for next day, we lit the campfire and tried to keep some of the mosquitoes at bay. Around the fire, we traded stories from the field and Sriram put on a clinic on how to roast almonds in the fire using just a stick. All in all, it was amazing to spend some time in a different part of the Oregon Cascades and to sleep under the stars and in the open air.
