Sat August 18

GALA

Fri August 17

Meeting about gala in town in am.
TH on grouse walk-ins at airport. BO on generals in hayfields. BB finds 397 up by timbered island again. heard 749 up by potholes. Walked in on 642 E of hwy and meadow rd. not on nest. no good loc got on 178, but heard near gv campground.

Thurs August 16

TH Found 148. Flushed 2 other males and 2 other females. No luck on 397.
BB went out at night on 397. Thought signal was coming from Kelly Butte, but after walking it out, no luck. Drove around with omni up to Glacier View lookout. Nothing.

Wed August 15

VS last day. office. Fist day of new grouse protocol. TH and BO on hayfields grouse walking in. 397 and 148 heard, but not located. Aly walked in on 749 and got generals on airport birds.
FLUSHED 642 off her nest. Still 7 eggs. Lots of droppings in and around nest.
Banded 2 cora at Y2.

Tuesday August 14

BB and VS office.

Monday August 13

VS out sick. BB 1/2 day. Trap and Brit on grouse.

Friday August 10

VS and BB gone to concert. Trap and Brit on grouse.

Wednesday August 8

Still no 785. every other grouse ok. 642 still on nest.

Tuesday August 7

785 still not heard. Trapping w/ trapper, brit and vince. re-captured 185 sitting next to 136. her chick?

Monday August 6

785 not heard anywhere - lost bird. Spotlighting with BB, Sue, Aly, and VS - one hen captured west of the airport near 681 nest sight.

Friday August 3

All birds accounted for during telemetry. 2 new CORA banded at MEAD. Meadster back at the office for the weekend - trap door left open. 681 and 237 flushed - both hens do not have chicks. Point counts done in the morning by Brit and TH.

Thursday August 2

Trap and VS to town for supplies again at hardware store. Trap checked with birds that need to be banded but no wing chord ruler. Food and water ok so birds postponed till the next day. Spotlighting at night - one male captured at the airport and fitted with rump mount vhf.

Wednesday August 1

Point counts. Vince at RKO. Trapper and Brit on Refuge. Mead trap checked with 1 new CORA banded and one recaptured CORA / 3 recaptured BBMA.
Spotlighting with Dan, TH, BB, and VS. 671 recaptured and nonfunctioning sat trans taken off. Radio collar put in place of sat trans. Also two of her chicks captured and fitted with radio collars. Total of 3 birds.

Tuesday July 31

Happy bday to Bryan. He is old, decrepid, and starting to lose his mind due to prolonged exposure to CORA feces.

Town field trip to assorted hardware stores with the purpose of SAGR spotlight net construction. Mead trap checked with one CORA recap and 4 BBMA recaps. Burt, Kenya, and Bumblefoot placed in Letter Trap in prep for release at MEAD. The Meadster is happy to have some young friends to chill and eat maggot ridden meat with.

Monday July 30

Aly completes telemetry. 642 still hangin out on nest. TH and Brit doing point counts. BB and VS retrieve transmitter from J barn CORA at GE nest. Fledgling GE on ground at the nest site and flies off when we approach. BOO Ya Ca CHA !Best Monday of the Summer!!!

Spotlighting at airport yields two captures. One SY south of the runway roosting with 228 and a juvenile SAGR is caught on the overrun inside the airport. Adult fitted with sat trans and the juve with a radio collar

Sunday July 29

Recapture 3 BBMA at Mead.

Saturday July 28

Recapture 3 BBMA at Mead.

Friday July 27

VS, TH, and Pat finish the outer frame of the aviary. Still needs a roof. Brit and VS complete telemetry. 642 still on the nest. TH and VS recapture 3 magpies.

Thursday July 26

Trapper, Scotty, and VS building a new chicken enclosure and started the aviary.
Brit in the office working on a GIS project for Derek and answering phones for the GALA. 3 CORA captured at MEAD and 1 BBMA. 1 CORA is a recap.

Wednesday July 25

Aly, VS, and Brit do telemetry. Brit and Vince cover the Hayfields and then grab 749 up at Signal Mountain. Aly does rest. 1 CORA banded at Mead. Trapper and Scotty doing band reads at Mead.

Tuesday July 24

Point counts done in the morning. Vince is rudely interrupted by wolves while trying to complete a point count on the RKO road. Trapper doing counts in airport subdivisions and upseting land owners. 1 CORA and 1 BBMA banded at Mead.

Monday July 23

BB is ghandi for the week.
All doing point counts in the morning. VS, Aly, and Brit are all over the telemetry like chickens on eggs.
All is well with SAGR, 749 slamming in from Signal. 642 still on the nest - she is an idiot. 2 CORA banded at Mead.

Sunday July 22

Vince bands 1 BBMA at MEAD.

Saturday July 21

Vince and Mosey band at Mead. 5 CORA - 2 of which were recaps and 3 BBMA banded and bleeded.

Friday July 20 2007

Trapper and Brit did point counts in the morning and then Scotty an he went and telemeterized 398 and 749 from the lost creek missle battery knob. We could not get a read on 749 so we went to signal mountain to do so. She came in loud and clear with a gain of 215 on the TR5 from signal mountain. She was roughly near the potholes. Scotty and Trapper got samples from near the moulton carcass dump in order to get an idea for what White Band Orange C might have been eating.

Thursday July 19

Vince out with cougar crew after doing some data entry in the morning. Trapper did point counts in the morning with Brit and then monitorted the jouvenile from the BARN nest (C) in order to determine what it was foraging on. It appeared to be eating something, yes, definitely something, or... well... science is hard. .

Wednesday July 18

Telemetry done by BB Brit and Vince. Point counts done in the morning by SC, TH, and VS in the Snake River Bottom. BB, DC, and Brit recover dead barn juvenile. BB gets an injured CORA and sets trap at Spring Gulch. BB and VS flush 628 and 320 after dark. 320 with 2 chicks and 628 possibly without brood.

Thursday July 12, 2007

TH/SC RTHA counts. No birds seen.
BB & DC checked RT nest up N end of E Groy butte. found one dead nestling below nest. no adults.
100 cora seen at Y2. Glassed ~40 and 2 banded. one org U, other old green alum - no read.

Wednesday July 11, 2007

BB, VS, TH went to search for 65848 trans in Idaho. No Luck.
Aly - Grouse locs. 293, 228, 178 and 148 moved to hayfields area. 423 by junction. 749 only heard from Signal Mtn in potholes.
BB and Aly went out at night for brood count on 136. Bird located in perimeter just N of runway. Flushed with 3 other birds. not certain about chicks.

Tuesday July 10, 2007

VS/TH - RTHA counts. no babies seen.
BB - found dead nestling under Sage RTHA nest.

Monday July 9, 2007

DC Back from Africa. Meetings most of the day.
Aly - Grouse locs - 642 still on nest. 293 still on bench S of BTB. 423 E of HWY. 671 flushed in hayfields by VS and Aly - 5 chicks

Friday July 6 2007

VS & KL grouse locs - 293 found on bench S of BTB. 642 still on.
TH RTHA counts

Thursday July 5

PTT search trip over to Island Park turns up CORA feathers w/ no bones. Gonna go back next week with a metal detector to search immediate area where feathers were found.
Trapper is back from Africa - D due back Friday.

Wednesday July 4

Grouse telemetry completed by 1000am. 293 is not heard.

Tuesday July 3rd

Point counts in the morning with Vivian on the Refuge. New SWHA nest on Refuge found by Vince. Nolan Butte is banded - 1 live and 1 dead chick. Office cleaning in the afternoon.

Monday July 2

KL does general point counts, one between Schwabachers and Lost Creek, and one out in sage by 671 nest site. AC does grouse point counts on 681 and 237. VS does point counts on the West side of the river. KL, BB, and AC do telemetry - 671 is nowhere in Lost Creek area - KL and BB find and flush her out in hayfields (between GV/Kelly Rd and Warm Ditch 2 track) likely with chicks - she scuttled away, but did fly off.

Saturday 30 June

VS, BB, and MC put satellite transmitters on two raven nestlings in Mormon Row barn.

Friday June 29

VS and BB search for RTHA nests - found one on Kelly butte, did not find one at Schwerring (this was the third time searching - we have consistently seen 1 territorial adult there), and found an active nest at the mean old ladies home on the Highlands nest. Movement was seen in the Phantom RTHA nest. KL and AC did telemetry - all sage grouse in usual locations, although 671 and 293 faint and hard to distinguish. KL does point count on 237.

Thursday June 28

VS and KL hike Schwerring territory (over road from Island) searching for redtails - were hollered at but did not find nest.

Wednesday June 27

Aly finds 681 and 237 off of nest - 681 with 6 chicks and 237 with 3 chicks. BB and VS go out w/ airport personnel and collect eggs at 681 nest then go inside airport and flush 681. Upon getting a visual of 681, she started feigning and walking toward us and away from her chicks. Chicks were seen shortly before we took off. BB and ALy flush 628 and wait around - no sign of chicks.
Kelly checks Bison, Kelly Butte, and Wilson. GHOW at Wilson. Kelly Butte failed.
Bison had birds present in the territory but no nest found. Pick up injured raven with broken leg at Napa on the village road.

Tuesday June 26

KL and VS check RTHA's. Barn CORA pair seen going in and out of Barn feeding young.
KL checked Island CORA nest - failed w/ one dead baby on the ground. Schwering RTHA checked but no nest found. Chapel checked w/ no new nest found. Old nest did not have any new activity. Walked from Schwabachers to Blacktail Ponds and did not get yelled at by RTHA.

Monday June 25

RTHA nests checked by BB and VS. No activity at Zenith or BAR B BAR Ranch. 2 chicks at Bar B Bar Subdivision. Went to band Nolan Butte and the chicks are too young (re-nest). LEOW found below first unsuccessful nest. Point count done on 628 - flushed 3 hens next to 628 and heard what could have been distress calls by chicks.
BB, Marilyn, and VS trap the barn Pair at 1115 pm. BOO YEAH! UNITY!
WHO's YOUR UNCLE! Maintenance done on both sat transmitters.

Friday June 22

BB and VS complete telemetry. 228 is flushed with a flock of hens and no chicks. 681,237, and 642 nests are checked. All still sitting. BB climbed North Gully and finds failed nestlings.
Travis, Jill, BB, and VS attempted to mist net barn pair at 11pm. 1st adult in and out of mist net and the 2nd escaped the net entirely. Both were roosting in barn. Coyote Rock and Beaver Ponds fledged. 1 fledgling believed to be dead at Coyote Rock

Thursday June 21

BB and VS hiked up to GOEA nest above Kelly. BB banded and bled 1 chick and VS found Sat Transmitter. Went to town to put down an adult AMCR with a busted wing. A fledgling AMCR is put back in tne nest by BB on Redmond St. Bird dumps out again and becomes a Kelly rehab bird. Jill collected a fledgling AMCR from the Skyline Subdivision. Bird is fed and brought back to it's parents.

Wednesday June 20

Wildlife consultants from Laramie come to office in the morning and meet with BB and VS about SAGR study techniques. Hunter Boundary RTHA checked with 1 chick. Schwering nest is active but nest not found. Shadow RTHA failed with 1 nestling found dead below nest. 2 chicks banded at island nest in a flurry of black flies.
Warm Ditch RTHA checked with a parent present but could not see in nest. LOBO and Ditch Creek had one dead baby RTHA each below the tree. Chapel undetermined. Windy Ridge is checked and nest far out in sage is blown out. Territorial adult showed up at Wilson Ridge but no nest found. Nothing heard or seen at GV junction RTHA nest.

Tuesday June 19

Kelly and Vince doing fledge checks all day. Coyote Rock yet to fledge with 2 nestlings present, Dornan's fledged, Beaver Ponds yet to fledge with at least 3 nestlings present, HWY 89 is believed to have failed (active SWHA nest a few trees south), SE Highlands is believed to have fledged with one adult hanging out and no sign of fledglings. BB went to town to see about a fledgling AMCR and checks Indian View and finds two birds still in nest.

Monday June 18

Derek and Trapper take off for Africa. During telemetry Aly finds 320 and 228 off of nests. 228 nest found with 2 or 3 egg shells. Tough to tell if she hatched a couple of chicks or had her nest predated. Aly finds 320 nest to have hatched 3 chicks.
BB and VS walk in on 642 - still on nest.
Band read on Heskitt.Elbow fledged sometime over the weekend. McCallister failed over the weekend. Hunter Barns fledged.

Friday June 15

Banded 1 at LOBO. Bird had already fledged.

Wednesday June 13

KL does point counts. KL searched for RTHA nests around GV campground to no avail.
Aly finds 628 to be off of nest - assumed to be w/ a brood.

Tuesday June 12

Highlands fledged. Trapper climbed North Gully and discovered young chicks.
Burt and Kenya join the Beringia family. 3 chicks banded at SE Highlands banded.
Nest SW of SE Blacktail failed.

Monday June 11

KL does point counts in Jackson and Art Museum. 671 moved off her nest.
6 hatched and 1 unhatched egg. Trapper climbs nest on Nolan Butte to find less than 1 week old chicks. Hand of Baby Jesus fledged. Square nest failed in town.

Sat June 9

Trapper out doing fledge checks and Bryan and Lisa up the Gros Ventre. GV male flushed and appears to be in good shape. GV male with 2 other males and a hen.

Fri June 8

Vince got tights on 228, 681, 237. Trapper, Kelly, and Bryan band 2 at Heskitt and Kelly jumped in a bog. Trapper and Bryan banded 3 at Chapel. Bryan meets with cinematagrapher in the afternoon after going in on 681 to search believed nest site. Bryan goes in on 178 with film dude and finds predated nest. Trapper and Vince at Short Hollow with one dead nestling in nest. SE Highlands nest found in new tree and fledge check done on Highlands nest with two fledglings seen on edge of nest.

Thurs June 7

Trapper, Bryan, Kelly, and Vince collect eggs from hatched 136 nest. Spent the morning in the office going over the SAGR data and organizing new data sets. Bryan and Derek in a meeting in the late afternoon. Trapper, Kelly, and Vince go and band 3 nestlings at Coyote Rock.

Wed June 6

Vince took cylce down RKO road to check 749 and 398. Aly found 136 nest to be hatched. Derek and Bryan in meetings all day. Trapper, Kelly, and Vince in the office during the afternoon.

Tues June 5

Cummings, Kelly Butte, and Hunter Barn banded. 5 fledglings banded at cummings, 2 banded at Kelly Butte, and 1 at Hunter Barns. Bryan and Derek in the office. Kelly Dump checked and assumed failed -- needs to be checked again. Knob nest climbed and 1 dead chick collected out of nest to be sent to Laramie -- Knob failed.

Mon 6.4.07

Aly did most of the grouse telem. I did meadow Rd. got 293 near the meadow and 89 junct. They began grading that raod today. 642 320 still on nests. 681 and male heard.
Met Geneva and USGS folks for the day. office, telem, then baned the Beaver Ponds nest (4).
Heard juvies begging at Dornans from the new nest trapper found. sounded ready.

Sun 6.3.07

Banded JAC PO nest in the morn with em, Patrick and Tom. (3; 2 bailed). Ad at nest almost entire climb. All put back safe.
Vivian and Marzluff came up for the day. met at the office and toured around the valley.

Fri 6.1.07

Grouse day. Aly, trap and kelly got the birds. 228 moved off to the north a little, but everyone else was in the same place. Aly and I went to check on 228 and found no nest, but piles of scat. Re-did 628 while we were there. Then we went and banded NER Powerlines (3). Geneva met us and so did trap and kelly from the north. Geneva, kelly and i checked the McBride nest. I climbed; failed. Must have failed wihtin the past week. Lots of whitewash and parents screaming while i was at the nest. central appeard to have failed, . no parents or signs of nestlings, but could have just been quiet. Nestlings still in the nest at hand of god.

thurs may 31, 2007

got tights on 320 off meadow road with kelly. went to the fire meeting about the strips project. then filmed with the ladies at the elbo nest. went to band island with trapper and kelly; too young. helicopter failed. one plucked nestling below the nest.

wed may 30, 2007

vs gone for the weekend. th, kl, and aly did telem. nothing new. aly and i went ot band the ner bunker, twins and aquila with eric cole. bunker and aquila had one. twins failed. found one dead fledgling from last year's twin nest under this years nest. collected bands. Got a call about an injured raven at deloney. it was a fledgling. found 2. both ok.

tues may 29, 2007

went flying with d to listen for 749 while the crew went to band the highlands nest. found her in the same spot as 398 and where 148 used to hang out. vs and kl had school kids, and trapper and i went to band the ner sign nest with the channel 8 reporter. 5 young. one bailed. banded the warm springs nest. one young. in and out in 10 min. found that the museum nest fledged. 2 young out, 2 in. went to check on bickner. still in, but too old to band. vs check on the creekside nest and found one under the nest and the other 2 weren't in. 4 young in the nest at smiths. one was climbing on the timbers.

mon may 28, 2007

memorial day. kelly gone. vs and i got all the grouse. 293 nest failed due to predation. egg shells collected. trapper did age checks then went out with derek to band. vs and i went to band the -bc and rko nests, but both failed. found a heron nest about 20 ft from the rko nest. the -bc was most fallen out. we took the 4 wheeler up to the bench to check for 749. heard a few beeps from the north towards deadmans but couldn't find her found 398 where 148 used to hang out.

Friday May 25, 2007

Telem day. I took the Northern birds, Vince got airport and Kelly got the hayfields. I got tights on 681 near the small patch of trees, heard 398, then went over on the Shadow Mtn rd to listen for 749, who was missing. Heard her coming from the northwest. Hiked out into the sgae from the Helicopter nest with no luck. Vince joined the search on the highway. I hiked up above the Shadow N nest and heard her with an azimuth from over by burned ridge and again from a hill up by 681 from the N end of timbered island. Vince heard her from the lost creek hill in the same place.

Vince and I went to sit on the hillside above the area where they saw a pair of cora S of shwabachers and at schabachers for an hour. I was north and sawa apair hanging out int the same place off the road right after the turn, so i went down to look with vince. no luck. we hiked all through the area on the other side of the ditch with no luck. on the way out, we saw the pair and the male might have been feeding her. Defefintiely not what a nesting pair would act like. Lost nest?

Thurs May 24, 2007

vs, kl, th all hiked from BTP to schabachers and I went down there later to recheck an area where a pair was sighted by the old BTP N nest. no luck. did see a pair by btp go to the n end of the butte. likely same territory. a coha flew up at a rtha at btp.

Thursday May 23

466 found dead. TH and DC hiked in and completed SAGR mortality sheet.

Monday May 21

749 in Ant Flats - confirmed nest failure.

Friday May 18

Point Counts on 178 and 136. 681 returned to nesting area but just across the road.

Thursday May 17

KL spends the day looking for 671. Vince flushes 749 off of 7 eggs and she does not return. Nest Failed.

Wednesday May 16

KL does a point count on 749. 237 left Ditch Cr. and gone to Warm Ditch.

Tuesday May 15

Warm Springs chicks 1 week. 681 off of nest. 254 left potential nest site. Searches on both turned up nothing. Creekside, CRC, Mead, and Pony Express checked. Pony express failed and Mead banded.

Monday May 14

BB and KL trapped at the airport lek. 19 males and 2 females. 2 males captured - 466,423. Telemetry day. KL did a point count on 671 in Northern Antelope Flats.

Friday May 11

Kelly's first day. VS, KL, and Aly do telemetry. 798 is discovered dead in Ant Flats by KL and BB.

Friday May 11

642 off of nest. Search turns up nothing.

Thursday May 10

B and V trap at the GV lek. They trap one M and fit him with a PTT. T spends the morning searching for 749. B and V triangulate 749 tight in Ditch Creek right off the Kelly road. 117 gives off a mort signal from Derek's place and B and V locate the predated bird on the GV river west of the Kelly dump. Mammalian predation is believed to have taken place. Hair is collected for dna and species identification.

Wednesday May 9

B and V trap at the airport. NL malfunction prevents the capture of a female. T and Aly complete telemetry. Brian hikes in on 281 and discovers her dead roosting under a sage plant. Tights on 293 by BB - ended up being wrong location for nest.
Cause and reason of death is unknown. V hikes with Drew to assist the cougar crew on a site search. They find 2 CORA nests and a RTHA nest in the Snake River south of moran junction.

Tuesday May 8

B and T complete the final day of trapping at TI. No birds captured. They bring in all the equipment and traps. V and D complete lek counts at the GV and Airport. B and V hike to locate 671 and 651 nest sites. D and T spend the late morning and afternoon nest searching. D finds a new nest west of the hwy on the GV River.

Monday May 7

B and V trapping to no avail at Timbered Island. Fired net launcher at 1 male and missed.
T, B, V, and Aly complete telemetry. T and V nest search for 117 after she left the believed nesting area N of the Gun Range. A nest is found but not confirmed as a SAGR nest. Second nest is found that is confirmed a successful nest from a previous year by egg shell markings.

Sunday May 6

T and B go trapping at Timbered Island. Battery problems and whoosh net malfunction prevent successful trapping. No birds captured.

Saturday May 5

OFF!

Fri, May 4, 2007

V and B trap at Moulton. Catch 1 hen and 1 male. T and V does telemetry and nest findings. Locates nest of 265 and 254. 237 is not nesting, and is found on the bank of flat creek.
B, V, and Dan go spotlighting and catch 1 male on Timbered Island.

Thurs, May 3, 2007

V and B head down to Pinedale for meetings. T goes out to TI lek, and waits out a lightning storm, and isn't able to get satellites for GPS. Searches new foraging area to the North instead and finds pellets but no birds flushed or found at all there around 6:20.
T heads out to find raven nest west of highlands loop road, locates nest but it is unoccupied. Is unable to find new nest anywhere in the area.
Finds and triangulates 628 and 671.

Wed, May 2, 2007

B and Aly trap at Moulton. Rocket net did not fire. Cannon net caught 1 male. Bryan left for Pinedale with Howard while T and V and Aly do telemetry. Some birds hard to find (671, 628) and need to be recieved from way on top of the car. 749 flew all the way down near Kelly and was difficult to find.

Tues, May 1, 2007

B and T trap at the TI Lek. B shoots the net launcher at a male and just misses, as a hen is just on her way into the trapping area. B and T head north and look for northern collared hens. Find an area with roughly 12 sage grouse foraging on a rocky slope. No apparent birds strutting, but large number of pellets on the ground.
T looks for raven nests in GV, hunter barns, and hayfields. Does not find nesting birds on hillside to the south of GV road. Hunter barns birds are nesting in the shed. Hayfields birds are nesting to the Southwest of their original spot, closer to the road. No other birds seen nesting along hayfields row of cottonwoods, although I may have missed a nest along that row that Bryan later pointed out.

Mon, April 30, 2007

B and V trap at Moulton, no hens show up and no males go in front of launcher. V and B look for raven nests in spring gulch while T starts telemetry. B takes Hwy. 89 Northern, V takes antelope flats, and T takes hayfields and the airport. Several birds thought to be on nest.

Fri. April 27, 2007

B & D trapped at moutlon and used the rocket to catch 1 hen and 3 males. The hen turned out to be G47 and 2 othe males were already banded. Check for hens and heard 749 and 254 by the road to the west. Checked for 623 and nothing. on the way up to the island to check for her, saw that McCal had begun building in the old spot W of the road. V & S did telem. No 651 or 628.
B checked on TVR, Tank and the nest above Ds with no luck. Walked all of the tank area and the ridge above and to the east of Ds. The tank nest looks alright, TVR and the high nest mostly blown out. Old RTHA in aspen on way up to the tank empty and not built up. Glassed the highlands nest. Nothing.

Thurs. April 26, 2007

B & V got up in the 2s to head out to TI. Rainy and overcast. B sat by the launcher and V sat by the whoosh. A few birds were by the whoosh at 1st light, but moved off to the east after first light. B shot the launcher at a hen, but missed. 320 and 281 by the lek.
T & D trapped at Moulton. No hens present. 31 males.
V went home. B started to look for 293 on the west side. T tried on the E side and picked her up outside of kelly.
B & T did data entry.

Wed. April 25, 2007

B & V camped out at TI the night before out at the TI lek. Got up and set traps where I saw the hens hanging out on Sat. At first light a few males were in that area, but as soon as it got light enough to see the whoosh net the birds moved to the east. One hen was on the lek and copulated. After the birds were done, we moved the net launcher to the new Vince spot.
T & D trapped at moulton with the rocket net and one net launcher. They were late getting there and the dominant males moved to the east and so did the 2 hens that showed up. No shot.
B & V started telem with 320 (now at TI) and 281. Began picking up birds on the way back and hit the airport side. No sign of 293.
T did the east side. No sign of 293.

Tues. April 24

B, T & D set up both launchers and Rocket net at moulton. Took a shot with the net launcher and missed a hen, but caught the vince.
V went up spread ck. Saw a few bears, but no grouse. Got buzzed by Susan in a plane. SHe saw no grouse either.
V, T, B - brought the 4 wheeler out to the -BC rd and lugged the net launcher and the 50ft whoosh net out to TI. V got an allergic reaction on the way back.

Mon. April 23, 2007

BB - took donors out to Moulton lek then went to Casper for Heritage presentation.
V & T - Telem

Sun. April 22, 2007

V & T off.
No Trapping.
BB - hiked snow king and found new cora nest in the cemetary. Female on nest.

Sat. April 21, 2007

No Trapping. BB - Visited TI lek to scout route and lek position. 6 hens present. Started telem from the -BC rd for 281. Tight on 281, then started on the rest. V & T joined later to knock out the rest.

Fri. April 20, 2007

BB & Sue wolff trap moulton. One laucnher frozen. Miss a shot at 4 hens around the Vince becuase other launcher freezes. Take a shot late with rocket net. V & T arrive for banding. Hen and male caught. Hen gets VHF and male gets color bands.

Thursday April 19, 2007

BB and VS set up early at Moulton to trap. TR comes at 6am to count. 1 F and 3 M are trapped at 700am. Sat trans placed on F. BB and VS witness radio collared F copulating on lek before the capture. No telemetry equipment so we are unsure of the identity of this bird. High F count was 8 and High M count was 22. 39 birds flushed in addition to 5 captured at time of rocket net detination.

Wednesday April 18, 2007

BB and TR meet early to trap at Moulton. They decide to take a little hike before trapping and get lost. ALY and VS meet at 6am to observe Moulton from a distance to count and backup TR and BB for trapping. No birds captured. High count for males - 34 High count females - 5.
BB, TR, and VS go to town for nest searching. BB and TR find a nest north of high school butte in spruce by church (Shepard). BAEA on high school butte nest. Pair of RTHA near last year's CORA high school butte nest. Also find grn mtn nest up on hill above last years nest.F inc. glassed snow king W of grn mtn with no luck. Meads on nest. Pair up by red house on Upper Cache Rd. Didn't see reported nest up cache ck. Crow nests found by the catholic church in town. Possible cora nest on SE corner of church but no birds seen there. Pair caling by the arts center. Confirmed warm springs nest as active. F inc. Watched up saddle butte for a little while. Lots of cora moving through, but no nesting behavior. RTHA perched up there.
VS finds possible new territory east of Karnes Meadow up the hill near USFS boundary.

Tuesday April 17, 2007

BB, TR, and VS set up early trapping at the Moulton Lek with the rocket net and two net launchers. No success but a few birds come very close. Shot off net launcher at one hen but narrowly missed. TR does telemetry.
BB - Elbo INC. New CORA nest up my Heskitt on hill above and W of upper house. Chased RTHA to the E. All old Heskitt nests blown out. Nest in PSME at base of lobo blown out. CORA sitting in tree next to Lobo nest. Likely active. TVR ranch nest mostly blown out. No CORA seen in area for ~30min. BB assembles desk at office.

Monday April 16

BB, TR, and VS trapping at the Refuge with the plethera of traps. BB spots a hen with a sat transmitter and it ends up being 365. This bird was the very first bird captured on the project at the Kelly Dump. TR enters data in the office. BB and VS set up rocket net and two net launchers at the Moulton Lek.

Sunday April 15

BB,TR, and VS trapping with the plethera of traps at the Refuge. A few birds came close but no birds trapped. TR worked on telemetry the rest of the day.

Saturday April 14

Trapping at the Refuge with the rocket, both net launchers, mistnets, and whoosh nets. BB, ALY, and VS have no luck.

Friday April 13, 2007

VS, BB, TR and Mosey set traps at N Gap. 50ft Whoosh, 2 mist nets, 2 launchers all up at the high point. 1st bird at 5:45. total of 7 hens and 5 males. 3 males strutting and one copulation observed, but a little further south than all the traps. All of the birds except for the Vince went to feed on the cliff band on the west side by 6:45. Decided to drive to flush the birds over, but they all took off to the SE. Pulled traps. VS got locations on the airport side of the valley and Aly got locations everywhere else.

Set up the rocket net at N Gap where the copulation occured.

All birds found except 136 becuase we were all looking for 436.

Thursday April 12, 2007

Set up large whoosh and both launchers at the airport. Captured 1 M and 5 F SAGR at the airport with net launcher in S corner. B, V, Geneva, Cory Hatch, and photograher are present for banding and release of 5 new radio collared hens. T trapping at Zenith pair, takes a shot at the M CORA and misses. B and V repair net from cuts made during extracting F SAGR.
TR looked for 293.
Joe Bohne brought over rocket net and said he saw a male strutting at E Bark Corral and an eagle chasing grouse. Very close to 306 mort.

Wednesday April 11

B, V, T, A, and Mosey set up new whoosh and both net launchers at Moulton. The new whoosh misfires at two F SAGR. No birds captured. T trapping at Zenith CORA nest and B and V modifying new whoosh net for trapping tomorrow at the airport. First COPULATION seen at Moulton lek.

Tuesday April 10

B, V, and T trap at airport. COPULATION.
Fired whoosh net at two females and the electronics malfunctioned.
Reset the net and tried some additional car herding to no avail. T set up on Zenith pair with no luck. B and V took injured CORA to the vet. Diagnosis is she has fairly old injuries on both wings but no serious damage. Antibiotics via shot to the keel and topical salve for 5 days. V and B nest search in town looking for deloney pair successfully and kelly avenue nest unsuccessfully. Ran in to Drew and he showed us nest on Refuge just outside town. B and T convert dropnet to whooshnet.

Monday April 9

B and V trap one female at the airport with whoosh net and car herding. COPULATION seen for the first time all year. T sick. B and V set up on Zenith CORA pair with cheetoes. M came down near bait but it was while the F was off the nest. B and V go out seperately to do telemetry and find all birds. 306 gave off mortality and B and V found kill site. Predator unknown. SAGR was plucked and the carcass nowhere to be found. V went to Togwatee Mountain Lodge to pick up injured Juv CORA.

Saturday April 7

B and T trapped at refuge to no avail. Tried mistnets for the first time in addition to whoosh net and net launchers.

Saturday April 7

B and T trapped at refuge to no avail.

Friday April 6

D and B fly up spread creek, west side of tetons, and antelope flats to find tagged birds and search for possible new lek. V counted SAGR at refuge and T on telemetry. V set up to trap Barn and Island CORA pairs with no luck. Neither pair came down on bait. B, D, A, and Geneva out to the hayfields to assess possible strategies to assess veg for SAGR project.

Thursday April 5

B, D, T, V, and Sam Crowe trap 2 F SAGR at airport with the whoosh net. Both birds are fitted with radio transmitters. SAGR working group meeting at 1pm.

Wed, Apr 4, 2007

BB and VS trap at NER.

TR, DC, and Aly trap at the airport. Birds seemed averse to the walk-in net, but do seem to be able to be herded by the car if it goes slowly. A couple of males came close to the drop net, but the females seemed to stay further away. One female went in front of the net launcher, but was pushed out of the way by the time the net was fired and a breeding male was caught instead.

Tues, Apr 3, 2007

Update on the town ravens nesting:
Nest on the side of apt. north of Smith's has an incubating female. No band reads yet. Female maybe yellow band?
No nests yet found in neighborhood between Smith's and the New Post Office.
Breeding pair, at least 1 unbanded, nesting in north-east corner of Post office, still nest building.
No breeding pair found on west side of snow king North slope, nor across from the fair grounds.
Nest in tallest evergreen above Pony Express incubating, no band reads yet.
Nest in 2nd tree from the right above sidewinders, no band reads yet.
No nest yet found near Center for the arts, although it looks like there may be a territorial pair.
Trees next to Pearl St. bagels have no nests upon scanning.
Mead law offices have next incubating early, mid March.
No territorial behavior seen in ravens in trees behind Bubbas, and still no nest.
Town square nest started in NW corner, building new nest as of March 29 in SE corner, both unbanded, no eggs yet.
Nest seen above Inn on the Creek.
Nest above Wagon Wheel campground near the trailer park, 3rd tree from the right, still nest building as of early last week, both birds unbanded.
Nest seen behind Pawn Shop.
Nest seen being torn down in front of the Virginian by Derek.
Most nest building activity/ feeding of females takes a break between 11am and 2pm. Less activity is seen during heavy rain or snow.
One nest seen on the corner of Gill and Moose, no birds seen using it, could be crow nest or unused; able to been seen from in front of 250 moose. Still no nests seen in East Jackson south of Broadway other than Meads.
Possible territorial pair near Mike Yokel Park on Kelly Ave.
No nests yet found, or territorial pairs seen on NW side of highschool butte, nesting pair of bald eagles there.
No nests or territorial pairs yet seen on cliffs on Spring gulch road.
Airport birds seen incubating.

Mon, Apr 2, 2007

No trapping due to rainy weather making mud of the NER.
Bryan and Vince do telemetry. Vince and Tom trap at both the Meadow road, where no ravens are seen, and the gun range, where 1 bird is seen but does not come down.

Sat, March 31, 2007

BB, TR, VS, and DC trap at the NER.

Tom goes to get the banding kit from Bryan's car and returns to wait up on the hill.
Several SAGR were strutting on the hillside below Tom and efforts to flush them in the direction of the traps proved futile. The birds foraged in the gully and flew over the hillside, but did not go particularly close to the trap. Trapping was called for the day.

Friday March 30

D, B, T, and A trapping with whoosh net at the Refuge. They took a shot at one bird and missed.
Vince radiotracking in Kelly Warm Springs area for presence of SAGR. 23 males strutting at Moulton Lek. T nest searching in town. A triangulating SAGR.

Thursday March 29

Trapping to no avail at the airport with the dropnet. M SAGR walked under the net a few different times. Aly from the park service started with us today. Bryan and Aly went out radio tracking. Tom went to town to do some nest searching for CORAs.

Wednesday March 28

Bryan and Vince set up whoosh net at the airport. Derek meets us after first light. We take down net soon after due to the poles being too close to the runway. Bryan and Vince went out radiotracking in the rain. D, B, T, and V set up poles for dropnet at the airport in high winds for early morning trapping. Bryan and Vince meet Rob and Tyler from RVRI to assist with satellite transmitter on adult M GOEA.

Tues, March 27, 2007

Large simultanious sage grouse monitoring. VS at Kelly dump, 0 birds in morning, 6 flew-in later while radiotracking. TR at Refuge lek; one group of 6 females, one group of 2 males, and one group of 1 male, 3 females. Talked with Joe of Fish and Game, gave a large amount of information. Typically no concentrated lekking area at Refuge, usually very scattered with much foraging in the canyon.

Mon, March 26, 2007

Derek and Bryan trapping at the Kelly dump with two net launchers. Vince and Tom at Refuge. Tom spots 12 sage grouse at point above Grand Canyon and Vince does not see any satellite leks out on the flats. The sage grouse are only around for about 5 minutes after light, and then fly to the N/NW. Derek and Bryan set off both net launchers. Catch 11 grouse. 1 male gets away during processing before it is processed. 6 radio transmitters are put on 6 females and 4 males are processed and banded. Good signals coming from all birds that afternoon.

Thursday March 22

Spotlighting on refuge at 4ooam with T and B on 4 wheeler. Spotlighted on and around lek. B flushed on bird. No other birds seen before sunrise when from a vantage point we spotted 5 birds. At least two were male SAGR. Baited Meadow pair, Gunrange pair, and pair N of McCal on the way back to the office. 900am staff meeting. 1030am died dropnet blue and finished spraypainting lester trap. T worked on glueing transmitters and B worked in office. Took coffin out to Morton lek for early trapping Friday morn. B in meetings all afternoon.

Wednesday March 21

I took the morning off from trapping. Baited the Meadow, Airport, and Gun Range pair with cheetoes at 730am. Spotted 3 banded CORA in the meadow across from Kelly. Tried to ID band #s to no avail. All 3 CORAs banded with green riveted color bands. Reinforced Lester trap and sprayed some camo paint. Tested out D's net invention in the driveway. The DropNet is promising. Loaded up 4 wheeler in trailer for early morning spotlight trapping. T sat at carcass at gunrange CORA pair in the early morning but had no birds come down. Elk and bison migration is going strong.

Tues, March 20, 2007

Bryan and Vince set up near the walk-in trap at the Mormon row lek before the dawn. The first grouse appear around 6:30am. All grouse stay near the western end of the lek and seem uninterested in or afraid of the trap.

Tom sets up at the MacCallester barn blind with a fresh deer leg next to the carcass. A piece of hide and a few bones were dragged out to the West the morning before and a dozen ravens feed on those instead of the bait. Of the 3 ravens that come to perch a moment above or near the bait, none are banded. Of the first 9 birds to come peck at the bones and hide, none are the GPS transmitter bird.

Bryan and Tom set up next to the NER sign with some Cheetos. Within 5 minutes, one bird of the pair begins to feed, possibly the female. The other bird, "Male," is chasing other ravens out of their territory. After about 15 minutes, the male comes and the two begin alternating coming to the bait and either eating or cashing cheetos. After 10 minutes of this both land on the bait at the same time and are captured. Derek and Vince join and the birds are sexed. The female was considerably lighter, had shorter measurements, and displayed the beginning of a brood patch. The male was fitted with a transmitter and released. While the male was being fitted, 5 ravens were mobbing the pairs nest, and only departed when the male was released.

Bryan and Tom check on MacCallester bait with no birds. Tom spots the Molten barns transmitter bird flying alongside the road near the Mormon row junction when he is wildlife viewing that afternoon. He also has to ask Wildlife Expeditions for directions to the local moose, thus disgracing himself and the project.

At 6am set up at Molton Lek w/ Brian in green tent. First SAGR heard at 645am about 100 ft south of the tent, HOLA heard around 630am. SAGR seen E, W, N, and S of blind but nobody in the direct vicinity of the trap. About 10 SAGR flew in at 9am 100 yards E of trap. Brian and I left the lek at 915am. Came back to the office and went to the dump to test fire net launcher that Derek fixed. 1200 pm I went to the lek to retrieve banding kit and net and drove to meet Brian, Derek, and Tom who had just captured M and F ravens at sign nest. Watched D and B band and put on the satt transmitter. During banding 6 ravens seen around sign nest fighting over the nest area. This activity continued most of the time during banding.

Mon, March 19, 2007

BB, TR, DC and Vince head out to the refuge to spotlight sage grouse at 4am. No grouse are found at night and the team waits until sunrise to see where they have been roosting for the night. 13 birds appear on an eastern point above the "Grand canyon" and another bunch of 4 is flushed by Vince a couple of ridges above the road.

Vince, Bryan, and Tom put out a new deer by HWY 89 for the aiport pair and set up the walk-in traps on the eastern end of the Mormon row sage-grouse lek. The NER Sign pair are seen feeding off Cheetos within seconds of our pulling out of the parking lot.

Spotlighting at 4am w/ D, B, T, and myself. Nothing seen besides a couple of coyotes. At sunrise we scanned for SAGR to the tune of MELA and HOLA and coyotes howling. Spot 13 SAGR in historic lek area. I take a walk looking for night roost piles and find a few above the road. On my way back to the road, I flush four SAGR who fly out of sight behind a ridge on the other side of the grand canyon. We come back to the office and have a meeting on trapping plans. B, and myself head in to town to the hardware store to get some fencing and posts for the Morton LekB, T, and myself set out deer carcass across from airport and throw some cheetoes at the pull out near the sign nest. CORA down on cheetoes immediately upon leaving the pull out.
B, T, and myself set up the walk in trap at the Morton Lek.
First SOSP heard today near office in riparian!

Sun March 18

6am set the net launcher at the barn nest and then went the Refuge at daylight to scan for SAGR. After about 20 minutes at about 800am we spot 43 SAGR in flight. They land on point right above grand canyon and forage for approx 3 minutes and then fly to the N toward Kelly and out of sight. Elk seen locking horns, coyotes and CORA seen feeding on a carcass in the distance, and a few bison spotted. Brian and I then check barn trap w/ no CORA seen in the area. Approx 900am we check the molton lek and spot 23 birds spread out in thin strip with no snow. On the way back to the office B gets some great shots of a M SAGR just off of Antelope Flats Rd. At office we prepare for spotlighting the next day getting the nets, banding kit, backpacks, lights, etc.. D shows up at office and we plan for a 4ooam spotlight.

Sat, Mar 17, 2007

BB & VS set up trap at McCal. Brought new deer out and set up. 1st bbma at 7:14 and 1st CORA at 7:38. No cora fed on bait, but at least 6 fed on old hairt piles near the bait. All left and so did we at 9am.

counted 21 SAGR on Moutlon Lek

TR set up trap at barn. didn't see birds. Didn't see them come out of shed either.

After leaving McCal, B and I threw some cheetoes out at golf course and went to McCal bait to find several CORA's feeding. B tried to fire the net launcherl w/ no luck . At approx 1200pm M CORA at barn nest seen roosting over carcass. 1100pm B and I went to cover Barn carcass and discover T accidentally left out carcass cover right next to moose. We then go to cover McCal carcass and B examines the faulty NL and it misfires as he is opening the chamber.

Fri, Mar 16, 2007

TR VS and BB went out to trap at the barn. Got set up and went over to hide in the barn and both birds flushed out of the shed! Both showed interest in the bait, but didn't come close to feeding. Both transmitters were fit on well. Left at 9am.
Saw 1st grouse on moulton lek. 5.
Went to town to show VS and TR raven territories. Saw Mead incubating! Pair near deloney, but no nest located. Pair building at Bickner.

B stayed in his truck and T and I were in barn. CORA's seen flying in the area but no birds down on the carcass. B showed us CORA territories in town w/ good spots to glass for stick carrying birds.

Thurs, Mar 15, 2007

Vince started work.

Antelope Flats opened today.

Took VS around BTB and set up moose carcass near the barn. Saw birds building in old nest tree by -B- junct. One (F?) was banded (purp inv C). TR and BB fixed up transmitters.

First day on the job! Had a meeting with H and D discussing protocol, safety, etc. B drove me around and showed me nesting territories and study areas.

Wed, Mar 14, 2007

BB - Went out to trap again at McCal to see if 22893 would come back. Only 2 cora came in at about 9 and perched in the aspens for ~10min before leaving.

TR - set up on airport again. Coyote got grouse, so set up with a rooster. Had to pull the trap at 8 becuase of maintainance guy.

DC - went out to NER lek and got shut out by elk. Didn't get there til 9-9:30 and saw no birds.

Vince came in late and we checked the camera trap at McCal. No birds.

Tues, Mar 13, 2007

Trapped at McCal. 8 cora came in. 2 banded: on inv a orng (male from hutner shed) and 22893 (no color band). Transmitter looked good. Coyote started feeding before 22893 did, so I waited until he left (~1.5 hr) and all 8 cora came in right away. Tried to fire, with no luck. pin slightly hit, but not hard enough and spooked all the birds. They all left the area.

TR set up for the airport birds with a grouse carcass by the gun range. They showed interest, but didn't come down. Left the trap at about 11:30.
DC and BB went to town to pick up a road-killed deer and got a few pieces from the dump. Got NER permits on the way out. Met with the airport guys.

Got GPS locs from 51 over at dump in Driggs. First time since June.
TR pulled Lester.

Put a deer out at McCal after dark.

Mon, Mar. 12, 2007

BB - Went to trap at McCal and couldn't find the detonator, so bagged it. Pulled the launcher to dry it.
Went to the gun range to check for grouse - no sign.

Sun, Mar. 11, 2007

BB & TR - Picked up moose parts at village.

BB - Saw Poney Express raven building in town.

Went to bird club and got a report of a raven building at 3 creeks. Checked the McCal bait on the way back and pulled the pictures. Looks like a coyote pulled the net out of the launcher. Most of the elk eaten, but still enough for ravens. I'll try trapping tomorrow.

Fri, Mar 10, 2007

Sage Grouse meeting in afternoon.

Thurs, Mar. 8, 2007

BB - went over to gun range at first light to check for grouse. No sign, but cloudy and snowy. Didn't see the airport pair.

Wed, Mar. 7, 2007

BB - Set McCal trap and sat in blind. 5 CORA were in after first light and 3 were banded. Green H/5, an orange and a yellow. No reads on the orange or yellow. Got the impression that it was a group of juvies. No defensive behavior at the carcass. 3 finally came in to feed, but didn't take a shot in hopes that 7/W would show. Left the bait at about 10am. Set up the camera trap. One coyote came in to feed for a few minutes while I was there. Left the trap.

Tues, March 6, 2007

Warm and sunny 40F.

BB sets bison trap.

TR puts in eggs and dogfood in Lester's cage at Mead ranch, and sprinkles some corn outside.

No birds seen at Bison trap.

4-6 ravens seen feeding at Maccallester barns at 1:30PM

Went down to Gun range in the afternoon to look for grouse sign and saw a few tracks in the snow.

BB - checked McCal bait after dusk. found one coyote trap, but mostly magpies and a few raven tracks.

Mon, March 5, 2007

Sunny, 25F

TR puts out legs and traps at Bison bait.

11AM check, no birds at Bison bait, a few ravens at Macallester barns.

Group of about 10 ravens including female transmitter raven across the river feeding on dead cow.

No eagles seen at Bison bait.

5 ravens captured at Y2 trap at 5pm. BB and TR band.

Fri, March 2, 2007

Clear and cool. 20F

TR sets Bison trap in the morning and re-stocks the walk-in trap.

Tom and Dan drag bull-elk out to Macallester barns in the afternoon.

1 Raven is at the walk-in trap around noon. RECAP Left T teal.

Tom pulls the net launcher in the evening and puts the legs in the tree.

Thurs, March 1, 2007

Clear and cold. 10F

TR sets Bison trap in the morning.

No birds seen that day at the trap.

Eggs restocked daily at walk-in trap.
1 Raven captured at walk-in.

Wed, Feb 28, 2007

Cool and Clear, 13F at 7am

TR set out a new elk leg with the trap at Bison.

Tues, Feb 27, 2007

Snowing and windy. 18F at 7am.

TR set traps.

11 am Checked Mead ranch; plenty of ravens at corn feeders.
Dummy trap is gone. Refill eggs for walk-in trap.
Too much wind and snow for corn feeder trapping.

2pm Checked Bison bait. 3 birds; 2 goldens and maybe one juvie bald.
Shot off the net but snow drifts made it fall short.
One golden traped for moment, then got out.

4:15 pm Checked Bison bait and 2 goldens are back. One flushed the other off before the trap was sprung and they flew away together; maybe a breeding pair?

TR takes in traps to dry out for the night and puts elk legs in a tree.

Mon, Feb 26, 2007

Intermittant snow. 20F at 7 am.

Feeding is late at the Mead Ranch.

TR sets traps, returns to Mead Ranch at 11 am. High winds prevent trapping.
Puts in eggs to walk in trap.

2 ravens are feeding at Bison at 4 pm.

2 ravens in walk-in trap at 5pm.

Fri, Feb 23, 2007

Warm and sunny. 30F at 7am.

TR sets walk-in trap in the morning with fresh eggs.
Checked in the afternoon, only magpies.

It seems that the ravens need to be scared off the corn feeders to go to walk-in traps.

Brought in large bag of food scraps collected at the village on Saturday.

Thurs, Feb 22, 2007

Warm and sunny, highs around 38F.

Bryan sets Bison trap. Coyotes have eaten a lot of the bait.

Bryan and Tom pick up bull elk by refuge with scabes.
Set up the launcher at Mead ranch. Tom sits on it.

Bryan catches adult Golden at Bison bait around 11am.

Tom restocks the bait after ducks eat it all.

Tom springs trap around 12:45 and catches 13 ducks and 5 ravens.
Derek and Bryan come help extract them from the net and process.

Tom bands two more ravens at walk-in trap at 5pm.

Wed, Feb 21, 2007

Bryan sets Bison bait.

Tom checks trap at 11am and catches an adult bald eagle. Eagle is heavily tangled in the net.
Tom hoods the eagle, but gets taloned pretty hard; cannot get a hold of Bryan.
Tom leaves eagle under the net and goes to get Bryan. They come back and extract the eagle for processing.

Tom goes to clinic for minor cuts for the afternoon.

Tues, Feb 20, 2007

Cold and windy.

Bryan sets Bison bait.

Tom checks bait around 1 and a Golden eagle is feeding. Trap does not fire in time and eagle flushes. Eagle perches above the bait.

Bryan and Tom return to watch the eagle. Goes down a couple hours later.
Trap does not fire. Bryan tries to sneak up but trap does not fire and eagle flushes.
Trap didn't fire because battery pack had come detached.

Mon, Feb 19, 2007

Bryan sets Bison bait.

Bryan and Tom catch Golden eagle sub-adult.

Fri, Feb 16, 2007

Tom drags a deer out to Bison site in late afternoon for trapping.

Mon, Feb. 12, 2007

Picked up camera trap last night. Just pictures of magpies during the day (one crow) and coyotes at night.

DC and I went to look at a few clusters from 50 that were down in the Snake River bottom by solitude and meadow rd. The first cluter was at the Givens place and in the horse coral. Looks like she was feeding in the coral. Saw 1 unbanded raven there. The second cluster was down in Solitude and looked to be at a house that may have been feeding the deer/moose. There were at least 10 deer and 3 moose hanging out there, but we couldn't get access. The 3rd was in Owl Creek and was a bone/hide pile. Elk hair was around, but the carcass looked to be a deer. Only coyote tracks around.
Saw a banded raven (green B/8) on moulton rd on the way back. was with one other unbanded raven. The male from the Ponderosa nest.

Fri, Feb. 9, 2007

Office day. TR set up the camera trap at the golf course bait.

Thurs, Feb. 8, 2007

Met with E. Cole in am and interview with New West in the afternoon. Talk at the rotory club in the pm.

Feb. 5-7, 2007

Office days. No field work, but a report of talon locking BAEAs near Kelly on 2-7. Report of GOEA on Osprey bait on the night of 2-5 and the morn of 2-6. Bait all eaten by 2-9.

Fri, Feb 2, 2007

Cold, damp, and cloudy. -15 at 8am

BB set baits in the morning.

8:10 TR spots an AD BAEA across the river from the Golf and Tennis bait.
Eagle moves downriver a few times over the next 40 minutes before taking off out of sight down river.

Bait is monitored every 90 minutes for the rest of the day, with only a few ravens perched above at 11am and little magpie feeding.

Thurs, Feb 1, 2007

Cold and partly cloudy. -5F at 7am.

TR sets baits. No signs of coyote feeding. Lots of pee and dryer sheets on the bait.

Bait is monitored every 90 minutes throughout the day.

1 pm Juvi BAEA spotted perched on same side of river as bait.
Hangs around for about an hour and is not flushed by AD BAEA flying down the river.

No other eagles seen throughout the day.

Bait left uncovered overnight.

Wed, Jan 31, 2007

Bryan and Tom place back 2/3 of cow elk on GV river by Golf and tennis club and set up the trap next to it. Left unset for the day and uncovered over night.

Sat, Jan 27, 2007

Clear and COLD -18F at 6:30am.

BB and TR set traps. No birds present in morning.

AD BAEA appears around 2pm.

3:30 pm two AD BAEA's return to area.
They chase original eagle out and both stop at the same spot; possible edge of territory.

Birds perch close to and above bait but do not feed.

Traps both pulled from Osprey and Moran.

Fri, Jan 26, 2007

Clear and Cold. -12 at 7am, high in single digits.

No eagles spotted at Osprey bait.
A few ravens come in during the morning but only occasionally feed.

No eagles spotted at Moran bait until 3 pm.
One Ad BAEA came in and perched above the bait.
At around 5pm two more Ad BAEA's come in and chase the original sitter away.

Neither bird remaining feeds on carcass. It appears as though the set of two birds is a territorial breeding pair.

Thurs, Jan 25, 2007

Cool and sunny. 0F at 7am, 15 high.
Lauren and David join us for interviews and video footage
BB and TR set traps.

Ad BAEA comes in to Osprey bait at around 9am.

Moran trap checked at 11, 12, and 1pm.

While Bryan is checking Moran trap, an AD GOEA comes to Osprey bait and begins to feed.
Tom fires launcher and captures eagle. Ad BAEA leaves.
Processing and release is recorded with footage.

TR covers baits.

Wed, Jan 24, 2007

Tom and Bryan set the baits in the morning. No pee or dryer sheets at Moran bait.

They take turns checking out the Moran bait for until Tom spots a Golden eagle feeding on the bait at 1:15 PM.
Is unable to get the launcher fired off in time and the Golden flushes.
The eagle perches above the bait and then moves across the street and perches there for a while.
Leaves at about 2:45.

Adult bald is spotted sitting in large snag above Osprey bait.
“Yellow Upside-down little f” banded bird comes in at 3:11 among 2 ravens.
Mating display with other bird.

Bryan checks Moran bait at 3:45 and coyote is feeding on the bait.

Both baits covered that night.

Tues, Jan 23, 2007

Tom and Bryan set both baits, coyotes pulled sheet off Osprey bait but did not feed much. Moran bait moved but not feed upon.

Roughly 30 ravens come in at early morning at the Osprey site and feed and aggregate all day, as do roughly 6 magpies.
There were high levels of activity among the ravens and they often flushed off the bait.

At 2:00 PM Tom spots an adult golden and fires the launcher through the window.
No eagles or ravens seen as of 3:30 at the Moran site.

Orange banded raven spotted among 5 birds at 3:47 PM.

Tom covers Osprey bait and both cover Moran bait.

Tues, Jan 23, 2007

Tom and Bryan set both baits, coyotes pulled sheet off Osprey bait but did not feed much. Moran bait moved but not feed upon.

Roughly 30 ravens come in at early morning at the Osprey site and feed and aggregate all day, as do roughly 6 magpies.
There were high levels of activity among the ravens and they often flushed off the bait.

At 2:00 PM Tom spots an adult golden and fires the launcher through the window.
No eagles or ravens seen as of 3:30 at the Moran site.

Orange banded raven spotted among 5 birds at 3:47 PM.

Tom covers Osprey bait and both cover Moran bait.

Mon, Jan 22, 2007

Bryan and Tom drag the elk out of the Kelly dump bait using a rope winch to get it up the hill. They drive North and look for bait sites.

Across from the Hatchet, or the Osprey site is decided on, as is the Moran bait site along the Snake river north across from the elk ranch north.

A deer and some elk legs are dragged out to the Moran site, and the cord is used.
The antenna is placed high in a tree and fires upon test.

The Kelly dump elk is brought out to the Osprey site and the trap also fires upon testing.

Bryan covers Osprey bait. Moran bait left uncovered.

Thurs, Jan. 18 2007

Clear and COLD. -16F at 7am.

Went to set baits and did 3mile first. Everything went fine there, but had trouble getting the firing pin to hit at the K. Dump. After a few tests, I found that the pin would hit if the trigger was pulled, reset and pulled again. Thought that the batteries were going dead in the detonator, so I went and grabbed the detonator from 3mile to put it at K. Dump. Pulled the shell out (very hard to do) and tried test firing the new detonator and it worked fine. But when I went to put a new shell in, the bolt would not close. After trying for a while, I finally gave up.
Went home and grabbed a long screwdriver cause I thought there might have been a build up of ice in the chamber. Went back and flushed 2 bbma from the bait. Tried scraping out the chamber, but still couldn't get the shell in. I decided to try a different shell and jammed it in there with some serious force. I then figured that if I fired it, it would melt any ice that was in there, so I took the net out of the barrels and fired it. When I pulled the spent shell out, it was easier and I noticed some frozen green stuff on the side and it was a little bent. Looks like some sage had gotten into the chamber and frozen. I had no trouble putting a new shell in. Got it all set and ready to go by 8am.

Wed, Jan 17, 2006

warming up a bit, but still -15F.

Bryan sets traps at 3Mile and Kelly Dump.
Tom sees ad BAEA above bait in morning.

Tom and Bryan return to check but bald is not there.
Nothing at 3Mile but ravens.

Ad BAEA is spotted at Kelly Dump on the way back. It was perched slightly to the west and then flew over the bait, flushed ~5 cora and perched near the gravel mounds. Sat on it from 8:45 until 11:00 when a Golden flies and displaces the BAEA. BAEA flew to a tree closer to the bait, but the GOEA starts to feed with about 10-15 min. Trap does not fire, so BB tried to sneak up the road to see if it was a range issue and spooks the BAEA in the process. GOEA and Magpies flush, but not due to BB. I think they flushed due to the sound of a poor hit by firing pin.
Tom and Bryan scout for sites to put new baits.

TR covered baits.

Tues, Jan 16, 2006

COLD and clear, -25F in morning, -4F high.

Tom sets up traps in the morning.

Tom watches two ad BAEA sitting above the Kelly dump bait.
A golden flies in and lands to feed. Tom fires and captures the Golden.
1st Juvie Golden.

The adult bald is seen later in the day at Kelly dump.
Bryan and Tom watch him until a CC skiier flushes him off.

Tom covers baits and flushes the bald after sunset.

Mon, Jan 15, 2006

Clear and COLD -28F @6:30, -12F at 11am

Bryan set up 3Mile bait.

Bryan and Tom take the morning to scout for bait sites in the GV.
Scouted the Kelly dump which looked like the most promising site.

Considered trapping across the river from Dornan's while getting gas.

No eagles at 3Mile bait as of noon.

Jill comes out to help drag an elk. Bait set up near Kelly dump.
Ravens seen quickly, but no birds are there for the rest of the day.

Sun, Jan. 14 2007

Clear and COLD. -26F at 7am. High of -6F all day.

Jill and I set up both NoC and 3mile. Figured out that the detonator needed new batteries (the one that wouldn't fire the pin right yesterday).

9am - 2 cora at NoC. (only birds there all day). One ad baea by 3mile. Made "no stopping"signs for gv rd and put them up. ad left at ~10:30. Nomore eagles til ~2pm (ad). Stayed there til 4:15, when another ad baea came in and attracted tourists. Both birds left. A juvie unk spp eagle came in and sat in the poans to the S til 4:40. Took off.

TR covered baits and pulled the NoC trap.

Sat, Jan. 13. 2007

Clear and COLD. -22F @7am. High of ~10F all day.

TR and I both set baits. Nothing out of the ordinary at NoC. At 3mile, we set up the launcher and ran the cord out towrd the raod. I had trouble getting the firing pin to hit right. Thought it may have been a little frozen, or just a little different with the new trap?

Waited til after 8 for it to "warm" up a bit. No eagles down by 11an and TR took off the rest of the day. Had one HY and one basic III near the bait at that time. I sat on it til about 12:30 and another ad baea came in, but coyotes on the bait most of the morn. Went home for lunch til 1:15.

Came back out and a hy goea feeding. Did notfire. Waited til DC came out so he could watch the bait while I tried to mannually fire, but the goea flushed due to tourists before that could happen. The rest of the afternoon was fooled by tourists stopping to see the ad baea by the road. total of 7-8 baea (all after 5 yr except for hy and basic III - hy took off during lunch).

I covered both baits, added dryer sheets and 2 more 1/4s to 3 mile.

Fri, Jan 12, 2007

COLD and clear -15F at pre-dawn -8 at 8:00am

BB set traps at GVCG and NoC. Put heat packs by detonators. The NoC deer was flipped over, but not really eaten. Added an elk 1/4.

8:15 Tom checks baits and no birds are seen

9:30 Juvie bald seen above 3Mile bait

Traps monitored for the rest of the day, but no eagles seen above either trap.

Basic III bald seen above 3Mile bait in morning. Adult bald seen above 3Mile in afternoon.

No eagles at NoC or GVCG. TR pulled the GVCG trap and brought it in to dry it out. No covers, but pee at 3mile and he threw the leg in a tree at NoC.

Thurs, Jan 11, 2007

Clear nad 11F @ 7am. Cold and cloudy, clear in the afternoon 15 F

8:15 Tom spots an adult bald above NoCamping bait

8:30 Bryan and Tom spook bald off bait while slowing down to fire trap

9:00 After a chat with Eric Cole, the bald goes down to the bait and is captured

11:15 Tom checks baits and finds a Juvi GOEA feeding on GVCG South bait
Trap does not fire,
Tom attempts to sneak up and fire the trap but spooks Golden off
Trap appears to have lost charge, no other problems visible. Trap re-set.

1:30 Bryan and Tom look for trapping sites North on GV road, but find snow is too deep and there aren't any appealing sites
decide that if we're the only car driving around there we'll probably spook the birds off
Put elk without 3 quaters at the 3Mile bait.

2:30 - 78 SAGR seen near the Curlew nest.

No eagles return for the afternoon, eagles spotted around warm ditch west of GV road. Went over to find the food and nothing seen.

TR covered GVCG and 3mile. Left NoC bait uncovered.

Wed, Jan 10, 2007

breezy and cloudy, 24F @7am. 35F afternoon.

Set both baits and took covers off.

8:10 Tom spots an aldult bald over GVCG South bait and gets Bryan

8:30 Bryan and Tom return to find eagle feeding and capture eagle
Basic III bald eagle captured

10:15 Bryan passes NoCamping bait on way to give talk at the Museum to find an adult bald sitting over bait

10:30 Tom returns and watches eagle

10:50 Eagle descends, captured by Tom
Adult bald recapture 629-33040 Orange/Silver captured
crooked left leg middle toe talon, injured and unable to bend left leg well
possibly a released rehab bird due to injury
Derek helps process and bird is released

12:30 Bryan and Tom pick up roadkill cow elk beside the refuge

2:00 Tom heads to IF to pick up chickens and sees an ad BAEA above GVCG bait.

2:15 - BB heads out to GVCG and spots one ad BAEA feeding and the one TR saw above the bait still there. Called DC for back-up and by the time he got there, a third ad BAEA came in and sat above. Decided to wait for 2 on bait.

2:45 - after the two above flew around a few times, the one feeding took off to the W.

3:15 - One of the 2 above came down to feed. DC drove over to detonate and after waiting ~10min for the wind to die, detonated the trap and capturted ad BAEA. Other one took off. Re-cap of 22724 that was first banded as nestling on slide lake in 1996 and captured by us in Nov.
Did not re-set trap.

4:45 - Dan called in an ad BAEA sitting above NoC bait. DC and I went down @ 5 with banding supplies and bird was not present.

BB covered both baits.

Tues, Jan. 9, 2007

Calm and couldy. 28F @7am.

Set both baits.

8:45-9:30 - had one ad baea feeding at NoC and the net didn't fire. After a little bit, another came in and fed with the first. Net still didn't fire.

I went to Pinedale to meet with Holloran and Dahlke.

Tom checked NoC trap and found the switch off. Both eagles flushed, but stayed by the river until ~9:40.

11:40 - ad GOEA above NoC bait.

12:00 - Tom caught GOEA with Dan.

Picked up elk carcass in Hoback after i got back (~3:00).

I covered traps and flushed a BAEA from the trees at GVCG. Looked as if one had been feeding.
Re-packed the NoC trap.

Mon, Jan. 8, 2007

Clear and Calm. About 23F @ 7am.

Set both traps and uncovered baits. I ran the cord out from the GVCG bait so it was up on the bench.

Ab ad. baea on NoC bait at 8:30. I shot the net and caught it and one bbma. bbma let go. Re-set the trap.

Picked up two fawn deer (one white tail and one mule) and one elk carcass in town. On the way back there was one ad goea above gvcg bait (1pm).

At ~2:30, a baea perched above bait. Caught the BAEA at ~3pm. GOEA took off. Did not re-set the trap. No eagles by NoC for the rest of the day.

Tom cover baits.

Sun, Jan. 7, 2007

Clear, calm and -5F @ 7am. Turned cloudy and windy by 11am.

Set GVCG and NoC traps this morn. Nothing unususal.

Only a few cora and bbma at both baits at 8:30am.

9:15am - ad baea near GVCG. Another flew over at 9:30. It left at ~10:30.

10:30 - 3 cora @ NoC. No eagles.

2:30 day called on account of high wind and snow. Winds stayed high all afternoon.

Tom covered baits and took down traps.

Sat, Jan. 6, 2007

Windy and snowing. 13F @ 5:45am. wind ~20mph

6am - Set up the NL with Jill at the GVCG and No Camping. I hacked off the bottom front 1/4 of the elk and moved it to the deer.

7:30am - remembered that i didn't set the antenna at NoC bait, so went down and flushed ~10cora and 1 ad baea. There was no antenna, so i pulled the box and brought it back, fixed it and had it reset by 8am.

9:30am - 1 ad BAEA above GVCG. between then and 1pm, 2 goea and one juvie baea came around. no ravens feeding, only magpies. it got too windy and snowy to see the bait, so we called it.

9:30-1pm - only cora and bbma feeding on NoC bait.

Gave up after 1pm due to wind/weather.

4:15 - weather cleared. At least 4 ad baea near the NoC bait. Nothing at GVCG. 2 of 4 in same tree on river's edge. One above. At 4:45, it flew around with the 4th baea and came back above the bait. Went down to feed a few minutes later. All cora gone at this point. Fired the trap and it shot over the bird, but it got out by the time i ran down there. Net shot shot due to blown wind on the back lines. Covered both baits after this.

Fri, Jan. 5, 2007

8am - Tom and I went to the G&F office to pick up a road-killed female elk.

11am- Gave one 1/4 to Lester and Vic (60 & 61 released due to BLL < 5.0).

12pm- Moved the elk SW of GVCG and placed new NL. One cora saw us and watched as we left. Took 1/4 for back-up bait.

1pm- One SY BAEA flew in and landed above the No Camping bait. about 6 cora on it and a few more in the trees.

Thurs, Jan 4, 2007

Tom put out deer to start NoCamping bait