2015/05/31

May update - assorted topics

We are having several consecutive days of relatively nice weather throughout the day so I have been quite busy working (and taking photos) but not posting them.  Here are a lot of photos from the last week of May.

Snow day (May 25th, 2015)

Before the weather got better, it got worse on the 25th when it snowed and we lost power overnight and in the morning after (so no heat and no internet). I couldn't do any work except walking around Gothic and taking pictures.

Gothic townsite

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Photo taken with the dramatic tone art filter in my camera. Kind of scary looking.

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Typical Gothic sky - cloudy except for a patch of open blue sky.

Gothic Mountain
Gothic Mountain behind a veil of clouds.

Gothic Mountain
The whole view.

Mt. Bellview
Mt. Belleview.

Scenery

Some of the scenic views as summer (or is it spring?) arrives.

Hiking through the aspen trees
Walking up the trail where I saw four deer and a grouse (see below).

White Rock Mountain
The view outside my cabin.

Gothic Mountain
The view from my study site.

Colorful Colorado
Beautiful view where I perform my "bee interviews". See larger image here.

Gunnison National Forest

Gunnison National Forest
Love the different colours.

Gunnison National Forest

Gunnison National Forest
Mosaic of aspens and fir trees.

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My camera has a great function that makes taking long exposure photos very easy.  I was attempting to take a picture of star trails the other night but the bright moon and clouds ruined everything.  I will  have to try it again on a moonless and cloudless night.

Birds

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus 
platycercus)
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus 
platycercus)

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Took this on the snow day.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus 
platycercus)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus 
platycercus)

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Took this when it was hovering in the air and before doing the downward sweeping courtship display.

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

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Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus)

Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)
Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis)

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Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri)

White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)

And then I saw four lifers so far this field season.

Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus)
Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus),

Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus)

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Red-naped Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus nuchalis),

Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis)

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 Townsend's Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi),

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And Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus).

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
Our cabin-mate, the House Wren (Troglodytes aedon).

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
The wren after it chased a chipmunk from outside our cabin.

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Found a place in the forest where another pair of wrens were excavating their nest.

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)


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An American Robin's (Turdus migratorius) nest.

Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)
Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) calling for a mate. I tried to take a video of the deep booming call but my camera did not pick up the sound.

Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)
Eating dandelion flowers after calling.

Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)

Dusky Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)

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Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis)

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Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)

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Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia)

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Unknown Tyrannidae.

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Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

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Looks like a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) from the distance.

Mammals

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Saw four White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) before I saw the grouse.

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Least chipmunk (Tamias minimus)
Least chipmunk (Tamias minimus) outside my cabin before a House Wren chased it away.

Least chipmunk (Tamias minimus)
The chipmunk watching me while I was photographing the grouse.

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Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) passing through the cabins.

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Elk (Cervus canadensis) at Kebler Pass.  This is my first time seeing the animal in the wild.

Invertebrates

2015-05-26-P5260166
Unknown jumping spider.

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Dorsal side of jumping spider.

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A male Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) that was using my pinned flag as its "flower" before I moved it away.

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Unknown caterpillar.

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Ant drinking nectar from fallen Mertensia fusiformis flower.

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Silvery Blue Butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)

Silvery Blue Butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)

Green Comma Butterfly (Polygonia faunus)
Green Comma Butterfly (Polygonia faunus)

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Bombus bifarius with a parasite under its wings.

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A Syrphid fly that thought my pinned flag was a "flower".

Plants

2015-05-20-P5200048
Field Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense)

Research

I am working on several projects this summer. One of them is looking at how abiotic (rainwater and temperature) and biotic (pollinators) factors are being affected by Mertensia flowers in different orientations.

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Plants orient their flowers horizontally,

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Downward,

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Or upward.

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So how will floral orientation affect temperature inside the flowers (relative to ambient temperature) and pollen germination?

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Rainwater collected inside (manipulated) upright flowers.

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More flowers with water inside them.

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Using a thermocouple to measure flower temperature.

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Taking temperature at the base of the anthers.

A related project is seeing if pollinators prefer a certain floral orientation.

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A bee interview stick.

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Presenting flowers in different orientation (down, upward, and horizontal from left to right) to bees visiting M. fusiformis and seeing which orientation they select.

Also, the last component of my lab's UV photography equipment finally arrived (from Belarus) and so here are some of the images I took of local flora.

Mertensia fusiformis (visible and UV)
M. fusiformis (visible and UV)

Ranunculus alismifolius (visible and UV)
Ranunculus alismifolius (visible and UV)

Taraxacum officinale (visible and UV)
Taraxacum officinale (visible and UV)

Viola vallicola (visible and UV)
Viola vallicola (visible and UV)

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