It's HOT in Oklahoma

             Being from western New York I am not used to the heat of south central Oklahoma, especially this year as the temperatures have insisted in remaining 5-10˚ above average. However there was no way that I was going to let the heat stop me from enjoying my new SCA internship at Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge.

 I jumped right in by helping do water quality monitoring for Pennington Creek on my first day. The monitoring protocol includes air/water temperatures, water clarity, pH, and checks the levels of dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, orthophosphate phosphorus, and chloride. The refuge also tests the level of coliforms in the water. This is a program that I will get to participate each month as my internship progresses.

I also get to assist in many different activities including deer, bird and herpetological surveys. During recent bird surveys I have been able to add many new species to my ‘life list.’ Some of the more interesting birds that I have seen here in Oklahoma include the Neotropic Cormorant and the endangered Least Tern. I also have seen a pond with 200+ Snowy and Great Egrets in the water and in the trees, it is not every day when you get to see that many large white birds in the trees. The opportunity to do Whitetail Deer surveys has also been a lot of fun. The surveys are done by spotlighting the deer at night on the refuge. The deer survey happens once a week for around 6 to 7 weeks, however long it takes to see 1,000 deer; this is done to ensure accurate buck/doe/fawn ratios. It was a great opportunity to get to spotlight deer since that is not something that the general public can do. The herpetological survey was a great chance for me to get to see some cool creatures up close and personal. During the herp survey we set up 6 arrays meant to force creatures into funnel or pitfall traps. We caught a Pickerel Frogs (a rarity as its normal range is further east), some Leopard Frogs, an Eastern Narrow Mouth Toad, Prairie Lined Race Runners, and a Fence Lizard along with a few small mammals such as a Least Shrew and a Hispid Cotton Rat.

Prairie Lined Race Runners

 Today while out attempting and sometimes successfully removing Mimosa trees, I got a chance to see an Orange-stripped Ribbon Snake. The Ribbon Snake is a part of the garter snake family, meaning it was a small, cute, non-venomous snake. This was a highlight of my semi-successful excursion at removing Mimosa trees using newly acquired weed wrenches. The Mimosa trees have strong root systems and I was having difficulty pulling up the roots because they kept snapping off. I was successful with a few smaller trees, but in certain soil types I couldn’t even get the little ones. I have decided to try again after we get some rain since it has not rained in a month and the ground is hard and dry.

Successfully pulled Mimosa tree

             In mid-September I got a chance to go to Oklahoma City where I became a certified Service Technician, allowing me to apply pesticides to invasive species. Throughout my internship I will use ATV/UTV’s, farm tractors and a skid steer to remove many different invasive plants from the refuge. I traveled to Hagerman NWR in TX to do my ATV/UTV training.

This past week was the Chickasaw Festival in Tishomingo. Tishomingo is the capitol of the Chickasaw Nation. There were activities in town and all over the Chickasaw Nation area all week long. During the week I went to the ‘White House of the Chickasaw’ which was a very elegant and modern home that was built in the 1800’s. Saturday was the big day of the festival where Governor Anoatubby (of the Chickasaws) gave his State of the Nation speech. After the speech is the biggest parade in the state, however this year it was cancelled shortly after it started due to a thunder storm. I visited the Chickasaw Bank Museum on Main Street. I also visited the Capitol building.

I have already gotten to do many activities that I had never had an opportunity to do before and look forward to many more great opportunities. This internship is allowing me to travel and live in Oklahoma; I look forward to exploring the state in my free time. Plus Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert have live near the Refuge!

Miranda Lambert's store in downtown Tishomingo

Tagging Monarchs

Tagged Monarch

Tishomingo National Wildlife Refuge participates in the Monarch Watch tagging program. I have caught and tagged about 25 Monarchs and my boss the refuge’s wildlife biologist has tagged about the same number. The hardest part of the process is catching the butterflies. I probably missed as many as I caught, and one time I caught one that I had tagged the day before. The tags are basically small all weather stickers that are placed on the wing. The tags are all always put in the same place on each butterfly, as shown in the picture. Each tag includes the email address and phone number to contact when a tagged butterfly is found, the name of the program (Monarch Watch) and a unique tag ID of 3 letters and 3 numbers. Each tag is recorded on a data sheet that includes the date and location the butterfly was tagged, whether the Monarch was wild or reared and the sex. Sexing the Monarchs is not very difficult, other than it is easier if you can see the side of the wings that are together while holding the butterfly. Males have a small black bulge on each wing, while the females do not have this feature (see pictures below, arrows on Male photo point out the bulges). Sometimes the bulge is visible while holding the butterfly but I check the other side to make sure that I record the correct sex for each butterfly.   

Female Monarch

Male Monarch

Monarchs are amazing creatures that are declining rapidly due to habitat loss. Monarchs that are west of the Rocky Mountains all migrate to California, while the Monarch on the east side head south to a few acres of forest in Mexico. In the spring Monarchs in the east can migrate as far north as Canada. The most amazing fact is that the Monarchs that leave Canada in the fall and head to Mexico are the great grandchildren of the butterflies that flew to Canada in the spring; somehow they always return to the same few acres in Mexico. To find out more information about Monarchs and the Monarch Watch program visit: www.monarchwatch.org

Geneseo Air Show 2013

On Saturday July 13, 2013 I attended the Geneseo Air Show in Geneseo NY. This was my fourth time attending the show. I went twice in the mid/late 1990's with my parents and then most recently in 2010 bu myself.
The air show is put on by the 1941 HAG (Historical Aircraft Group) at the National Warplane Museum. The show is know as "The Greatest Show on Turf." The museum operates the longest active grass runway in the country. To find out more about the museum visit their web site at : www.1941hag.org

At this years air show there were many awesome planes and I enjoyed myself immensely. There is not time or space to talk about all the planes at the show but I am going to touch on some of my favorites ( sorry if some don't have pics, but I didn't have any spare batteries).

Douglas C-47 "W7"

The Douglas C-47 was among the biggest of the planes at the show and is one that is owned and operated by the 1941 HAG. This plane know as "W7" participated in D-day and was the lead plane in the second wave of planes to drop paratroopers in Normandy. The 1941 HAG is hoping to return the "W7" to Normandy next year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-day. To find out more information about the plane and fundraising for "The Return to Normandy" visit: http://www.1941hag.org/c_47.html
During the show the Liberty Jump Team, a team of paratroopers did a Static line jump demonstration from "W7" and they hope to jump from the plane again next year in Normandy. The team has jumped from Normandy every year since 2006. The Liberty jump team is composed of veterans from all war and conflicts as far back as Vietnam. To find out more about the Liberty Jump Team visit: http://libertyjumpteam.org

Douglas C-47  "W7"

Curtiss C-46 Commando

The "Quick Silver" visited Geneseo for the first time in 2013 and put on a great show. The paint scheme on the "Quick Silver" is a tribute to all veterans. www.quicksilvermustang.com

P-51D Mustang "Quick Silver"

 The Avro Lancaster came to the show from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. The Lancaster is referred to often as the "Lanc." This plane is one of only two airworthy Lancaster's and is the only one in North America.

Avro Lancaster

Avro Lancaster

Avro Lancaster with warbird escort

Among some of the other highlights of the show was Rob Holland's Ultimate Airshows acrobatic routine: http://www.ultimateairshows.com
The Manfred Radius sailplane act was awesome! The sailplane does not have an engine and was towed to a high altitude by another plane where it then detaches to do an aerobatic routine while it descends toward earth. The show ended with Manfred doing an inverted ribbon cut. This basically consisted of a ribbon that is held between two poles on the runway and he glides upside down and cuts the ribbon with a wing. He then flipped right side up gained enough air to turn around and land in the same area where the ribbon was.
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I can't but help myself and share a few pictures from back in 2010. My favorite warplane has always been the B-17 flying fortress!! As a child I remember seeing the "Fuddy Duddy" flying over my house and then seeing it again at the Geneseo Air Show. I even had a t-shirt with the "Fuddy Duddy" on it, and it was a sad day when I outgrew the shirt, and it was an even sadder day when the "Fuddy Duddy" was sold and no longer resided in the western NY area. However, it currently is still air worthy and residing in southern CA. In 2010 the "Memphis Belle" appeared at the Geneseo Air Show. This particular B-17 is not the original Memphis Belle but it is the B-17 that was used for the movie The Memphis Belle. The "Memphis Belle" is among the 12 air worthy B-17 remaining in the United States. (And I now proudly own a "Memphis Belle" t-shirt!)

Pilot of the "Memphis Belle"

B-17 "Memphis Belle"

B-17 "Memphis Belle"