We’re back! With the government shutdown, we were out of the game for just one day and then went right back into action. Since all of our work plans with federal agencies fell through, Tice from the Audubon really stepped up and used her own time on Wednesday and Thursday to go out with us so we could continue to work. We greatly appreciated that!
On Wednesday we had a nice morning of birding in the riparian area along the Rio Salado next to the Audubon. We were able to identify 16 different species of birds as well as a variety of insects and small animals. The next day we were back in the same area enjoying a beautiful day as we identified plants and built leaf packs for our lab assignment. We put these leaf packs into two separate ponds and we will check on them in a few weeks to see if anything has made a home there.
Friday we got some good trail building experience at Dreamy Draw Recreation Area on the north side of Piestewa Peak. The ranger at the park, Paul, taught us about rip-rap and its function, and we were able to use rip-rap to upgrade an eroding trail. Hopefully we can go back and learn more. That’s all for now.
Tune in again next week to learn more about marvelous mel and the fantastic four!
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