Yes.....LET'S Talk About the Weather: winter's stubborn ways.

In an effort to play off of a post by the good fellas over at Camera Trapping Campus (see Let's Talk About the Weather, posted Feb. 23, 2012).....I say, "yes, let's do talk about the weather!"

Here in the upper Midwest, winter has decided it's not giving up so easily.  These pictures were from this morning after several inches of wet heavy snow fell and clung to all available surfaces.

Now, for folks who don't like snow....this would be annoying for late February....

....but....I'm alittle weird....

...and I was glad to see some of the white stuff again.....

...especially when it looks this incredible!

(although I can't help but be slightly envious of the 75 degrees and sunny that they are getting over there in California!)

Pretty Little Ditties....

Nothing super exciting for now.  Have some cameras out behind the house that I haven't been able to check in over a week due to the holidays.  Also have some cams out as part of another student exercise....the labors (and fruits) of which I'll share soon, I hope.  I was disappointed to see illegal hunting activity on the site we were working with students (brand new deer stand smack-dab in the middle of the property).  Luckily everyone had their orange vests on (and luckily no one was in the stand).  Now I just hope they don't mess with the cameras, as I can't imagine they didn't come back to the property to hunt over the Thanksgiving weekend.  I informed the property owner, but they were gone for the weekend and not much can be done but for me to sweat it out.  All the cams are in full security lock-down mode, but I've already shared with you all how unreliable even THAT can be (see here, here and here)!
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But...for now.....let me take you back east to the fine state of North Carolina.

Dave has been checking some of our remaining cams (those that weren't on sites where thievery occurred).  He sent some pics last week and several of them were rather pretty or interesting.  Nothing fancy (just deer....hundreds and hundreds of photos of deer)....but some sort of neat shots among them.

The pic below turns out so nice due to the heavy frost that hit the area.  This is heavier than any frost we've gotten in the upper Midwest!

I quite like the one below.  Not only do the woods in autumn look nice, but the buck is posed well, and the steam rising off of the stream to the right really looks cool....

Leaving.

Well, the time has come.

We're leaving the fine state of North Carolina tommorrow, and although being here has been a truly wonderful experience......it's time to move on.

I've taken a new position back in my home state of Wisconsin, which I am incredibly excited about.

I have some amazing colleagues and friends here that I will miss very much.

I'm happy I had the opportunity to meet them.

I'll also miss my study sites.  I spent almost every waking moment when I wasn't teaching either planning for the research projects I conducted there...or actually out there collecting data.  But, last week I pulled the transmitters off the box turtles, disengaged the drift fences and checked the camera traps for the last time.

Luckily, Dave will be here to continue the camera trap work in my absence.  He'll keep me updated with data and pictures after I leave and is more than capable of handling it.

So, I'll be away from blogland for a while.  Packing, moving cross-country, unpacking, and preparing for a new job will consume most of my time for the forseeable future.  I've tried to start a couple of "draft" entries that I can stick in every so often....just to let you all know I'm here....and at least until I start collecting new data and pictures from the upper Midwest.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of spots from my study sites that I was particularly fond of.

See ya at the other end of the trail, folks!

Goodbye to Last Year's Camera Sets.

I maxed-out my available research funds to pick camera traps up when I came here.  As a result, I've had a decent number of camera traps to work with since arriving.  Let me tell you....it was worth it!!

When I put the cameras at the locations below last July, it had been my intent to move them every year.  Doing anything that requires strenuous activity in July in the south is a fairly stupid idea, but that's how it worked out.

Anyways, this Monday Dave and I finally pulled the cameras and relocated them.  Hard work in the heat and humitidy, especially coupled with the other field work we do on those days. 

Anyhoo, in honor of those previous locations....here are a few scenery shots from each that I liked.  Figured I'd post a winter picture and a summer picture from each, so you can see the drastic difference in how the locations appear at opposite times of the year (its also fun to post pictures of snow, which is something of a mystery here in the southeastern USA). 

Grassland/Old Field Camera 1

Upland Deciduous Hardwood Camera 1



Lowland Deciduous Hardwood Camera 1

Grassland/Oldfield Camera 2

Upland Deciduous Hardwoods Camera 2

Lowland Deciduous Hardwoods Camera 2

Gonna miss these spots, but looking forward to the results from the relocations.