July 11 Field Update



		July 11, 2000

It rained all morning up until noon or so. As I look out of the security of our mobile office presently deployed within the Days Inn (official hotel of the Kanawha River Project), the sun is out and the rain stopped.

Above: Downpour at 11:00 AM.

Alas, the rain did stop and I initiated a new site near Buffalo. A winding gravel road leads to a wonderful hollow complete with a 15' wide meandering stream, and apparently devoid of poision ivy. I set a 6-meter and 12-meter singles in the stream, then was in the process of setting a 9 meter double when the first bat as caught, a very passive, if not slightly sleepy, pipestrelle.
I intended to set another 6 or 9 single somewhere around the double, but a diversion to play with a snake as well as big browns flopping into the net on occasion seemed to pass the night rather quickly.

I realize now what the drawback to this site is.....gigantic tweleve pound mosquitoes, annoying stupid moths, and gigantic mosquitoes (nasty enough to warrant mentioning twice). Humidity must be 99.5% as the fog is thick enough that I have trobule finding my nets. Fortunately for me insect activity seems to have died off after midnight, though it may have been due to the thick mist clinging to the air and drowning anything that small in midair. This also marks the first time I ever idled my van at night solely to run the air conditioner.

Above: A very compliant, well behaved Eastern pipestrelle, first critter of the night.
Left: Second major critter of the night. For the rest of the night I was able to check the nets without stepping into the stream anymore.

Below left: A big brown perched on the double high. This net saw the most action at this site due to its position in a more direct flyway through the hollow. Big browns don't care much for mist nets and are generally highly upset unless munching on a large section of mist net.

Below: The same big brown is much happier in a confined space, such as this cardboard tube used for weighing.

Dave returned to Little Hurricane Creek and witnessed bats in the vicinity but only netted one red. Fog also appears to have been a problem around this Winfield site.
Below: A squirming big brown is on the verge of escape as I struggle to fire a digi-photo single-handedly. This lady was content to stop wiggling and chew on the edge of my glove. With just a bit more squirming she would have been able to munch into a juicy artery in my left wrist. So close, but yet so far...


		Alas, the rain did stop and I initiated a new site near Buffalo. A winding gravel road leads to a wonderful hollow complete with a 15' wide meandering stream, and apparently devoid of poision ivy. I set a 6-meter and 12-meter singles in the stream, then was in the process of setting a 9 meter double when the first bat as caught, a very passive, if not slightly sleepy, pipestrelle. I intended to set another 6 or 9 single somewhere around the double, but a diversion to play with a snake as well as big browns flopping into the net on occasion seemed to pass the night rather quickly. I realize now what the drawback to this site is.....gigantic tweleve pound mosquitoes, annoying stupid moths, and gigantic mosquitoes (nasty enough to warrant mentioning twice). Humidity must be 99.5% as the fog is thick enough that I have trobule finding my nets. Fortunately for me insect activity seems to have died off after midnight, though it may have been due to the thick mist clinging to the air and drowning anything that small in midair. This also marks the first time I ever idled my van at night solely to run the air conditioner.

				Above: A very compliant, well behaved Eastern pipestrelle, first critter of the night. Left: Second major critter of the night. For the rest of the night I was able to check the nets without stepping into the stream anymore. Below left: A big brown perched on the double high. This net saw the most action at this site due to its position in a more direct flyway through the hollow. Big browns don't care much for mist nets and are generally highly upset unless munching on a large section of mist net. Below: The same big brown is much happier in a confined space, such as this cardboard tube used for weighing.


				Dave returned to Little Hurricane Creek and witnessed bats in the vicinity but only netted one red. Fog also appears to have been a problem around this Winfield site. Below: A squirming big brown is on the verge of escape as I struggle to fire a digi-photo single-handedly. This lady was content to stop wiggling and chew on the edge of my glove. With just a bit more squirming she would have been able to munch into a juicy artery in my left wrist. So close, but yet so far...