Observation 3

Mixed Zone
5/12/08
3:18-4:05
Temp: 46 ºF
Weather: cloudy with patches of clear sky.
Wind: breezy to windy coming from the west
Soil: just damp

Notes: As I leave my house I can hear a magpie and a crow or raven. A red breasted hummingbird is sitting on top of a near by aspen. Only a few feet away is a robin. I didn't notice it until it started hopping away with its worm. It hopped out from under my feet and then when I stopped moving it settled and ate the worm. It wouldn't move until I came towards it to leave the yard. Black headed chickadees and dark eyed juncos are in the aspen trees between the houses and are very lenient. Probably because of the bird feeders all around. I get the feeling that I am just barely accepted. There is more grass in the sagebrush now and only the rare spot Has no grass or other green life. A small plant is beginning to bloom and its flowers are no longer than a millimeter and pure white. A crow is acting very strange. It is trying to drive away a flock of magpies. Problem is, there is one crow and about 12 magpies. The crow gave up and flew back to its original tree after a few minutes of effort. Yarrow and a plant very similar to a tulip but with thinner leaves are beginning to come up . Wind is blowing the trees farther up the hillside and the sound is magnified. Only small plants are coming up and many are still to small for me to identify. One I can identify are the many little thistles that are starting to come up. There are also wild strawberry plant starting to grow. Odd, but I hear an elk bugle from the elk refuge and snow is starting to dust down. This is really the oddest weather to have snow fall at 46 degrees in May. There is some fresh scat on the animal trails and some is definitely moose scat. On top of that it is very fresh and now that I remember what to look for there are moose signs all over varying from very recent to a week old. It is warmer in the trees and on the ground is more of that odd lichen moss. A wood pecker is nearby but is almost drowned out by the construction noise. Rose bushes are starting to put out new shoots along with some other bush that I have seen before but I can't remember its name. I surprised a squirrel at the base of the tree and though I only caught a glimpse I think it was reddish. Under the trees is one little clover plant which means that there are probably more around. The ocasional spruce tree borders the forest and one or two are out in the sagebrush. There are tons of bird calls now so sagebrush and tree lines must make great habitats for song birds. Many birds are moving but I can only see them when they leave the trees because they have great camofloge and are just the right color and size to disapear. Four birds took off with two birds chasing another bird of the same type and doing areial acrobatics. Courting flight mabey? Humming birds flit past me occasionaly. Dandylions have taken root even this far fron the trail and are growing. I see deer tracks and fresh scat on an often used trail. Almost all the bushes are budding but so far I only saw one starting to leaf out. At the base of one of the bushes is a plant very similar to a dasiy. A dark purplish plant is growing that I have never seen before. It has spiked alternating leaves and a strong stalk. Even the holly grapes are begining to have grapes.

Questions: What is that odd purplish plant? What kind o f flower is the tulip looking one? Why have i never seen a moose over there?

Answers: One of the unidentified pines is a suger pine.