Just glad to see he isn't wearing that gown still.

Wow Vic...this flower is amazing!!! Sounds like a great adventure...you take care!!!

Hope you don't discover any new species of snake

Be careful and hope you don't get over heated.

Wind, wind and more wind (21mph on average), so the detailed surveys are being rescheduled for later in the week.

It was so windy that taking photographs of the flora on-site was difficult, as the little plants just kept moving around. I did get a couple of decent images of Calochortus (the bright orange flower shown below). The rest of the images are not so good because of the wind.

At least it was not as hot as expected, and I got to use the field RV to compile data while my other biologists we out for most of the day in the heat.

By the way, I am really glad that I filled the refrigerator and freezer for this trip, because all eight of my biologists "inhaled" all of the food by 3pm. By best botanist was a real "chow-hound", but she deserves whatever I can give her. She at two 12" Subway sandwiches on the way home, in addition to what we had in the field RV.

So, 25 gallons of water and $250 worth of food went to good use by the crew.

I hope to have better images next week, but here are a few that are representative of the project site.

Time to get some sleep....

-Vic

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More areas where we have to focus our efforts:

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I love being outdoors. That would be a great job if I had the health for it. So glad you're able to do it.

Great photos Vic! Looks a lot like where I live! Except maybe the elevation - I am at 3500'

I took a Native Plants class a couple of years ago and we spent a lot of time in the desert looking a tiny plants identifying them. The white one in the upper right hand corner of the first set of photos...?? looks familar - Wyeth Buckwheat per chance?

Thanks for sharing your picures and your day with us. I don't know why you are searching for those little flowers, but they sure are sweet little things.

Sassy - I brought our RV field vehicle along with our work truck, and the a/c worked very well in both of them. I kept cool.

Girlie Girl - That is a very small plant (a pigmy poppy) and they are so hard to find! Heck, we even had to use a micrometer to measure some of the plant parts!

DM - I get a kick out of working on projects that are contested between developers and environemntal groups. One of the things that keeps my firm functional is that we are pretty good at finding ways to make both parties very happy. I guess that is why we are hired for these types of projects.

BGB & Wiz - It has been an adventure! I just love my "work" and cannot believe that I get paid to do it.

Cindy - No golf or swimming here! I did wear knee pads because the soil was not always sandy. Actually, most of the site is comprised of coarse alluvium, and that is not good on the knees. *howdya' know about our props Wheredya get that picture of me at my client's office LOL

Sandy - We actually struck out in our search, but we did find the areas where we need to focus later in the week when the wind calms down.

Greenjeans - Now I can't get that song out of my head!

Ro - Oye vey, my DW is a biologist...and THE accountant! She would know if I called 1-800-FLOWERS! AND, I did wear the gown! LOL

Tkrik - Our a/c kept me cool and we had lots of water. It was hot (110 F), but only 80 F in the field RV.

SallyC - I can get back up off of my knees, but it is a chore after a while. I can also think of better reasons to get on my knees, but that is another story! LOL

Cheryl - You would love these kinds of surveys. It is really fun to do field work in the boondocks with a bunch of friends and then stay up until the wee hours just shooting the breeze over a couple of cold ones.

Barb - You would be amazed at what grows in the sand!

Tammy - It is always an adventure doing these types of surveys. The best ones are for the DoD on their bombing ranges in El Centro because, believe it or not, the natural diversity is always higher there (because people are not allowed into those areas). We also get a good airshow! (By the way, the ramps are being sent in the morning.)

BaxterTB - No new species of snakes were found, but we did find a few Mojave Greens and coachwhips.

-Vic

Geeze Louise Vic! I can't say I envy you, but I do hope you manage to have some fun and enjoy some of the day!