Sampling Sites and Beer.

Cloudy morning above the Selway on the East Boyd-Glover Trail.

For the first part of this study, 70 one square kilometer sampling sites have been designated within the 1,160 square kilometer (448 square mile) Moose Creek drainage. In each sampling site, four survey points have been identified where sampling for woodpeckers will be accomplished. We begin woodpecker surveys at sunrise (currently ~ 6:00 am here) and must begin the last survey by 10:30 am. Woodpeckers are surveyed by first silently listening for drumming and/or calls and by scanning the forest for the birds themselves. Playing recordings of woodpecker drums and calls interspersed with periods of silence follows the silent listening period. The recordings are quite effective – during our practice sessions we have called in several Pileated woodpeckers, northern flickers, a gray jay, and have pissed off several squirrels that have sounded their disapproval by persistently chattering at us for several minutes.

Beautiful morning on the trail

In addition, two of the survey points in each sampling site will be surveyed for gastropods (snails and slugs) by conducting 15-minute ground searches and using gastropod traps. The gastropod traps are one of the more amusing, and sensitive, aspects of the job – sponges soaked in beer are sandwiched between corrugated cardboard sheets and placed on the forest floor. Fortunately, gastropods are not picky about their beer allowing us to use cheap brews (freely donated expired beer in this case). However, since we are working for Idaho Fish and Game and driving agency vehicles, a certain amount of discretion is warranted. Just imagine the hiker who observes us emerging from the forest at 11:00 am reeking of beer (the sponge and cardboard are saturated with beer at the survey point) and jumping into a Fish and Game vehicle!

The surrounding area is simply astounding. The mountainsides that line both sides of the Selway River are heavily forested with Douglas fir, red cedar and ponderosa pine. Fenn Ranger Station sits in the Selway River valley at an elevation of 474 meters (1,555 feet). The ridges along the river top out around 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) above sea level. This results in very steep terrain and so far we have been on slopes as steep as 40 degrees (80% slope). On top of that, the brush can be quite dense and in some areas there is a large amount of down trees that makes progress slow. Needless to say, I am getting a serious workout on a daily basis as we scale up and down the hillsides. Further from the river, the mountains reach between 1,500 and 1,800 meters (~5,000 to 6,000 feet) and many of the sampling sites are located in the higher elevations. Currently, snow is blocking access to many of these sites but the weather has been pleasant with moderate temperatures for the past week. Hopefully, a lot of the snow is melting and access to these sites will open up soon.

An unfurled Trillium

Trillium

Glacier Lily complete with butterfly