Coleoptera... more like COOLeoptera!

Well, I'm still in Swift Current, SK.  All the terrible weather meant that we couldn't do amphibian auditory surveys (listening to see which species are calling in an area) during the evenings this past week, so our trip has been extended.  Working at night is really different for me, as I am used to daytime plant surveys.  It means that I hang out and work on my computer in the hotel room during the day and do all my driving around and hiking at night.  It's almost a little spooky sometimes, especially working in wetlands located in livestock enclosures.  I sure don't want to run into a herd of bison in the dark!  At least now the roads have dried up quite a bit, so we don't run the risk of being stranded in a cow pasture in the middle of nowhere at midnight with our truck stuck in the mud.

Speaking of our truck, he is a rental and I have named him Roger.  It just seemed fitting!  Here is a picture of the big guy:

Of course, it's no longer snowing like it is in the photo.  We saw the last of the snow melting in the ditches around Shaunavon yesterday, and it's been quite warm in the daytime.

Anyway, now to explain the title of this post.  As many of you likely know, Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly known as beetles.  The literal translation of coleoptera is sheath-wing, which likely refers to the hard covering, or elytra, that form the shell over a beetle's wings.  As many of you likely also know, I really, really like beetles.  One might say they are totally cool.

I'm not entirely certain what species these two beetles are, but I thought they were worth photographing!  I am hoping to identify them from my insect books upon my return to Saskatoon.  I have a suspicion that the black and orange guy might be a carrion beetle based on the colouring, but the antennae threw me off.  Check out the orange spots right on the ends!  Beautiful.

The black beetle pictured below cracked me up.  It was having a very difficult time walking over and around the lumps of soil in the cultivated field where I saw it.  My guess is that legs were relatively new to the little guy, since the blue thing in the picture seems to be the remains of pupa.  If the blue casing belonged to this beetle as while it was pupating (turning from a grub to a beetle), I would say that the adult must have emerged quite recently to find the beetle and pupal casing together.  But again, I'm only speculating.  Maybe he was just nomming on somebody else who was pupating.

I'll be sure to update you if I find out what species these amazing little guys are.

-J.R.

Snow Day!

The date is May 27th.  And I had a snow day today.  Yes, a snow day in May!
We had planned on doing our plant surveys around Shaunavon today, so we left the hotel early in the morning to a fairly heavy rain.  The further southwest we travelled, however, the colder it got.  As the thermometer built into our rental truck registered zero degrees, the rain turned to sleet and then snow.  The road were terrible, but after a couple hours of driving we found an accessible plot.  The effort was futile, however, as the snow began moving north and our plot was covered with a blanket of snow.  It is nearly impossible to perform a rare plant survey if one can't see the plants!!  Here I am all bundled up:

Animal Encounters: Now With Photos!

It's only day 3 in Swift and I already have far too many things to write about in a single post. My field partner and I have visited 10 different patches of native prairie and scoped out a few wetlands for amphibian surveys, and encountered all kinds of wildlife along the way! Antelope, mule deer, coyotes, hundreds of ground squirrels, and... the first northern leopard frog I've ever seen! It was pretty cute, but not nearly as cute as these little fledgings we stumbled upon in a cow pasture:

So sweet and fuzzy.  I have never before seen such tiny little baby birds!  I really hope the mama bird came back soon, as it was beginning to rain at this point.  Here is another little nest we saw on our way to a plot:

The best nest discovery happened today, however. I had dropped my deerskin gloves a few metres back and stopped to get them as my field partner continued towards our plot. I heard a scream and looked up to see a female mallard flying away from where my partner was standing, looking shocked. She had nearly stepped on the duck, which had a skillfully hidden nest at the edge of a cultivated field. There were 11 eggs in the nest!


Near the end of the day, we hiked through a field occupied by some very curious cows.  They followed us around and even jogged a bit to keep up with us.  I assume that they were just gentle giants, and they were really funny, but I must admit they made me a bit nervous.  Having lived in the city for most of my life, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I realize now that I don't know how to interact with cows, or horses for that matter, but I would certainly like to learn more about them!

First Field Day

Today was my first day back in the field!  It feels great to be working outdoors again.  Our mission for the afternoon was to identify the plants in an invaded native pasture south of Gull Lake.  My plant ID skills are a little bit rusty, but I think that once we start spending full days in the field I'll remember it all.

The most exciting find of the day was a skull that was encountered en route to our plot.  Unfortunately it appears to be pretty old and isn't entirely intact.  I hope to still be able to identify it by the antlers and eventually display it in my office.