The past few weeks have mostly been consumed by making collections for the Seeds of Success (SOS) program. Collected species include woolly plantain, scarlet globemallow, purple threeawn, kingspike fescue, tanseyleaf tansyaster, caespitose four-nerve daisy, alkali bluegrass, field chickweed, stemless mock goldenweed, and bluebunch wheatgrass. Some of these species may be used in garden trials for restoration or seed increase evaluations, whereas others that are not bound for long term storage may be used in reseeding disturbed areas in the Cody Field Office.

Now that frantic spring seed collecting is over (other other collections will be made later in the summer), I have finally been able to venture out into the wild horse management area to search reservoirs for the rare plant Rorippa calycina. The oil company working in the area will not be releasing their produced water into Dry Creek anymore, which the wild horses had depended on for water for a long time. Since Dry Creek will in fact be dry, they must now depend on the reservoirs spaced throughout the herd area, many or most of which are silted in or somehow in need of repair or maintenance. So the situation with Rorippa calycina is a catch-22: they need the reservoirs to grow, so we must maintain the reservoirs. But to do that, many of them will need to be dug out, so this repair process may destroy the rare plant populations around existing reservoirs. It’s a touchy subject, and I will be interested to see how it all pans out. Most likely there will have to be some compromises and careful planning, but for now all I need to worry about is completing a baseline survey of which reservoirs have this plant.

Adult golden eagle scanning the nest area cautiously before paying a visit to the chick

The golden eagle chicks are growing up fast, and are probably only a few weeks from fledging (leaving the nest to be on the ground for a while as they learn to fly). They are no longer white because most of their dark brown feathers have grown in, although their bellies and heads are still mostly white and down covered. They are between 50 and 60 days old at this point, and mostly feed themselves from what their parents bring them. I hope they survive their fledging, and it would be even better if I am able to witness it!