It’s hard to even separate the last few weeks from the preceding ones– it’s all been a blur. I can’t believe I’ve already been here for 2 months. But the job is moving right along, mostly monitoring golden eagle nests and watching for plant populations to collect for the Seeds of Success program. The 2 eagle chicks I’ve been watching are almost ready to fledge (leave the nest), which I am excited to hopefully see. I am also hopeful that I will be involved in banding one of them once it leaves the nest and is on the ground for a few days. The seed collection project may have a minor setback, as a significant chunk of the scurfpea population I was planning to collect was washed out and covered with sediment in a heavy rainstorm. Mayhap there will be enough plants left for a collection, but perhaps it is time to go to Plan B and identify alternative collection sites.

Apart from work, I’ve had my first visitors from home this past weekend. My mom and sister came to visit, and I took them to work with me to monitor the eagle nests. We also went to Yellowstone for a day of ecotourism. Last week I watched the 4th of July parade through town and some fireworks. It’s lovely in the Cody Field Office right now; the blue delphinium is blooming and the occassional short but impressive thunderstorm rolls through from time to time, which keeps cooling things off so the summer heat hasn’t been terrible. All in all, it’s still the best job I’ve ever had and I feel very fortunate to be in this place among these people and enjoying working outdoors.