We met up with Fish and Wildlife Service’s bighorn sheep crew at six in the morning. It was a beautiful day— the sun had yet to break over the Marble Mountains, and there was a chill in the air. We were there to help with (or, let’s be honest— tag along with) the May bighorn sheep survey in the Marbles. Each Needles BLM intern paired off with a bighorn sheep crew member, and we dispersed into the mountains.
Sunlight breaking over the Marble Mountains
I was incredibly lucky to be paired with Dr. John Wehausen, who has extensively studied bighorn sheep populations in California since the 1970’s. As we began our ascent, John gave me a rundown of the population dynamics in the Marbles and the surrounding area. As we worked our route through the range, we stopped at each vantage point to search the landscape for the bighorn sheep. At one point, we turned a corner, and John literally sniffed the air and said, “Sheep were here.” The man knows his sheep.
Dr. John Wehausen glassing for bighorn sheep.
John also has a great deal of botanical knowledge, and we talked about the plants we were seeing throughout the day. Although I have been studying these plants for the past three months, I began to see them in a new light as their importance was explained in terms of bighorn sheep nutrition.
Blue flax (Linum lewisii) south of Clark Mountain
By doing the survey, we learned how to identify bighorn sheep and lamb pellets. This is a skill we will continue to use throughout the rest of our internship. Because we spend so much time in the field, we can help gather information on bighorn sheep activities for researchers that may not get over to those areas as frequently.
A beautiful lunch spot in the Mescal Range.
In other news, Jessica and I have been very busy! We have been following the blooms and have identified populations of several sensitive species, including Sphaeralcea rusbyi var. eremicola, Grusonia parishii, (lots of) Coryphantha chlorantha, Mentzelia tricuspis, Senna covesii, and Penstemon utahensis.
Jessica in Picture Canyon, where we found a population of Mentzelia tricuspis and got caught in a thunderstorm!
Also, we have recently been spending more time surveying for invasive plants. Our positions are funded by an Off-Highway Vehicle grant, so we have been driving primary OHV roads and documenting populations of invasive plants. Along the way, we also document populations of Asclepias spp. for data on Monarch butterfly habitats. See Jessica’s blog post for more on that!
Asclepias erosa in a wash near the Cadiz Dunes.
Happy trails,
Kate Sinnott
Sensitive and Invasive Plant Monitoring Intern
BLM – Needles Field Office