Did you know there’s a town named Idahome in Idaho?

Hello!

Well, it has been a while since I’ve previously updated this blog on my adventures with the BLM office in Burley and as one can imagine, there are certainly a lot of gaps to fill. I’ll be posting twice this week in order to make up for lost time. If you thought there was going to be more discussion on the town name of Idahome, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I just thought it would be an interesting tidbit of knowledge to add to your day. The rest of my blog will be entirely on what we have been up to at the Burley office! But gee, isn’t that town name awfully silly? (No offense directed towards anyway from Idahome or Idaho. It definitely puts a smile on my face!)

Following my first few weeks at Burley, we were given the opportunity to assist with an on-going raptor nest monitoring project. These surveys entailed us tracking previously marked points where nests have been found in the past and investigating whether or not the nest was still active — and if so, who is using it. Unfortunately, we ran into a lot more raven nests than I would personally like to find, however we did run into a few swainson’s hawk and ferruginous hawk nests along the way. It’s astonishing to run into so many ferruginous hawks and golden eagles up here, honestly. As a transplant from the southeast, I am used to having these birds cataloged as “rare” in my brain, and to see them in such abundance here in their prime habitat is truly amazing. Getting a chance to brush up on my raptor identification isn’t too shabby of a perk either, if I do say so myself! Not only did we get to track down previous nest sites, but we even had the opportunity to try and identify new nests built this year!

Mountains near some of our raptor nest survey sites

In addition to surveying for raptors and working on AIM transects, our office gave us a chance later in the season to do an overall biological survey on certain significant points on BLM land. One of the BLM biologists needed us to survey as much as we can including birds, small mammals, insects, etc. While we didn’t see anything too rare or unexpected, it certainly beats staying in the office, especially when you are surrounded by common nighthawks. I even spotted my first badger on one of our surveys! That’s exciting stuff right there.

Scarlet Gilia we found during our AIM transect. The camera really can’t do that color justice!

Indian paintbrush

Raptors have certainly not been the only focus in our lives though. We’ve dipped into surveying for multiple taxa including beetles! Idaho Fish and Game took time out of their day to take us, as well as the CLM interns based in Shoshone, for a day of surveying. The biologist was specifically looking for a certain species of jewel beetle, but welcomed all of our catches, with or without jewel beetles. The specific jewel beetle he was looking for fed on the roots of buckwheat plants, but due to their feeding habits and elusive nature, these little guys are apparently pretty hard to get a hold of! Nevertheless, it was a wonderful day to learn some entomology and get a chance to swing some nets outdoors. I would like to mention though, one of the Shoshone interns did manage to capture a beetle of interest! Exciting news that made the day well worth it. What’s more exciting is when you consider the fact that according to the Fish and Game biologist, there is a significant lack of data in the field of entomology, especially with concern to beetles, here in Idaho. That means there’s an entire world of entomological discoveries yet to be explored here in Idaho, waiting for someone to answer the siren call! If only there were more time in the season to go play with bugs..

Last but not least, I can’t forget to mention the workshop provided at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The garden itself was truly a spectacle. I’ve only been to Chicago a few times myself and never in any of those trips was I even aware of the botanic garden’s presence. Walking through the garden during and after the workshop was like strolling through a dream. Each section of the garden was immaculate and you can certainly tell there is a lot of love and hard work put into it. To top things off, there was even a butterfly garden exhibit on display that week! (self-proclaimed butterfly maniac over here) I was honestly very upset to have to leave so soon! I’d probably be content to live among the butterflies for a few months…. That’s normal, right? This feeling may also be attributed to all the friends and acquaintances I made during that week as well. It’s hard to say goodbye! Between the educational workshop sessions, the blooming of beautiful and strange flowers and friendships, it was surely a week to remember.

(Prepare yourself – picture dump ahead!)