Week 3 - Texas continued...

Week 3 found the crew continuing training and sampling in west Texas. Due to severe weather we were largely restricted to sampling on the west side of the Panhandle. The crew split up more for independent surveys this week as Kyla & Carissa became more familiar with survey protocols. We continued to survey some caprock canyonlands and shortgrass prairie as in Week 2, and got into some sand dunes with Shinnery Oak. Week 4 will be short for crew Biologists after 12 days in the field, with a few days out on Pawnee National Grassland in northeastern Colorado. Danny will be preparing for the rest of the field crew who begin work in Week 5, and catching up on the backlog of volunteer registrations the coming weekend!

Kyla - "I really enjoyed surveying sights in Bailey County, Texas. Here we encountered our first Ornate Box Turtles! Danny found a very small juvenile and Carissa found two adults. On our last survey site, I spotted a large female Texas Horned Lizard in the tall grass. Surveying in Yoakum County provided us an exercise in patience. The landscape was characterized by dense scrub oak which made it difficult to spot reptiles. However, it was almost a guarantee to see Lesser Earless Lizards in most open patches we came across. Getting successful voucher photos of these speedy lizards was another story! Due to severe storms to the east, we returned to Randall County to complete a survey that we didn't have time for previously. This change of plans worked out well for us, as we got another up-close sighting of a Coachwhip crossing a road! In addition to the Coachwhip, we spotted more Common Checkered Whiptails, Eastern Collared Lizards, Prairie Lizards, and a ~3-foot long Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake."

Carissa - "Danny, Kyla, and I continued to survey sites in western Texas this past week. I found a Many-Lined Skink and two adult male Ornate Box Turtles in Bailey County. Both turtles exhibited striking red eyes and bright orange scales on their front legs, earning them a new spot among my favorite Great Plains reptiles! In Yoakum County I spotted Lesser Earless Lizards and a Six-Lined Racerunner flitting below thick scrub oak. I also encountered a group of inquisitive Mule Deer that posed elegantly for a few photos. We then returned to Randall County after severe thunderstorms steered us away from our survey sites in the eastern part of the Texas Panhandle."