Trout Creek Ecological Reserve Warden report, July 7, 2013

Laurie Rockwell writes this report for July 7, 2013

• it was mild early morning at 15c,with little wind and later sunshine.
• I saw/heard 18 species of birds,none of them unexpected.I heard 3-4 blue-listed Gray Flycatchers. The White-breasted Nuthatch nest,with parents feeding nestlings, that I found last month was abandoned. I presume the nestlings fledged as I found no signs of predation.
• most plants are in flower or seed heads. One plant, the red-listed Narrow- leafed Brickellia, showed some flower heads as well as many seed heads.It flowers later than the other ER plants,other than Golden Hawkweed and goes to seed within a month.I pulled 2 Sulphur Cinquefoil plants and left the increasing number of Diffuse Knapweed plants for the bio-control weevils; ironically I saw none of these weevils on any plants.The large infestation of Dalmatian Toadflax has been much reduced on the SE slope,but there were still a good number of flower heads and few beetles on the plants. For some reason the plants are all but gone from the SW slope. I found one red-listed Dalles Milk-Vetch just outside the N-S fence, just north of the talus slope where major fence repairs were done last year.
• I saw no mammals,not even bears at the Saskatoon berries,insects or reptiles.
• there was no sign of human activity.
• minor fence repairs are outstanding.
• I have attached some pictures of  an interesting shard of rock stuck upright in the ground,with a rotting tree behind it,so it has been there a long time.
• attempts will be made next week to establish 2 long term plant community monitoring plots.

Laurie found this interesting vertically projecting rock shard on his walk through the reserve.