Following up on our last post, here’s a close up of ‘needle and thread’. As you can see, the common name for this plant very poetically describes its structure! The tips of the seeds are truly quite prickly (just like a sewing needle)!
Back in Ucross for some Fall field work! Devin points out ‘needle and thread’ (Hesperostipa comata) – a common (and sought-after) native grass – to our colleague Ambika Khadka and professor Chad Oliver.
Pronghorn antelope running along the truck at sunrise yesterday. Not the best quality, but enjoy!
Sewing covers for the external microphones on the ARU’s.
Charlie has been hard at work building a set of five homemade acoustic recording units (ARU’s). These units consist of a high capacity Olympus digital recorder wired to 4 rechargeable D-cell batteries, housed in a waterproof Pelican case, and connected to an external weatherproof stereo microphone. The ARU’s will be deployed around the ranch between Read more about Building acoustic recording units[…]
More traffic at the Clear Creek bridge in the 1950’s! Many thanks to Mike Latham for these historic photos.
Before the completion of Interstate 90, Wyoming State Routes 14 and 16 were the primary corridors for travel from the east coast for tourists heading to Yellowstone, and east-west truck commerce. As more and more cars hit the road in the mid 20th century, demand increased along these isolated state highways for amenities – gas Read more about Early days at Ucross[…]
Check out the Yellowstone traffic backed up at the intersection of 14 and 16 at Ucross in the 1950’s. This is what things were like in the summers before I-90!
We’ve been playing around with a number of methods for sharing our spatial data. Star has been working with CartoDB – an open-source, cloud-based, spatial database – for some of his urban planning work. Check out this map of pastures and watering holes at Ucross. The delineation of pastures and watering holes was one of Read more about Default title[…]
The sand hill crane is a common resident of Wyoming during summer breeding seasons. These elegant birds have distinct vocalizations that can be heard from miles away. Sand hill cranes nest in open grasslands, meadows, wetland, and riparian areas. We’ve seen a number of breeding pairs around the ranch, including many with small offspring! http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/sandhill_crane/lifehistory
History! In 1932, an Iowa land company decided to build a town at the junction of routes 14 and 16, the current location of Ucross. Despite obtaining permits and drafting detailed plans, development never occurred. Many years later, Mike (an employee of Ucross Foundation) and Lynn Latham discovered that their recently purchased, undeveloped, agricultural land Read more about Ucross historical map[…]
Mike Latham shared this gem with us! 100 years of family histories from Ucross and three adjacent towns. More historical posts to follow as Devin pores through this next week and Charlie works on some historic maps and photos.
A tour of the Ucross team’s Acoustic Monitoring Program — Phase 1 — with Charlie:
Setting up a permanent station for collecting audio recordings of birds requires more than just a knowledge of the birds themselves, it requires the know-how and expertise to put together the actual electronic / digital recording equipment. Though the bulk of our team’s future recording units will be independently powered (via rechargeable batteries), the two Read more about Testing acoustic recording units[…]
Clear Creek, the largest waterway on the ranch, has it’s origins in the southern reaches of the Bighorn Mountains in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Last weekend, Charlie headed up into the mountains to the North Fork of Clear Creek (nearly 50 miles upstream of Ucross) to do some fishing and thinking – check out that Read more about Exploring the Bighorns[…]