Spring is here!

Officially, today is the first day of spring!  But here in Ohio it's a very chilly, blustery day with occasional snow flakes.  It's hard to imagine on a day like today that spring peepers and a leopard frog have started their mating calls, but according to Hays and Donna, they certainly have!

Since I am still sick, here are two pictures of spring peepers that were taken by me at EFCA on March 29, 2012.  These pictures remind me that I need to buy a macro lens!

Cute spring peeper resting on a twig in Toad Hall at EFCA.

Another spring peeper at Toad Hall.

With any luck, I'll be back at EFCA soon and capture more pictures of these adorable amphibians.  It's truly amazing just how cold it is now compared to this time last year.  I was able to just wear a t-shirt or sweatshirt and be comfortable whereas this year, a winter coat is a must!  Let's hope that it does warm up soon.

What are you excited to see this spring?  If amphibians aren't your thing, what wildflowers are you looking forward to seeing?  Please add your comments as well as any recommendations on lenses.  

Mapping EFCA

Since I currently have a cat on my lap who's making it difficult to get to the printer, it seems like a fine time to get caught up on blog posts!

In February, I met with Hays and Donna as well as Sharon Edwards, the Naturalist at Environmental Mobile Unit (EMU).  Below is a picture of me on the left and Donna and Sharon on the right.

From left to right: Me, Donna, and Sharon.  This was taken by Rob Tyler.

On this lovely winter day, I took GPS points with a Garmin 62 while walking throughout EFCA and taking lots of notes.  These points, known as "waypoints", were then downloaded with the "track" and put into ArcGIS and made into a map.  The "track" is the path that I walked while using the GPS.

The first trail map of EFCA.

I am currently working on adding the parcel data to this map so that the boundaries of EFCA are included.  After this is finished, a map showing hydrology will be made as well as one showing topography.  There may be more maps created, but those are some of the major ones that need to be made because the topography drastically changes throughout EFCA and the hydrology is very interesting due to the impact of glaciation.  There will be more on that in another blog.

Spring Break

My life has been VERY busy since the last post and I've realized I am very behind.  There is much to share with you including mapping Edge of the Farm Conservation Area (EFCA) as well as lots of lovely pictures and basically everything I've learned.

Have you ever made tons of plans and had them blow up at the last minute?  Well, my plan was to get this blog up-to-date while on spring break. There are quite a few other items on my to-do list that may take priority but I'm still hopeful.  All my plans were smashed to a million shards of glass on Monday morning when I woke up with a sore throat that only got worse.  Today is the first day this week that I've felt somewhat "normal" and able to look at a computer screen.  My eyes have been two itchy, burning balls of fire all week making it difficult to do much of anything besides attempt to sleep.

Good night for now and hopefully I'll be back to write more soon.

An introduction

Hello!  I'm Sandra Tyler and I'm a 2nd year Masters student at the Institute for the Environment & Sustainability at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  My practicum involves working with Dr. Hays Cummins and Dr. Donna McCollum to make their gorgeous 32 acre property that they named Edge of the Farm Conservation Area (or EFCA for short) more accessible to school groups as well as the general public.  A crucial part of this mission is simply getting the word out which lead to the creation of this blog as well as a Facebook page for now.  After my work commences, everything I've made will be taken over by Hays and Donna (or perhaps another representative).

A picture of me in front of one of my favorite places: Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, CA (taken by Rob Tyler, August 2012).  This iconic bridge spans Rainbow Canyon and is featured in the opening of Jack Kerouac's book, Big Sur.