And that means essentially that the summer ends. As the new season begins I get more active in the field again. I've been out twice so far recently, with some limited items of interest. My first trip returns me to Site T, and a drive around it's greater area to see what's going on there. I found the place pretty free of human traffic, as well as pretty quiet in general. Lord knows the mosquitoes were out in force, and a certain bunch of orange salamanders that infest the area. You don't usually use the term 'infest' with a salamanders, but these little guys were every everywhere, and it was a challenge not to step on them. I've also been trying to go out on a road trip in order to follow up on a report I've been working but scheduling hasn't had that happen as of yet.
Then I returned to Site A, after having covered that by car at least as the first "look see" I've made in a while, and it looked like there wasn't much in the way of people there either. As the week before, heat made both areas a sauna, but i quickly found out why the area was so dead as far as people were concerned. Normally this time of year, people can make their way in with vehicles, but it's been closed off and I guess most folks don't feel like hoofing it. I hiked the majority of Area A, and found the lack of people true, I did possibly hear some wood knocks off in the distance while there though. They would have been a series of five or so single knocks over a period of two or three minutes. I had my H2 audio recorder running and checked later to see if I had recorded anything, but a combination of the running water nearby and the overall distance from the source of the knocks prevented me from getting that. I did make a brief acquaintance with a 5 inch long millipede, the biggest I've ever seen, but again, other than a red squirrel, that was the only signs of activity I came across.
Though with potential knocks in the air I will be returning for a follow up and keep my easr open for any hints of nearby activity as well.
