I’m heading for the field today! As soon as I find my GPS, or give up on finding it…

This is a scouting trip. I won’t catch any birds (I don’t have the state permit for that yet anyway) but I’ll try to find them, see what breeding stage they’re at, and figure out what sites will be the best to focus on. I’ll start out in Stanislaus National Forest, then head to Sierra National Forest. It’s early enough in the season that most campgrounds are still closed, so I don’t get much choice of where to stay, but I’ll cover as much ground as I can. I’m hoping there won’t be many road closures in the parks but you never know.

I’ll be back Friday. In the meantime, I’ve scheduled posts (I’ll be “posting from the past,” as Jim Hines put it), and here is a picture of a marmot relaxing: