Parting Shots of Camas NWR

After spending four enjoyable months at Camas, we thought we would post some memories of our time.



We spent a day applying sealer to the bird observation deck. It was very weathered and the sealer sure made a huge improvement. We had almost completed the deck using existing material, but ran out. The new sealer didn't match, so we ended up recoating the entire deck again. About a third of the deck is shown here.

This summer contractors built a large pavilion at the Refuge to be used for education, meetings and promotion of the Refuge's mission. We assisted with the building of eight picnic tables from raw material. There was much steel cutting, welding and grinding of the stock before the frames were sent off to be powder coated.

Wood sealing was the last step. We took the unfinished boards off and applied three coats of Minwax Polyurethane. This provided a durable finished look. One down and seven more to go.

One of our favorite jobs was the Tuesday morning Elk Survey. Following a specified 22 mile two-track route through the Refuge we basically inventoried various mammals and birds of interest as well as any newborns. We estimated a herd of about eighty elk stayed the summer on the Refuge, rather than migrating to the higher elevations. Camas averages only about 4700 foot elevation.

We observed the elk at the "beach" on
one of several 90° days.

A juvenile Swainson's Hawk

Two pair of Trumpeter Swans raised cygnets this summer.

Mom and Her Brood

Prong-Horn Antelope are a Common Sight

Rattlesnakes are mostly an uncommon sight.
We caught this one and
its mate wrapped together on a refuge road.

Potato fields border parts of the Refuge.
But then it's Idaho after all.

Thursday the staff put on a going away lunch for us in the shop building.

Farrel, the heavy equipment operator, fired up the dutch ovens. This way of cooking seem to be very popular in the West. We enjoyed the beef enchiladas, with bean salad and peach cobbler (bottom) for dessert.  
This was a very memorable meal. Usually we were going off in different directions so it was nice to all sit back and enjoy the great company and food together.



Camas has a small staff, a Manager, Biologist,
Heavy Equipment Operator and two Seasonals

After lunch we completed the annual cleaning of the
Maintenance Shop by washing the floor.