This week I started conducting point count bird surveys in several different locations around the farm. A point count survey is a tally of all birds detected by sight and sound for a specified period of time. February is an ideal time of year to start conducting bird surveys because you can observe birds that are still wintering in this part of the state as well as birds that are starting to migrate here to breed. Below is a picture of a red-bellied woodpecker that I observed at one of my survey points this week.
This week I was also 
able to accompany Dr. Tomecek to a ranch in the Hill Country to help with equipping livestock guard dogs with GPS collars. Due to heavy predation on their sheep and goat herds by coyotes, the landowners that we visited are trying out guard dogs as a form of predator management. They are hoping to use GPS collars to track the dog’s movements to assure that they are staying with the livestock as well as to be able to easily find them on a large parcel of land whenever they need. Below is a picture of Dr. Tomecek equipping one of the guard dogs with a GPS collar.
