Things didn't look that promising when I headed in to the airport this morning. We were clear and cloudless, but the skies to the north were totally overcast. I could see the south side of the Ferrises, but they were darkened by clouds. Got there early, parked between two hangars and snoozed until the pilot arrived.

We had to use the C206 again, the C180 still being down to be checked out. They finally figured out what happened. When recharging the battery after our flight on Wednesday, the cables were connected to the wrong battery poles. End result was a battery that needs to be drained and properly recharged, and lots of burned fuses, wires and radios.

Clouds were breaking up by the time we were airborne, and we had good sunshine after the first couple transects. Wind was out of the north when we took off, but by the time we got to the count area, it had switched around to the southwest, and we had to buck the downdrafts on the north side of the Ferrises. Made for some queazy turns.

The block of country we had left to count was essentially like a triangle laid on its side. So our transects got shorter and shorter as we went. Which meant more turns, and less time to recoup before the next turn. Barely hung on this morning, but got it done without digging out the sick sack.

Lots of white rocks in this part of the area, which tend to look like a bedded antelope from a distance. Three years ago when we were counting this country I asked the pilot if he couldn't at least come out here and paint the rocks brown. Today I reminded him of my request, and expressed my disappointment at his poor work performance. He claimed he'd been busy.

When you've been wearing headsets for a long time, the pressure tends to make your ears sensitive. And you notice every time you smile, because of the small twinge of discomfort it causes in your ears. Today I smiled when I saw the two newborn fawns snuggled up close to their mother, and when the buck panicked when he got run over by our shadow.

About the only other interesting site was the coyote running after eight antelope that we passed on our way north to the count. It wasn't chasing them, just running from the plane. (It was on the sheep ranch. Running from planes is a good survival instinct there.) But the antelope didn't know that, and were in full panic with this canid on their heels. If they'd stopped, I'm sure it would have run right past them.

Since my main camera malfunctioned yesterday, I brought the spare today to get the photos of pelican nests on Bird Island for the annual census. But found out the battery was dead as we completed the antelope count and headed to the reservoir. So we made three passes over the island, with me taking photos at different shutter speeds and f-stops with each pass. Hopefully at least one setting will give useful photos.

Was good seeing the island so close again. Last time was many years ago, before the drought dropped the water levels so far the island became a rocky hill in a huge mud flat. Then we were there on the island, catching and banding several hundred young pelicans. A lot of fun, but they are smelly things. And surprisingly vicious with that huge bill (it's got a small, sharp hook on the end).

Could see carp spawning below in the reservoir as we circled over the shallows. Once made a fool of myself wading into a similar reservoir to try to catch carp with my bare hands to show to my bride-to-be. She had fun watching me get wet, and our first red heeler kept trying to join in the fun. But I did catch (and release) three of those big scum suckers.

Otherwise a pretty uneventful flight. Probably the best kind. Treated the pilot to breakfast when we landed, and then home to read the paper in bed with the wife. (Our local paper doesn't come out on Sunday, so we get the Sunday comics a day early. Nothing to look forward to in tomorrow's paper except Prince Valiant, which the local does not carry.)

But flying is done, until August.