Rookie week continues

Still the rookie, but I've been getting better with the kangaroo rats. No escapes past couple of days, since last post. Their kind of squirmy in hand, and can kick pretty ferociously, but they don't automatically go to bite. Our crew closed that grid, so I'll soon be moving on to new territory in the northern reaches of the ranch.
In the mean time, I've had some new observed species, including the verdin (Auriparus flaviceps), white-tailed hawk (Buteo albicaudatus), black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), and Merriam's pocket mouse (Perognathus merriami). With the verdin I thought I was seeing things, kept trying to look up warblers with yellow heads and red shoulders and getting nothing. Good to have a bunch of birders around: I described it and they led me right to it.
All in all I think I'm starting to adjust. Definitely not liking the random cold days, but the only way I can change that is by being prepared and sucking it up. The crew here is pretty nice, and we keep finding new ways to stay amused in the off-time, namely perfecting our card games, horseshoes, and water pong.