Field notes (November)

3rd November

Spent the morning at the Tolman Street site with the survey crew. The frost had lifted by ten, which made the ground soft enough to core without the auger stalling. We logged eleven samples along the east ridge and marked two more for next week — the clay band sits roughly forty centimetres shallower than the 2019 map suggests, which changes how we stage the drainage work. Left a note for Devi to re-check the culvert readings before the rain arrives.

6th November

Back at the desk reconciling field sheets. Three of the eleven cores came back with moisture readings well outside the expected range, so I flagged them rather than averaging them away. Called the lab about turnaround — they can have results by the 21st if we ship Thursday. Started the summary for the council and kept it to two pages, since the last one went unread. Tomorrow: photograph the ridge before the leaves finish coming down.