Kenton's Summer Bird Blog

A Cowbird, Starling, Goose, and Mallard walk into a rave…

2010-08-04T11:43:00.001-07:00

and promptly left because the lasers were annoying. Well, not really according to a 2002 article. Bird damages to aircraft have left to abundant studies to determine effective means for deterring birds from airstrips and heavily utilized flyzones. Various methods have been attempted (auditory, visual, chemical, etc.), but a study actually looked to determined the effectiveness of lasers as a bird deterrent.

Using a 10-mW, continuous-wave, 633-nm laser, Blackwell et. al (2002) tested aversion of commonly plane-crashing birds to perches where the lasers were pointed or targeted at the birds directly. Neither European Starlings nor Brown-headed Cowbirds were deterred by laser treatment. Rock Pigeons (some of the least intelligent of all birds) only avoided laser targeting for the first five minutes of an 8-minute trial before the finally wised up. As for the waterfowl, Canada Geese were effectively dispersed from patches treated by the lasers during the 20-minute period, unlike the brave and magnificent Mallard who grew accustomed to the lasers after 20 minutes.

The obvious conclusion from this article is that birds are more amazing than lasers, and we should be prepared to become much more inventive when trying to fly our laughable steel imitations in their space. This article reminded me of one of my favorite XKCD comics.

Mercury & Migration

2010-08-04T11:42:00.001-07:00

This is an old post that I could get to work because my blogger account was acting funny.

I just started working in the lab at William & Mary last Friday, and I've been trying to read lots of papers to come up with research ideas. I just read a great literature review that's still in-press and it's given me a few interesting ideas. Mercury is a toxin which readily influences bird physiology causing neurological and reproductive impairment in addition to many other detrimental effects. I'm interested in how mercury affects birds at the population level. For migratory passerines, migration can be a great source of mortality, and Saracco and Desante (2008) named 1^st year survival to be the major contributing factor for maintaining bird population levels. Undoubtedly, this is most readily influenced by habitat destruction and fragmentation, but ecotoxins could have an effect.

Mercury's physiological effects could impair the ability to successfully migrate. Mercury reduces haem production, an essential cofactor for the production of hemoglobin. Mercury also increases asymmetry, which may impair flight

Saracco, J. F., and D. F. DeSante. 2008. Identifying proximate causes of population trends in migratory birds: An analysis of special variation at the scale of Bird Conservation Regions in vital rates and population trends from the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program. A report by the Institute for Bird Populations funded under NFWF Project No. 2005-0260-000.

Mercury Effects on Avian Embryos

2010-03-15T04:56:00.001-07:00

The following is a brief section from my senior seminar paper on an extremely interesting and insightful article. I promise I'll get to newer articles soon, but I wanted to give this a shot and I just loved this paper.

Mercury can limit avian productivity by impairing the development of the embryo, which are especially sensitive to environmental toxins such as mercury. Heinz et al. (2008) compared embryo sensitivity of wild bird species by injecting eggs with methylmercury chloride. The response to mercury was measured using the median lethal concentration (LC₅₀), or the concentration at which the embryo mortality rate was 50%. The results show that the embryos fall largely within three sensitivity groups. At low sensitivity (LC₅₀s > 1 μg g^-1 mercury) were the Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Lesser Scaup, Canada Goose, and Laughing Gull. At medium sensitivity (LC₅₀s > 0.25 μg g^-1 mercury) were the Clapper Rail, Sandhill Crane, Ring-necked Pheasant, Common Grackle, Domestic Chicken, Tree Swallow, Herring Gull, Common Tern, Royal Tern, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Brown Pelican, and Anhinga. At high sensitivity (LC₅₀s < 0.25 μg g^-1 mercury) were the American Kestrel, Osprey, White Ibis, Snowy Egret, and Tri-colored Heron. The rank order of embryo mercury sensitivity was also found to mirror mercury levels deposited naturally by the mother (Heinz et. al., 2008).

This research provides an invaluable means to evaluate whether mercury concentration poses a threat to specific wild species and points in the direction of which species may be at most risk. I believe this may have profound implications for conservation and management of ecotoxins. It also allows for more precise targeting for species as bioindicators.

_______________________

Heinz, G. H., D. J. Hoffman, J. D. Klimstra, K. R. Stebbins, S. L. Kondrad, C. A. Erwin. 2008. Species differences in the sensitivity of avian embryos. Archives Environmental Contamination Toxicology 56: 129-138.

Kenton’s Peer-reviewed Bird Blog?!?!

2010-03-14T12:14:00.001-07:00

I've decided to use my summer blog as an outlet to blog about peer-reviewed science. I got the idea from one of my favorite science blogs, Pharyngula by P.Z. Meyers, and I've decided that I really need to get more into the literature in preparation for grad school. From now on I will try to post summaries and interesting questions about papers I read.

More to come…

End of the season wrap-up

2009-08-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

So I have been really bad about making new posts. Things just got really busy at the end of the season, and my internet access was as good as usual.

Getting home was an adventure. Jeff and Alan dropped me off in Merced, where I caught a bus to San Francisco. From San Francisco I was able to get an earlier flight home the next morning. They wouldn't let me go through security the night before, so I slept in the airport in my sleepingbag with my all my gear. Surprise Surprise, I got selected for a "random" screening in security; maybe I should have shaved in Yosemite. My flight went through Philadelphia. If I were coming through later I would have tried to crash the AOU conference; they probably would have let me in. I was working for the Institute for Bird Populations. While I had some downtime in the airport I found a Swarovski dealer, and they let me try some of the binoculars. Swarovski has the reputation for the best binoculars in the world, and they definitely lived up to it. It was amazing! When I got to Richmond my family was waiting to greet me. I missed them so much. This summer was the longest Jenevieve and I have been apart. If I'm banding next summer, hopefully she can be convinced to come too.

As I close this post, I would like to thank those who have made my amazing summer possible. I would like to thank my parents and family for their help and support, the packages and letter, and helping me with transportation difficulties. Thank you to the Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Science Department of CNU for helping me to find this internship and providing encouragement when MAPS eastern region didn't work out. Mary Chambers and the IBP staff have been wonderful for allowing me to band in Yosemite. I have really enjoyed banding with the many IBP visitors that have come out over the season. Finally, I would like to thank Jenevieve for her continual love and support which meant so much over an occasionally lonely summer.

This summer has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life, which I'm sure has opened many doors to future experiences with birds and nature in general. I hope you have enjoyed this blog, and I would like to thank you for reading. I may start posting again if future summers include birds (hopefully they will).

Sincerely,

Kenton Buck

Swimming amongst the Ducks

2009-07-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the Valley today after work to go swimming in a very cold mountain river, and there was a family of Mallards that I got to swim with. I didn’t have my camera, so I do not have pictures. It was so much fun. They let me get really close as they foraged and fought the current. There were also Common Mergansers (a new species for me in the park), but they weren’t as friendly.

Photos on Facebook

2009-07-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

I finally got to upload photos at the Ahwahnee hotel in the Valley. Incidentally, it is the hotel that the hotel in "The Shining" is based on.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2079366&id=31806491&l=d28c38262d

A Day for Rattlesnakes and Hummingbirds

2009-07-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

...no, not together

July 17, 2009

We have a four day break, so I am doing some extra banding in Sequoia National Park. We banded at Zumwalt Meadow and got 38 birds, a high for that site. We had ten Rufous Hummingbirds today! I extracted and processed three of them, but the mature male with breeding plumage was nowhere to be found. I did get a nice hatch year male with a developing gorget. He was beautiful.

Hummingbirds can be tricky business, but it is so much fun. We don’t band them, but we can record age and sex. Age can be determined by examining the bill for corrugations that disappear as the bird grows older and by plumage. Sex and species can also be determined by a combination of plumage characteristics, usually the tail feathers (R2 and R4).

I really like working with hummingbirds; I might want to continue working with them in a specialized hummingbird banding program or in graduate school. I’ve decided I want to add the Peterson Guide to Hummingbirds to my wish list. I got to peruse it in the bookstore at Mono Lake two weeks ago. It has beautiful pictures of every species in North America for both genders and every age class as well as great range and life history information. In the back there is a picture of an albino Ruby-throated Hummingbird. That’s what I need to see!

I also saw my first Western Rattlesnake today. He was massive (>3 feet), but I think the Timber Rattlesnake I almost stepped on when I was a kid was larger. We found him crossing the path, and he went into a thicket near where we have some of our nets. We were able to get really close to him (not within strike distance), and he didn’t coil-up or exhibit defensive behavior. I was a little paranoid when checking nets for the rest of the day; a snakebite is NOT what I need right now. I wish I knew more about reptiles (I loved them when I was little); maybe I will take herpetology in the spring. I would love to be able to handle snakes safely.

Stumpy the Junco

2009-07-24T18:47:00.001-07:00

July 15, 2009

Earlier this season at White Wolf we had an Oregon Junco that had been banded wrong in a previous year because someone did not use the leg gauge to determine the right size. Its right foot had died and we had to amputate so it would not get infected. It was a really sad day, especially because Jeff said he has never recaptured an amputee. We didn’t even have the heart to band the other leg. Today made the situation a little better because we recaptured the amputee junco. His leg was completely healed over with no signs of infection. The bird did not seem to be greatly impacted by missing a foot; he even had a cloacal protuberance (breeding characteristics). It made us so happy that he was alive and doing well. I sent him away with a shiny new band (this time correctly size and attached) on his left leg. He even perched on a nearby tree with ease. Go Juncos!!!

Intelligence of Corvids

2009-07-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2009

We were really bored this afternoon, so we decided to suspend a peanut from a tree branch with dental floss to see if the Steller’s Jays could figure out how to get it. We expected him to figure out how to pull up the string up and hold it with his foot, but in true corvid fashion he did something totally unexpected and decided to wrap the floss around the trunk of the tree. It didn’t take him long to untie the string and get the peanut, but I think the California Ground Squirrels still have them beat. This one was massive. Is it possible for a squirrel to get diabetes from overeating?

Pine Grosbeaks are Weird

2009-07-23T17:19:00.001-07:00

White Wolf might not be the most productive site, but it always delivers in diversity. Today we finally got the poorly named male Pine Grosbeak. It’s not a real grosbeak and is more closely related to finches. We want to rename it the Big-billed Pine Finch, but we will just have to see what bird authorities say. I came up to the net and a male and female were right there next to each other. I made sure to put them in an order or my carabineer so that I would assuredly get the male. Pine Grosbeaks have this weird habit of chilling on the ground after they are released. It’s not like wing strain; they just sit there for some reason. The male sat there for a while and they foraged before flying off fine. We also got a female and a hatch year Pine Grosbeak that day.

Rufous Hummingbird

2009-07-07T17:54:00.001-07:00

7-7-09

I finally got the Rufous Hummingbird today. It has been one of the birds I came here to see, and today at White Wolf, we got a juvenile female.

Tuolumne Meadows and Mono Lake

2009-07-07T17:42:00.000-07:00

7/5/09

We finally got out of Hodgdon today!!! Jeff, Alan and I decided to go to Tuolumne Meadows to do some birding and alpine hiking. Tuolumne Meadows is amazing. We saw White-crowned Sparrows and Red-winged Blackbird in the meadow. At the visitors center I got a new book, Introduction to the California Condor, by Noel and Helen Snyder. I am really excited to start reading it; I love condors.

We went hiking to a lake at Gaylor Lake where we were looking for Rosy Finches. We didn’t find any, but I did get to see the Clark’s Nutcracker!!! It’s the bird at the top of the blog. I was so excited to see such an amazing bird.

After our hike we drove just a bit further to Mono Lake. There is a nice restaurant there where I got the infamous fish tacos that everyone has been telling me about. Mono Lake is beautiful. There are beautiful calcium carbonate deposits called tufa formed by freshwater springs. These springs must be few and far between because Mono Lake has three times the salinity of sea water. The birding there was great. New on my Yosemite list were Canada Goose, European Starling, Wilson’s and Red-necked Phalarope. The birds’ feathers are really matted because of all the salt. Phalaropes are amazing; they feast here on brine shrimp during the summer before a grueling migration to South America.

Banding with the Big Cheeses

2009-07-07T17:38:00.000-07:00

7/3/09

We had a surprise when we were banding at Crane Flat the other day; Sarah, the park bird biologist, told us that Dave DeSante, founder of IBP, and Rodney, who currently heads the institute, would be visiting. Both are amazing banders, and have an amazing enthusiasm for birds. They were in the park working on survey transects that Dave has been doing for thirty-two years (without missing a year). We were a little nervous about them coming, but everything was totally fine. They are both really nice, and they said they were really impressed with our speed in processing birds and excitement about banding in Yosemite. On their first net run there, Rodney came with me, and said he thought I was doing very well.

There was a little conflict between our group here and Dave DeSante. Jeff has always told us that we should close nets if they look windy or hot, but Dave thinks it can leave a great impact on the data. It was a classic conflict between field biologists and data managers. Dave seemed a little callous at first, but when we talked about it, he is just concerned that we are taking good data. There is no reason for being here having a minor impact on birds if our data cannot be used. Rodney suggested that we make shorter net runs (~10 minutes). We are still closing nets when in doubt, but it is nice to have other solutions.

Acorn Woodpecker

2009-07-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

6/30/09

The other day we got an Acorn Woodpecker, and I was the one who found it so I got to extract it. As much as Red-breasted Sapsuckers get tangled, this was that much worse. It had the prettiest eyes; they were sliver with a little bit of pink.

Sneaky Squirrels

2009-06-26T21:33:00.000-07:00

The squirrels of Hodgdon are the epitome of animal adaptation to human presence. If we leave the bear box open for a second they are in there. I actually trapped one in the bear box the other day (I’ll try to post the extraction video later, but it was interesting). I decided to clean out the bear box today and the squirrel got my old peanut butter jar that I am planning to collect insects in. He was really cute, so I jest let him lick out the inside. We left our packed lunches out for one second, and a squirrel tried to get away with an entire pear! We chased it across the campsite and were able to get it back with only a few bites. Victory!!!

To the Valley

2009-06-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning and decided to break into my whole grain flour and make pancakes, and yes, I did make bird shapes. Jeff took off to band at Sequoia today, leaving Jessica and I with nothing to do. We decided to go to the Valley to explore and do some shopping. Dan, the other intern who left early, told us that we could get employee IDs (we our treated like employees) and get a discount on food and retail items. We actually get 50% off fast food, which equates to about normal prices. There is so much to do in the Valley; we went to a couple of shops and an Ansel Adams gallery which had some really cool post cards and gifts for Jenevieve’s birthday (I would say what they are, but she reads this blog too). I still found time to process a few birds.

We took the shuttle to the Yosemite Lodge for lunch where I was finally able to get the fish I had been craving. I had a salmon burger on a wheat bun with lots of tomato and a chocolate ice cream cone. When we left from lunch we read the newspaper headlines only to find out that Michael Jackson has died. I feel so unconnected here sometimes. I can’t believe the King of Pop is gone; we were just talking about him yesterday. We decided to walk back to the car, which turned out to be faster than taking the shuttle. So far it’s been a nice day off. Later we may be going to the Evergreen with some of the rangers for some Reggae music.

Cold Nights, Part III

2009-06-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

This will hopefully be the last post on how cold it has been at night. It is starting to warm up during the day, but the nights are still cold. My stepfather and Mom sent some great thermals that arrived today. Thank you so much. They are very warm, so I’m sure I will be warm at night. It will be nice not to have to use my camp chair for insulation under my sleeping bag.

Escaped Selasphorous!!!

2009-06-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

At Gin Flat Meadow Jessica got either a Rufus Hummingbird or and Allen’s Hummingbird, which both belong to the genus Selasphorous. I got to the net right after she put it in the bag, and right as I got back to the banding station, it escaped from Jessica’s hand. I saw it as a blur as it went by, which was very unsatisfying. I felt sooo disappointed; I still need to see the Rufus, Allen’s, and Calliope Hummingbird before I leave.

Ten Kinglets at Once!!!

2009-06-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

Today we got the first of the juvenile Golden-crowned Kinglets have started to fledge. It was great, but we got too many at once. Kinglets are small birds, which means they can lose body heat rapidly; we have to be really careful when we extract and handle them. We got ten on our second net run and ten more on our fourth. There were so many that we couldn’t take our full range of measurements: just a band number, wing cord, and weight. It was really stressful, but Jeff showed me a trick for carrying small birds. Normally when it’s cold I put bird bags clipped to a carabineer inside my flannel shirt, but with small birds, Jeff said we can put the bags right against our skin. It should be just as warm as a hot box and prevent them from getting stressed. We can also double bag them so they can huddle together.

Mama Bear and Cubs

2009-06-26T21:22:00.001-07:00

We were banding our busiest site (Crane Flat) today when at the end of our net runs, I saw a sow bear with two cubs. I was maybe 40 meters away from where they were foraging. I went quickly back to the station to get the bear mace, just in case. I tried to haze the bear away (I hadn’t seen the cubs yet), but they didn’t really notice and continued foraging. We closed the nets (bears are known to eat birds out of mist nets) and took some great pictures before heading home. Jeff got some great ones with his telephoto lens that I’ll try to post later.

Hooded Warbler

2009-06-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

We may have gotten the bird of the year today, at least for Yosemite. Although common in the East, this second year male was an extreme vagrant here in California. I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I didn’t recognize it when I extracted it from the net. It also lost many of its rectrices in the net (a crime against nature for such a beautiful bird), but was still breathtaking.

I don't have a picture of the Hooded, but this is a nice Yellow Warbler

Scientific Reasoning

2009-06-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

I had been planning to take a philosophy of science class online with CNU this summer, but I don’t think it’s going to be possible anymore. I haven’t had the most reliable internet access here in, but it’s been great getting to use it at the Evergreen or Mountain Sage in Groveland. The intern who I had been tagging along to the Evergreen with decided he couldn’t volunteer anymore. I’m not sure I can make the course deadlines (at least twice a week), and this class is starting to looking more like a fool errand than a challenge. I really regret not being able to take it. Science is pretty much the greatest thing ever, and as a scientist I want to learn more about how it works on a philosophical level. I’ve already read a lot of the course work, which is really interesting, so I guess I’ll have to be content with that. I was even brainstorming paper ideas and was stuck between ‘creativity in science’, ‘science and pseudoscience’, and ‘consequences of the scientific worldview’. I am sure this is for the best, and at least I have had a few interesting conversations here with Jeff and Jessica and have some cool books to read.

New Boots!!!

2009-06-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

So I got my new boot in the mail the other day. They are Danner Radical 452 Gore-Tex waterproof hiking boots (shown left) and my old hightech boot (shown right). The new ones are still stiff, but I'll really break them in doing the hike to Toulume Grove again.

Sick bird :(

2009-06-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

We were banding Hodgdon Meadow today and we found a sick bird in the net. It had some sort of parasite or tumor, but its eyes were almost completely covered over. I couldn't forage and its fercula hollow was empty which means it was starving. I have pictures that I can send if anyone is interested, but I'm not going to post it here. We had a real dilemma trying to decide what to do with it. Jeff wanted to euthanize it because it was suffering, but I took a while to reach a decision. My first inclination was to let it go because it could provide a meal for some other creature, but I eventually decided that we had handled it enough and that it was better just to put it down. If it had been able to fly away on its own, the ethical choice would have been to let it go. There is a humane way to euthanize a bird, and Jeff was the one who did it. I don't think I could have. The rest of the day has been really hard on us; everyone is here because they love birds, and when one dies it is really difficult to keep going.

Don't worry; this rarely happens, and I know things will get better.

Kings Canyon Adventure

2009-06-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Who needs days off? For the last two days I’ve been banding in King’s Canyon National Park just southeast of Yosemite. We are on our four days off right now, but I decided to go with Jeff and Jessica to band some sites down here. The accommodations are really nice; we have beds, shower access, a kitchen and everything. Best of all, its warm at night. During the day it has been hot and dry. The sites are wonderful.

Today we banded Lion’s Meadow which is isolated in a grove of Giant Sequoia. When I was on the net run I scared a female Mallard into the bottom pocket of one of our nets. She was much too big for the 30mm net so she wasn’t tangled very badly. After I extracted her, she sat there in the grass for a moment, and I couldn’t tell if she was okay. Right after I got a picture she flew off. We don’t band ducks, but because I actually extracted her, she got recorded on our unbanded sheet.

Alan got a Rufous Hummingbird from net four, but because I was on the other part of the net run, I missed it. I feel so sad. I’ve always wanted to see one. There was a vagrant in North Carolina at someone’s feeder a few years ago, and people came from several states around to see it. They are more common here, but my window for seeing one is dwindling as their migration to Canada is ending. This one must have been extremely late, or it could have already bred and have been on its way south.

Black-backed Woodpecker

2009-06-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

We banded White Wolf a few days ago, which I think might be my favorite site. We had a slow day, but got some great birds, including a female Williamson’s Sapsucker. It’s so different from the male; at one time they thought they were different species. We also got a Black-backed Woodpecker! They are really rare in the park, and we really didn’t expect to get one at White Wolf. Their usual habitat is recently burned forests because they prefer to nest in burned snags. As far as anyone known, this is the first time we’ve banded one in the park.

Black-backed Woodpecker

Me with a female Williamson's Sapsucker

Photos from facebook

2009-06-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

See all my photos from Yosemite.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2078248&id=31806491&l=c28d3e2b1d

The Gospel according to Pyle

2009-06-14T18:06:00.001-07:00

While banding, the Pyle guide is like my bible (but the information is accurate, so maybe its not like the bible). It has a plethora of information on every species of Passerine and near-Passerine, and its about 500 pages thick for just Part I. It's so awesome; I think I want to get my own copy when I get home.

More info can be found here http://www.prbo.org/cms/index.php?mid=219

No more potatoes...

2009-06-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Today I was running short of food today. I was down to a bag of potatoes, some rice, and oatmeal. Everyone else got to buy food last break, but I stayed in Yosemite. I am soooooo sick of potatoes. I must have eaten them a hundred different ways.

But today...

I got to go to the best salvage grocery ever. I got a ton of really healthy food for a cheep price. I'm so happy I can have some variety in my diet. By the way, produce is so cheap in California. Avocados are actually reasonably priced.

Cold nights, Part II

2009-06-14T17:46:00.000-07:00

I posted earlier how cold the nights have been in Yosemite (mig 30s). There have been some improvements on my situation. In Groveland today I was able to get a hat (or toque in Jeffs Canadian diction). and gloves at a thrift store. Take that cold!!!

Address & Emergency Contact

2009-06-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

My family has asked for a mailing address, and I now have one.

Attn: Bird Researcher Kenton Buck
6127 Hillside Loop Road
Groveland, CA 95321-9206

The emergency contact is the MAPS Coordinator, Mary Chambers

Mary Chambers
(415) 663 1436
mchambers@birdpop.org

What we do...

2009-06-14T16:59:00.000-07:00

I've had some people ask exactly what I am doing with the MAPS Program, so I will take this opportunity to explain it. IBP is studying bird demographics with the MAPS Program to monitor bird survivorship from migration and changes in population size. We use 30mm mist nets to catch birds, which we then extract. We put the birds in cloth bags and clip the bags to a carabiner necklace to keep them safe as we go back to the station.

Micro-aging a Red-breasted Sapsucker

At the station the birds are processed for data collection. They are given an aluminum bad sized for the species of bird. This band can be used to identify individuals over their lifetime, and is some of the most important data we collect. After banding the birds we check the skull by gently parting the head feathers. This helps determine the bird's age. We then check for a cloacal protuberance and brood patch to assess breeding condition. Then come body molt, flight feather molt, and flight feather wear. The bird is then micro-aged using a process of examining the wing for molt limits and replaced feathers. This is different for every species, and is determined using the Pyle guide (more on this later). It's really hard to do, and I'm still getting the hang of it. The final two measurements are wing cord and mass. The bird is then released and we watch its flight to ensure that it is okay after all that handling.

Small Warbler being weighed

Boots

2009-06-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

I’ve had my Hi Tech boots for about three years now. They’ve been on the Appalachian Trail in Maine for over 130 miles, climbing up Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, camping in the Virginia tidewater, traveling through Costa Rica, birding in the highlands of North Carolina, and just about everywhere else I have been in the last few years. The only time I don’t ware them is when I am wearing my crocs. They’ve gotten a lot of use, but it’s about time for them to retire. These boot have been great, and I am sad to lose them. Its like saying goodbye to an old friend I’ve decided to replace them with some new boots from Danner.

They should arrive sometime next week. More on this later

1st Woodpecker & 1st Hummingbird

2009-06-14T16:52:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven't written in a while; I haven't had internet. On Tuesday we were able to make up White Wolf, which we missed last period because of bad weather. I finally successfully extracted a woodpecker. They are really difficult because their feathers are so stiff and they really get their feet tangled. I was about to develop a complex about it; the last few I attempted, I needed help from either Jeff or Dan. Today was even better; I extracted a Red-breasted Sapsucker.

Not my woodpecker, but a nice Williamson's Sapsucker

Me with my Anna's Hummingbird

We banded at Big Meadow on Wednesday, and I finally got to see some of the western hummingbirds. The East is great for bird life, but the only hummingbird is the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I extracted a juvenile female Anna’s Hummingbird. The juvenile plumage is really obvious, and the females have less than five red/purple feathers in their gorget. It was so small in my hand, and very warm. Hummingbirds maintain a body temperature of around 106 degrees Fahrenheit! It was so amazing; one of my favorite birds so far. I also got to extract a first year male later.

Birds first

2009-06-07T20:49:00.000-07:00

One of the things I really love about working with MAPS is that the bird health and safety is a top priority. When I was training last week, Jeff said that at any time if I felt a bird was not doing well that I could let it go "no questions asked." We don't open if its cold, hot, windy, or if there is a chance of predation (bears). We also have a hospitle box for stressed birds. IBP chooses bird health over data any day. The data we are collecting is important, but they are never willing to sacrifice the health of the birds. That really works with how I feel; I can't think of anything that would turn me off quicker than a lack of respect for the birds we work with.

More later...

Forest Giants

2009-06-07T17:48:00.000-07:00

To celebrate my birthday I decided to go hiking to Tuolumne Grove to see the Giant Sequoias. It was 8 miles round-trip on the back road behind Hodgdon Meadows. On the way up I saw Western Tanagers and heard Brown Creeper and Olive-sided Flycatchers. They are amazing, and the largest living things on Earth by mass. I felt privileged just to walk next to them. Think about it; you are next to something that could be 3000 years old. I ate lunch (a whole avocado) and took a nap under the most massive one I could find. While I was there a cone (which are smaller than I thought they would be) fell from the top. From that height it hit the ground with an astonishing force. As I got up into the tourist part of the grove and they had fences to protect the seedlings from being trampled. One fallen snag dies during an especially heavy snowfall was hollow on the inside and was easily big enough to live inside of. No matter how old you are, everyone still has somewhere in their brain the plans for the perfect tree-house. If you've seen the movie My Neighbor Totoro, I did the tree-thanking ritual from the movie. If you haven't seen the movie, you just bow in front of the tree and thank it for taking care of the forest. I felt so lucky to be there; what a way to spend a birthday!

My first Sequoia

Kenton and his future home!

21st Birthday

2009-06-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I officially turned 21. Hooray! I feel the same as when I was 20, but I know I'm much wiser. To answer the million dollar question, I did not buy alcohol on my birthday because I was by myself. Jeff, Alan and I went out to dinner the night before. I bought a local dark beer, and they didn't even card me.

Jeff's Almonds

2009-06-07T17:26:00.005-07:00

The other day Jeff left his bear box open while we were out banding. When we came back his 5 pound bag of almost gone. The squirrels and Steller's Jays ate every almond except one, which they probably left to spite him. We decided that squirrels should now be on the menu, especially since they have almond stuffing. Incidentally, I found a new species of squirrel that I believe is the Western Gray Squirrel. It seems much larger than its Eastern cousin.

One spiteful almond

Snow Day

2009-06-05T12:09:00.003-07:00

Today we were going to band at our highest elevation site, White Wolf, but we got a lot of rain last night. We were all cold this morning, so we decided to drive up to White Wolf to see if we could open. It started to snow on the way up, so we knew we would not be able to band today (it has to be 40 degrees). Instead we went to see a high altitude lake where we might go swimming when it gets hot. When we got back to camp I just stayed in the car and read because it was still raining. I started one of the books for my online Scientific Reasoning course, Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction by Samir Okasha. Its really good, I'm hoping to post more about the course and philosophy of science later Even the car was cold, so we drove to the Evergreen (the lodge where we pirate internet access). Hopefully the rain will let up.

Snow at Crane Flat

Great Gray Owl!!!

2009-06-04T17:14:00.002-07:00

We saw our first Great Gray Owl today. I was on a net run, and Jeff came running my way saying Jessica had a Great Gray Owl. At first I though it was in one of the nets! It was across the meadow from where we were banding. It was HUGE, and we got to see it hunt. It got some large mammal (for an owl), maybe a rabbit. The Great Gray Owl is the largest in North America; I felt privileged to see it. I got some pictures with my camera through my binoculars, but it looks more like an impressionist painting than the actual owl.

Sierra Flowers

2009-06-04T17:14:00.001-07:00

When John Muir first came to the Sierra Nevada Mountains he fell in love with the incredible diversity of flowers here. There are so many different kinds. Here are a few that I’ve seen so far.

Hartweg’s Iris

California Indian Pink

Large-leaf Lupine

Buckeye

Bears and Birds Don’t Mix

2009-06-04T16:40:00.003-07:00

At one of our banding stations, Crane Flat, we had some trouble with a bear coming after our nets. Unfortunately, I did not get to see it. We had to close a few of them, and Alan, another intern, had to it away by clapping and shouting curses at it in Spanish. Other than that, we got some great birds. My favorites were the Lazuli Bunting, Western Tanager, and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Cold Nights

2009-06-04T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yosemite is cold!!! It gets down to the mid 30s here at night, which shouldn't be a problem, except that the synthetic fill in my sleeping bag doesn't work when compressed against the underside of my hammock. I have devised several solutions to fix the problem:

Use my lounge-lizard chair as a pad
sleep in my rain gear
SPACE BLANKET (Birthday present from my Mom, and worth its weight in gold)

I hope to go to a thrift store in Groveland and get a warm hat and maybe a blanket for insulation.

Holy Pine Cones!!!

2009-06-02T16:33:00.001-07:00

I've already mentioned how amazing the trees are in Yosemite. The Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana) has the biggest pine cones I've ever seen.

On the East Coast, the Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) has the biggest cones, and these are the biggest I've seen so far in Yosemite. I hope I can bring some home with me.

Extracting the Grosbeak

2009-06-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

My extraction, banding and processing skills are really getting better. Today we were at the other part of Hodgdon Meadows.

Hodgdon Meadow Field Site

The first bird I extracted today was a Black-headed Grosbeak. Any birders reading this blog know how large the bill is. Believe me, it hurts just as much as you think it would when it bites you. I couldn't get a picture with the male (we were processing a lot of birds), but here's a picture of me with a female I banded later.

Me with a female Black-headed Grosbeak

We banded about 50 birds today. Other cool species on my list include: Juv. Orange-crowned Warbler, Hermit Warbler, Song Sparrow, and Purple Finch. Jessica, one of the other interns, got a White-headed Woodpecker.

1st Survey Day

2009-05-31T17:11:00.001-07:00

Today was our first day in the field. Our site was called Big Meadow, and it was a very open area near a creek dominated by short trees and grasses. Apparently, they had a bad fire in 1993 that took out most of the trees. We opened at sunrise (~5:30) and left the nets open until around noon, checking them around every thirty minutes. I'm still learning the protocol, so I spent most of the day observing. Hopefully I'll get to do some extractions tomorrow.

Bird Processing Station

We didn't have very many birds today, but we did have lots of visitors from the Audubon Society and a youth program called the Yosemite Institute. I also saw a Gopher Snake and two mule deer.

The way back was really exciting. I saw my first bear in the park. It was located at one of our banding stations that we will be visiting later this week. Very cool! It was mellow the whole time. We knew it was there because of the "bear jam" that kept the cars moving slow. Hopefully more to come, but don't worry, I'll be careful.

First Bear at seen Cranefield Flat Station

Communication

2009-05-31T17:07:00.000-07:00

The internet and cell conditions are not good. Right now, I am using the free wireless at a lodge 8 miles away from camp, but I don't know if that's really allowed. The other interns and I will probable use it as long as we can. Cell service is non-existent. Apparently we do have a mailing address where we can be reached, but I don't know what it is. Who knows what will happen?

Yosemite at last!

2009-05-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Yosemite two days ago, and I absolutely love it! It is amazing; I don't think I've ever been in a forest this pristine. The trees are amazing. The forest is very clear compared to the East Coast

On the flight here I got a great view of the park from the air. I saw the most famous climbing mountain in the park, El Captain, and the highest peak, Half Dome. I'm hoping to hike Half Dome next break.

El Cap from the air

Just for you Jenevieve, the squirrels are different here too. So far, I have identified two species. One smaller dark kind with abundant energy and a propinquity to eat through food bags, and one larger squirrel, similar to the Easter Gray, but spotted and with a slightly shorter tail. No pictures yet, but I'll try to get some soon.

Western Birds!?!?

2009-05-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Most of my birding experience is with Eastern birds, except for when I went to Highlands Biological Station last summer and saw a few Central birds. By Friday I need to learn 134 species of Western birds by visual and vocal observation. Some of these are Eastern species as well, but I think I'm going to have a long couple of days, especially getting used to an old Sibley Western field guide I borrowed. My favorite so far is Steller's Jay. By the way, I recommend the Thayer PC Guide to the Birds of North America to anyone learning birds. It's really wonderful, and has a quiz function.

Baby Duck Rescue

2009-05-23T16:18:00.000-07:00

It was exactly two weeks ago today that I was lucky enough to rescue a duckling. I had just returned home after the end of the semester, and was still unloading the car when I noticed one of the cats playing with something. It turned out to be a Mallard duckling, and from its size, I estimated it to be less than a day old. I took it from the cat, which fortunately left it unharmed, and spent the next hour battling my way through the creek adjacent to our house look for its family. I did see a pair of Mallards, but they were without chicks.

I couldn’t abandon it, so I decided to care for it until I could hopefully locate its family. Fortunately, my Dad was willing to let me bring a terrarium into the kitchen, and he happened to have friends experienced in raising ducklings. While we were off at the story buying cracked corn for his diet staple (which also included fresh greens and small invertebrates) he ended up sitting in his water dish, and we found him shivering there when we returned. After he was dry and warm, I decided he needed a name, and eventually settled on Roger, this being a suitable upstanding name for a young duck. The gender of ducklings cannot be determined until their mature feathers grow or their voices change, the males having a raspier “whrank” compared to the female’s higher “quack”. I hadn’t settled on a name if he turned out to be a she, but we also called him “peep”, “fluffy one”, and “little guy”. That first day was long because it took him a while to start eating, but after a while we couldn’t get him to stop. He also gave us a scare the next morning when he burrowed into one of the old socks I put in the terrarium.

He became used to me taking care of him, and grew accustomed to being held. Eventually he would fall asleep in my hands. Everyone said I was sort of his mother duck, but I really preferred the idea of surrogate father duck, the good kind who’s not just there on weekends. I guess mother duck is fine. I brought Jenevieve (surrogate father duck) over to see Roger, and she absolutely loved him! He was perfectly comfortable falling asleep on her too, and the next day we went to the story and bought him a new water bowl and fluffy bed that was originally for hamsters but suited a duckling well.

Two days after we bought the bed, Roger mysteriously died. I got a call from my Dad midmorning telling me the sad news. He had ample food and water, and the lamp on one side should have kept him warm while leaving the other side cool if he needed it. Ducks can be funny; they don’t show any sign of illness until it’s almost too late. He could have been lonely; ducks are very social creatures, especially during the early stages. We buried him in a nice place in the yard, and I planted dandelion seeds (his favorite green) on top of the site. I’m still sad about his death, but I hope he was happy and lived somewhat longer than if I hadn’t taken him in. Most of all, I miss the fun I had taking care of him, and everything I was looking forward too (he was going for his first swim this week).

I hope this hasn’t been just a sad story from a lamenting mother duck, because it was all in all a wonderful experience. I would definitely do it again, and I hope to raise ducks in the future.

More to come as I get ready to go to Yosemite National Park in California! By the way, I got my plane ticket today. Thanks Dad!!!

Welcome!!!

2009-05-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'm happy to announce that I have published this blog to update everyone on my summer activities and adventures with the MAPS program in Yosemite National Park. More later as I prepare for my departure later this week...