Maine, REVI, and Beauty

I recently started my final field position before returning to school later this fall.  I am extremely lucky to be working on the Maine coast during the fall this year, as it is a great area for birding and is an area of stunning natural beauty.  I am living on Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge, which has shown me some amazing sunsets and rises, great birds, flowers, insects, and tons of berries.  I've never been in a place with simultaneously ripe blueberries, blackberries, and red raspberries.  There are even some unripe cranberries about that we hope will be edible by the time we leave in October.  My wonderful co-worker Jessie made a couple delicious berry cobblers from berries we picked that were amazing!  We are anxiously awaiting migrants ranging from ducks and shorebirds to warblers and sparrows, and searching throughout beautiful Maine for great spots from which to view them.  Fortunately, Petit Manan peninsula is itself a very productive place to bird and is extremely beautiful, so I don't have to travel far.

One of our telemetry towers is located on an island named Mount Desert Rock.  This island is literally a rock that juts above sea level about 20 miles off the coast of Maine.  I have always wanted to be able to walk on a small, remote, rocky island and this trip to set up the tower was a dream come true!  On the island there is a stout, stone lighthouse accompanied by a small house that appeared to have seen the underside of the ocean's surface more than a few times.  While setting up the tower we could see shorebirds and songbirds up close who were stopping for a break from migration to refuel.  There was a Prairie Warbler that allowed us to walk within a few feet of it, and plenty of Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers skittering around the rock as well.  The Ruddy Turnstone that were flitting about weren't as fearless as the other birds on the island, but were still in partial breeding plumage, and therefore looked very handsome.  Unfortunately, there was little chance for photography on the rock, and even on the boat due to concerns with saltwater and my camera equipment, in addition to time constraints on the rock.  While on the rock I also saw two life birds, Greater Shearwater and Manx Shearwater.  The shearwaters were amazing to watch as they flew right across the surface of the ocean acrobatically and with a graceful ease.  We also spotted lots of flocks of Red-necked Phalarope, and we even saw an Ocean Sunfish, Mola mola.

Great Black-backed Gull

The banding effort has started slowly, but steadily, this fall with captures of Northern Parula, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat, Hermit Thrush, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Black-and-white Warbler, among others.  We were even lucky enough to catch this Sharp-shinned Hawk within the first few days of opening nets.  Hopefully, the next week will bring in many more migrants!

Sharp-shinned Hawk

In addition to birding, the rocky coast surrounding our camping area and banding site has provided beautiful views, and amazing weather.  I am extremely fond of hearing the waves at night, in addition to feeling and smelling fresh ocean breezes throughout the day.  The moon has been extremely bright at night recently, even fooling me into believing that I had missed my alarm and it was early sunrise.  Luckily, that hasn't actually happened yet, but it is incredible how clear the moon has been the past few nights.  One evening, I decided to take the short walk to Bear Cove to watch the moon, and see if there were any birds sitting in the cove that could be seen by moonlight.  I used my scope to check out the full moon, and ended up seeing some sleeping Common Eider in the cove.  We frequently hear the call of the Common Loon throughout the day and night, and I was lucky enough to catch one of them in the moonlight.  When I walked up towards the shore, I also flushed a group of Spotted Sandpipers, that were really only identifiable by their calling and silhouettes across the moonlit water.  Eventually, the fog rolled in and blocked out the moon, so I returned to my tent with the push of a nice ocean breeze.

Cedar Waxwing at sunset

The goal of this project is to capture Red-eyed Vireo and Blackpoll Warbler and attach radio transmitters to them.  These birds can then be tracked with automated telemetry receiver towers that are located throughout the Gulf of Maine, and all the way south to Virginia.  This will give researchers a more precise picture of bird migration pathways and movement patterns of individuals during their migration.  

Red-Eyed Vireo with radio transmitter attached

Automated telemetry tower that receives radio signals from tagged birds as they travel through the area.  

Catching Up

This fall I am working in Maine on the Petit Manan National Wildlife Refuge.  The project will involve mist netting for migrant songbirds, and I hope to share more of this season than I've been keeping up with in the past couple years.  I am sleeping in a tent, and living out of a trailer on the point of the refuge, so my access to internet is limited to visits into town.  However, I am trying to write in my free time, so that I can come back and type it up to share.  I think I will also be expanding out of just bird and birding related photos, especially to share the beauty of the places I am working and visiting.  For now, here are some photos from the past few months!

-J

Black-Throated Blue Warbler nestlings

Carolina Wren nest with nestlings.  The best quality I could get without disturbing the nest!

Caterpillar from the Notodontidae family (I think!)

Turk's Cap Lily

Turk's Cap Lily

Turkey Poult

Eastern Box Turtle

Fire Pink

American Black Duck

Sunset from our camping and study area

Spotted Sandpiper

Whimbrel

Spotted Sandpiper

Nests, nests, nests

One of the perks of monitoring a breeding population of bird species is that you end up encountering lots of other species in the process.  We manage to find nests of Black and White Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo, Ruffed Grouse, Eastern Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, and of course Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Black-and-White Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

BTBWs and North Carolina

     I may be a bit late with this one (roughly a year!), but its not because there was nothing good to write about!  I'll make my excuses first, and then get on with the story.  There was a lot of fly fishing and general non-birding going on, which led to me getting fewer and fewer good shots of wildlife as the season continued.  I was having a lot of fun exploring places to fish and hanging out with co-workers.  I also had a good deal of trouble getting a picture of a BTBW!  I just couldn't bring myself to write up about this project and the time spent in NC without a darn good picture of the focal species.  I'm over it now, so lets get on with filling in some of the story.

Black-throated Blue Warbler female

Black-throated Blue Warbler male

     Last summer I worked at the Coweeta Hydrolic Laboratory in south-western NC with Mason Cline and Joanna Hatt of the University of Georgia.  Their project is a long term study of Black-throated Blue Warblers (BTBW) in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.  I got to spend a lot of time hiking around the study sites, and following BTBWs throughout the season.  Nest searching was a lot of fun, even though it can be frustrating at times.  The nice part about nest searching on these sites was that there were plenty of birds around to find nests for, much unlike working with the Golden-winged warblers in Manitoba.  Finding nests requires keying in on male and female behaviors, with the dead giveaways being females carrying nest building material, or either adult carrying food for the nestlings.  Even seeing the dead giveaways often requires sneakily following the adult in the direction they are headed, which is far from an easy task in the thick rhododendron, small streams, and steep hillsides.  Although these obstacles could be a pain, they were certainly what made the area so beautiful.

BTBW female at nest

 Besides BTBWs, there were also breeding Canada Warblers, Dark-eyed Junco, Blue Jays, Eastern Towhee, Blue-headed Vireos, Ovenbirds, and Wood Thrush in the area, so it was really fun to find other species nests accidentally throughout the season as well.  Jennifer even found a Ruffed Grouse nest that I was able to get a few pictures of as well.

Blue-headed Vireo

Wood Thrush

Scarlet Tanager

Ovenbird

Dark-eyed Junco nestlings

Dark-eyed Junco brooding

Canada Warbler

Ruffed Grouse

Ruffed Grouse nest

 This coming season, I will return to the BTBWs and the Smokies with some better equipment to hopefully get some better pictures of the BTBWs and their forest neighbors!

The crew: Ryan, Kyle, Jared, Jennifer, Joanna, and Mason

The warblers are coming, the warblers are coming! (And another visit to Dauphin Island)

So, I wrote this post over a month ago, try to pretend that it is still over a month ago when you read this...
Yes, spring migration is upon us!  Neotropical migrants are making their way back from Central and South America, and the weekends have been extremely exciting and fun for birding.  Last weekend we saw some early migrants, but this weekend we were captivated by worm-eating warbler, black-throated green warbler, hooded warbler, prothonotary warbler, Louisiana waterthrush, Nashville warbler, yellow-throated warbler, great crested flycatcher, eastern kingbird, and chimney swift.  There were also many shorebirds on the move including American avocet, Wilson's and snowy plover, whimbrel, and we also found a sandwich tern.
We started the weekend at Ward Bayou on Saturday.  Eamon and I got up before dawn and started the day by just leaving the trail and road and following any interesting bird sounds we heard.  There were prothonotary warblers and Louisiana waterthrush right away, but some poking around the woods turned up a pair of great crested flycatchers.  We reached the back of a stream and  turned up our first hooded warbler of the year, a handsome male with a full dark hood.  After this we went back to the road and to one of the trails.  On the trail we came across a barred owl sitting on top of a large dead tree snag.  He flew away from us, but not very far, and we soon heard two red-shouldered hawks squawking away.  To our surprise, one of the hawks came in and attacked the barred owl by diving and striking it!  The barred owl just sat there for a second and then flew away.  It was quite an exciting ordeal to actually be able to see.

Prothonotary Warbler

Louisiana Waterthrush

Reddish Egret

American Avocets

Whimbrel

Wilson's Plover

Snowy Plover

Grand Isle

I made a last minute decision to visit Grand Isle, LA for a big birding day trip.  I had considered going to Venice, LA so I could also see the mouth of the mighty Mississippi River, but bird reports were scarce in that area.  I looked along the coast for other birding hot-spots that had more recent reports of returning migrants.  Grand Isle popped up right away with reports of Cerulean Warblers, Summer Tanagers, Blue Grosbeaks, and plenty more.  Without much time to worry about whether the weather would be good for seeing birds that had just flown across the Gulf of Mexico, we decided to just go for it since the reports were good.  After reaching the isle, I drove past a supermarket that was one of the landmarks to a popular birding location.  I decided to start there and with the good omen of a thumbs-up from a departing birder.  The first bird of the day was a Blue Grosbeak (a life bird) that was quickly followed up by a male Summer Tanager.  I was so excited by all of the bird sounds and potential that I hardly even stopped to enjoy these birds.  I quickly came across Worm-eating and Hooded Warblers, soon followed by a lifer Swainson's Warbler.  The wooded area on the island was purchased by the Nature Conservancy to preserve stopover habitat, and it really turned out to be quite a busy spot.  Prothonotary warblers were in full force, but I also found a Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Green Warbler, and four different vireos.  The vireos included White-eyed, Blue-headed, Red-eyed, and Yellow-throated.

Male Summer Tangaer

Worm-eating Warbler

Swainson's Warbler

Hooded Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler, note the red cap is not part of the plumage, but likely from the nectar of a flower from which it was feeding on insects.

Louisiana Waterthrush

Swainson's Thrush

Black-throated Grey Warbler

 As the day continued I did some moving around on the island to several locations that other birders recommended.  I made my way to an American Redstart and some quick glances at a Painted Bunting.  After this I ran into a very kind local who I will refer to as "Mr. Overalls."  Mr. Overalls told me about birds he has been seeing and what to expect at this point in the year.  He was extremely friendly, talkative, and knowledgeable!  I should also mention that the locals were some of the most birder friendly and aware people that I have ever met.  Many had signs in their yards saying Birders Welcome, and many maintained feeders and good berry bushes.  I had been told that Orchard Orioles were being reported and I really wanted to find them.  After seeing large patches of Prothonotary Warblers on the ground, I also spotted several Blue Grosbeaks on the ground in the middle of a field as well.  Next, I decided to head to the beach to look for shorebirds, gulls, and terns.  I managed to see plenty of little Least Terns, along with some Sandwich Terns.  I left the beach with a few new species, but I was still obsessed with finding some Orchard Orioles!  After going back to the starting location and I managed to spot a Black-throated Gray Warbler, which was an extremely unexpected life bird (and very exciting!).  After trying to keep an eye on the Black-throated Gray for a fellow birder (I failed and he got away!), I headed back to look for Orchard Orioles.  This time, my search was successful and I managed to catch a glimpse of one male Orchard Oriole, and also got a better look at a male Painted Bunting.  Unfortunately, they were not very close, and the light wasn't cooperating for a photo.  I decided to do some searching in our starting location, yet again, to find reported Cerulean Warblers, but to no avail.  With daylight fading, I made my way to a shallow wetlands area to look for more shorebirds and some ducks.  I managed to find some Black-necked Stilts and Blue-winged Teal right from the car.  Then there was either a Gulf Coast Clapper Rail or a King Rail coming straight across the road and right in front of me for an amazing close up of a bird that usually skulks in the marsh grasses.  I also managed to find some American Golden Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and plenty of Willet as the sun was setting.  As I turned to go back to the car, extremely happy with the day, a Roseate Spoonbill flew overhead, catching the light of a beautiful sunset that managed to make the bird look even more stunning.  At this point I didn't think my day could have been any better!  I decided to check the wetter area for some more duck species beyond the car, and as I walked I flushed a small dark bird from the drainage at the side of the road.  Initially, I thought of nothing more than a Sora, but after working for the winter with Yellow Rails, I started to realize that this bird was even smaller than the Yellow Rail.  It flew like a rail, was really dark all over, and had no field marks to speak of.  Then it hit me, it was a Black Rail!  I had flushed a Black Rail!  I had no choice but to dance around and cheer in the middle of the road.  The day had gotten even better (and one of the best days of birding I have ever had).  I managed to see 113 species and some life birds for a pretty great day of birding.

Least Tern

Clapper Rail (Gulf Coast)

Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilt