The Pine Savannas

My current job is at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge in Gautier, MS.  One of the main purposes of the refuge is maintaining the pine savannas, which are specific and ideal habitats for many species of concern.  Henslow's sparrows, Bachman's sparrows, yellow rails, and the Mississippi subspecies of sandhill cranes all use these savannas, but they can become overgrown and unsuitable after several years.  The refuge keeps these savannas in good condition through prescribed burns, which are fires that are planned and controlled to burn specific areas.  The refuge is broken into many units that represent different burn regimes.  These regimes are dependent on how many years since the burn occurred and what time of year they occurred.  For example, some units were burned two years ago in the dormant season.  Part of the work I am doing with yellow rails is determining what burn regimes the rails prefer.  The different burn timings create shrubbier or grassier results, and over time the savannas tend to get more and more woody growth, regardless of burn timing.  Here are a couple pictures from a stormy day on the savannas.

Older, shrubbier savanna

Savanna that was burned a week prior to the photo

Fresh growth from a dormant season burn that occurred a week prior to this photo.

Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron (back-left) and Tricolored Heron (front-right)

Female Belted Kingfisher

Answers to Questions:

The fire team keeps the burns within controlled areas by creating fire lines or fire breaks, which are lines around the unit that are dug up and somewhat tilled to remove the flammable vegetation.  These lines are maintained just in case of an unexpected wildfire as well.  With only dirt and mud in these lines, the fire cannot jump over to adjacent units.  The refuge is extremely careful about choosing the correct winds and conditions for a burn, so that there is no chance of the fire crossing these lines.  They must also be cautious of preventing smoke from crossing local roads, and Interstate 10.  

BoomChachalaca

I just wanted to pass along a link to my friend Luke's blog: http://boomchachalaca.blogspot.com.  He has a lot of great posts, and a lot more material than I do at this point, so check it out!  There are several guest writers, some more scientifically written posts, and plenty of great photos!

Third time is a charm!

... But not for Sprague's Pipits or Razorbills.  However, it did work out for a Glaucous Gull.  I have been checking a spot in Pascacougla, MS for a few weeks now looking for this gull with no success.  Today, I decided to make a quick stop by the spot where it was being reported before a trip to the store.  It was supposed to be a rainy day, so no plans were made for a bigger adventure.  I also came across a Common Loon that was close into shore, possibly from all of the rough weather.

 Glaucous Gull (First or second winter)

 Common Loon

Here are a somewhat random assortment of other pictures from the past week!

We found this Pipit while searching a local birding spot for ducks, shorebirds, and raptors.  I wasn't able to get close enough for a photo in my previous encounters with there birds while looking for Sprague's Pipits, but this unexpected find did't mind a little camera time!  The Black-necked Stilt and Egrets were also found on this trip.  I wanted to get a side by side of the snowy and great egrets to show the difference in size.  There are many other differences between these birds other than size, such as bill color and neck size.  

 American Pipit

 Black-necked Stilt

 Bonaparte's Gull

 Chipping Sparrow

 Snowy Egret and Great Egret

 Merlin

I wanted to point out that even within species there can be a lot of variation.  Here is a dark juvenile Snow Goose that really sticks out from the light morph Snow Geese.

 Snow Geese (with a dark morph juvenile)

Sora

 Osprey

Brown Pelican

Dauphin Island

After an unsuccessful first trip to Dauphin Island, Eamon and I went on a return trip when we were sure there would be no parades blocking the only main street on the island.  We had heard many great things about shorebirds this time of year with reports of red knots and a stilt sandpiper.  After getting a fairly early start, we got to the island in the morning with fantastic weather.  I had seen the location of the local Audubon sanctuary on a map, so we headed that direction first.  I didn't realize it was a forest area, which will be great for migration fallout in the spring, but little good this time of year (especially when looking for shorebirds!).  We went to the eastern edge of the island with little luck, and it turned out that all the good reports were from the other side of the island.  There were some buffleheads up close, and some male red-breasted mergansers in the distance and one of the docks.  

Female and Male Bufflehead

Male Red-breasted Merganser

We drove to the west side of the island and went for a walk on the beach, looking for some good birds.  After walking along the shore, we came across some inland pools that looked like they filled with the tide or during storms.  We came to the first pool and were hesitant as to not scare the birds away.  As we got closer, we saw that there were more pools even farther back.  After scanning for the red knot and stilt sandpiper, I decided to walk between two pools in an attempt to get some close ups on some of the birds.  

Dunlin

 

Dunlin making a funny face

Black-bellied Plover

American Oystercatcher

Northern Gannet

Male and Female Redheads

Reddish Egret

Short-billed Dowitchers trying to run away!

After scouring the western beach for the red knot and stilt sandpiper, we decided to try our luck at a beach that was near a golf course on the south central part of the island.  We drove up to the golf course and saw that the gate was closed, and a sign with charges for admission to just walk around the grounds.  We were just getting ready to leave when a man pulled up next to us on a motor scooter.  He asked us in a very Philadelphian accent  if we were trying to get out onto the course.  I told him that we were, and he asked where in Pennsylvania I was from, as he was from Philadelphia.  I told him where I was from, and he knew of the area.  He wanted to know what we were looking for since he had seen my camera and our binoculars.  We explained about working on the Sandhill Crane Refuge and that we were biologists just looking for some bird species on our day.  He was very interested since he had friends who were biologists, and hunters who had hunted for Sandhill Cranes in North Dakota.  I should mention that it is legal to hunt them in many mid-west states.  He told me to follow behind him so he could show us the way the locals get onto the course.

Willet

Horned Grebe

 I got some fairly close pictures of a banded piping plover while on the western beach.  Below is a brief description of all of the different bands on the bird's legs.  Feel free to email me if you want to know any more about them!  scribblingjay@gmail.com

Piping Plover with bands

1.  Regional identifier flag.

2.  Color bands used by researchers to identify individuals in the field (without the need to capture)

3.  Aluminum USGS band with unique identifier number for this bird.

Dauphin Island on Dwellable

Second time is not the charm

Eamon, Matt, and I decided to try for the Sprague's Pipit and Razorbill once again this weekend.  The American Pipit flock that was reported to have a Sprague's or two in the mix was down to roughly 20 birds, that we could find at least.  We were able to get a good look through the scope at seemingly all of the birds, and none of them had the streaked back, flesh colored legs, or streaked "necklace"  of the Sprague's Pipit.  We did get some good looks at plenty of raptors again, though.

Red-tailed Hawk

We went to the pier and coughed up the whole two dollars that would give us access to the pier.  We struck out on the Razorbill search, but we did get to see black scoters and northern gannets!  The gannets were doing a lot of diving while we were there, and the black scoters even came in close enough for some nice pictures.  We also had a friendly Sanderling that scavenged the fishing pier a lot like a gull, with some of the most docile brown pelicans I have ever seen.

Sanderling

Northern Gannets in the distance.  Notice how streamlined they can get for a dive!

Brown Pelican

Black Scoter was an unexpected highlight for the day.

Eamon and I paid a visit to Dauphin Island the following day, for which I will have a post coming soon!

The Lost Bird

Beep.  I had to stop a moment to register the sound.  It came softly and unexpectedly from the receiver as I walked the treeline at the edge of the wide pine savannah.  I turned the antenna, waiting to hear the sound again.  I took a step back and pointed in the direction I thought the antenna had been when I heard the sound.  Beep.  The signal was coming from the stand of slash pines.  I tried to see if there was any opening in the pines where the bird could be sitting since I was already at the edge of the savannah.  The stand of pines looked like the perfect pinball machine for a signal to bounce around in all day, coming out in odd directions and strengths.  As I walked in the direction of the signal, the wind picked up and the light seemed to dim slightly.  I trudged through the shrubs, stumbling over uneven ground, listening intently for the receiver to let me know I was on the right track.  The signal seemed to vanish as I walked in its direction.  I stopped and began turning in circles, waiting.  I walked further into the stand and the wind picked up some more.  There appeared to be an opening ahead.  Beep.  I stopped and turned to the signal, perpendicular to my line in the pines, and stronger.  It had definitely been stronger.  Beep.  I followed the signal again.  Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  Finally consistent, I could move with faster speed without worrying about losing that sound.  Louder and stronger, the signal led me on a strange and frustrating path.  I was finally picking up on the subtle cues on the wind, to make the hunt more pressing.  My path was a set of right angles throughout the pines, bouncing around in what seemed to me like all directions.  The signal was still gaining strength, so I just carried on until I met a dense set of shrubs and vines packed between trees.  At this point, there was no way to miss the dense clouds that were racing in my direction.  I had come this far, so I decided to continue the search.  Through the brush was the very back corner of the adjacent savannah, which was finally the right habitat to find this little yellow rail.  Out into the opening, after tearing through some dense vines, I had a good signal in good habitat.  Now, it was just a matter of getting close and taking a GPS point.  As I got closer the rail moved and changed direction, and I followed.  I heard a loud rushing of wind.  As I looked up, I saw a downpour coming straight over the slash pines.  I followed the rail in the rain, which clearly wasn’t slowing it down.  After getting a strong enough signal, I stopped.  The storm had darkened the sky and the rain had soaked me.  The storm over the savannah was raging as I stood in awe.  The wind was energizing and the rain refreshing.  It was even a little nerve wracking.  What if lightning struck, or a tornado formed?  I was a kilometer from the truck and my co-workers.  I took the necessary data and began my long trek back to the truck in the rain.  

A Failed Hunt

Today I set out with a car full of people ready to go on a search for a few specific birds.  I had found reports for Sprague's Pipit and Razorbill about an hour and a half away in Alabama that were less that a week old.  We found a huge open field with muddy roads running through it where the Pipit's had been reported.  Sadly we didn't find any Sprague's Pipits, but we saw around 50 American Pipits, a lifer for me, which still made the trip well worth it.  We also got great looks at Northern Harriers, a Cooper's Hawk, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and an American Kestrel.  The Savannah Sparrows weren't camera shy at all today, but the rest of the birds at the fields sure were!

Three very differently colored Savannah Sparrows

Next, we went to find a Razorbill off of a pier only a few minutes away.  When we got to the pier, the haze over the ocean was fairly thick, as well as there being a charge to walk out onto the pier.  We all decided to pass on this because we could hardly see anything in the distance through the haze.  I did happen to take a few pictures of a Sanderling hanging out under the pier.

The final part of our plan was to check out Dauphin Island, which is off the coast of Alabama and can provide a great spot to find many birds, especially sea ducks and shorebirds.  When we got onto the island we couldn't make it to the Audobon sanctuary because of a parade.  We were all pretty bummed that we couldn't bird the more anticipated part of our trip, but we decided to explore little sections of Google Maps that appeared green in the area.  We found a nice little park with Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, and a House Finch.

 Red-breasted Nuthatch from a few different angles

 Eastern Bluebird

Brown Pelican

On the drive back along the bridge and peninsula to the mainland we decided to stop to see if we could scrounge up any final birds for the day.  The sun was already setting so the pictures are a little dark.  All in all it turned out to be a pretty fun day exploring some birding hot spots, and seeing a couple life birds, even if I couldn't get any pictures worth sharing.

 This Great Blue Heron flew in and cleaned his bill for the camera.

 A Ruddy Turnstone with an injured leg.

Close up with a Ring-billed Gull