First migrant!

Groundhog!

Monday went... interestingly. Several people were cranky (myself included), but it was a nice day and we did have several birds.

So, I took my waders home over the weekend and attempted to fix them. I fixed several holes, but apparently not all of them. Still leaky, but better than the huge green Cabella's waders with the hugest holes ever.

There was also obvious beaver activity in the gully... several trees chewed on, etc. I also saw one of them just hanging out by the farmhouse... 1/4 mile from any kind of water. Most random thing EVER. EDIT: actually a groundhog. >__<

Golden-Crowned Sparrow.

Also, our first migrant of the year: Golden-Crowned Sparrow! Sue and I saw him sitting on a branch near net 18, pretty as you please. When we got back to the banding station and Aunt Judy went to go see if she could find him too. Two minutes later, we hear on the radio, "He's in the net, can I bring him in?" ^__^ Creamer's Field only catches a few of these guys a year, and they're usually one of the later migrants to come into the station. He was gorgeous and mysterious... funny the same qualities that make birds sexy make boys sexy too. Hmm. I must ponder the ramifications of THAT.

(Monday 2 May) Banding Summary: 6 birds, 3 species (BCCH, CORE, GCSP)


Stuff from the two days I was off-duty:


(Tuesday 3 May) Banding Summary: 5 birds, 3 species (CORE, BCCH, SCJU, DOWO)
Downy Woodpecker, awesome! Also, the Juncos are here!


(Wednesday 4 May) Banding Summary: 15 birds, 3 species (CORE, SCJU, MYWA)
May the fourth be with you day! Yay for Star Wars nerd-ism. The Myrtle Warblers are back as well... 9 of the 15 birds were MYWA's. They travel in packs.

Boreal Chickadee.

Now, on to Thursday.

I took the waders home again for my actual weekend (Tuesday & Wednesday). I turned them inside-out and filled them full of water to see if I could find any more leaks. Found the big one, which wasn't along a seam at all, much to my astonishment. I left them out in the lovely sunshine for an afternoon, and the field test on Thursday seemed to support my they're-finally-fixed-for-real-this-time theory.

Hooray for dry feet. Seriously. It did wonders for my mood and general outlook on life.

The water in the gully is starting to go down, finally. I no longer have to hold up my waders and walk on tip-toes and hold my breath when going to check net 13. We may actually get down to hip-waders before spring banding is over!

Cool bird of the day: Boreal Chickadee. They hang out at the station and overwinter in Fairbanks, but they don't generally fly low enough to get caught in nets. He was quite a lot better-tempered than the Black-Capped Chickadees tend to be, which was very nice.

(Thursday 5 May) Banding Summary: 8 birds, 3 species (BCCH, ORJU, BOCH)


PS: I'll insert pictures later this evening. Chaia is demanding the grocery store and I need the post office.

PPS: Bun-on-the-Run is now open! The Rule at CRMS is that if you let go of a bird after you've touched it (from the net, from a bag, etc.), you get a tick on the white-board. Five ticks mean you have to bring Bun-on-the-Run cinnamon rolls for everyone. We like this rule. Especially now that Sue has one.