Massive update (now that Sarah's caught up on sleep)

It's getting harder to sleep now. For perspective, the sun came up at 4:46am this morning and won't go back down again until 10:51pm. It doesn't actually get dark until close to midnight and starts getting light again around 4. I made up for 5 days of less than optimal sleep last night.

Friday was relatively busy. Too busy for interesting things to happen. Two important things from Friday: the beaver chewed a tree down in our main path to the gully (which was chewed in a funny spiral pattern and of which I will post a photo later), and the Robins are back. Yippee.

(Friday 6 May) Banding Summary: 17 birds, 5 species (SCJU, MYWA, CORE, BCCH, AMRO)

Captain of Team Adorable: Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.

Saturday turned out to be chilly (23F) and windy. Which was bad. There are a few conditions under which banders are advised to close nets. Rain and wind are the most common, followed by direct sun, heat, and predators, as well as to reduce the capture rate on very busy days or if something happens to severely damage the net (such as a deer running through). We started getting pretty gusty winds (up to 5 on the Beaufort scale) around 9am, and at 9:30 I closed nets 23 and 11 because they were blowing into the alders and getting tangled. Immediately after that, two of our volunteers brought me a foot and a random (unidentifiable) entrail from net 2, and said that there was also a nice, neat pile of feathers under the net as well. Hooray for raptor kills. There is a Northern Harrier hanging out in the front field, so she gets the blame. We closed both nets 1 and 2 (which are end-to-end) for the rest of the day as a precaution.

On the up-side, we caught a nice male Ruby-Crowned Kinglet and the Hermit Thrush that had been singing for a day or so in the back. Two new species in one day! Since it was windy, the kinglet was puffing up his feathers, which was excellent for the photo! Usually the crown patch is mostly concealed.

(Saturday 7 May) Banding Summary: 7 birds, 6 species (CORE, BCCH, AMRO, SCJU, RCKI, HETH)

Sunday morning was the coldest morning we've had yet this season (20F) but it was completely clear, so it warmed up nicely mid-way through the morning. This meant that we had to break ice on the gully again, and early in the morning the residual water on our waders froze by the time we got back to the banding station. The water is continuing to go down, if very slowly. We're hopeful that we'll be in hip-waders by the end of spring banding (4 June).

My waders have sprung another slow leak... not horrible, but definitely irritating. Regardless, it turned into a lovely Mothers' Day, and we had several couples and families out for a stroll come to visit. Unfortunately, we didn't have many birds and none of them were very exciting. One of our volunteers did see the Harrier try (unsuccessfully) to take a Mallard in the gully.

Also discovered today: a moderately sized herd of Lesser Yellowlegs flying over at low altitude sounds like a small propeller airplane. Yes, I did say 'herd'. It seems more appropriate than 'flock'. Herd implies large and noisy.

(Sunday 8 May) Banding Summary: 5 birds, 3 species (BCCH, SCJU, CORE)

Lovely Fox Sparrow.

Monday was exciting, never mind that the hole in my waders had gotten bigger. Sue's Denali Highway interns came out with us, and Mark (the refuge manager) brought us cinnamon rolls. Sue told us to put that down in our phenology notes. Apparently he lost a bet with his assistant... something about the return date for Savannah Sparrows or something. Whatever. We got cinnamon rolls. ^__^

There was an entire chorus of Wood Frogs singing in the gully. Wood Frogs (Rana sylvatica) are Alaska's only amphibian (we have no non-avian reptiles either), largely because they are able to allow their body temperature to drop below freezing without suffering the necrosis that occurs when ice crystals puncture cell membranes. They super-saturate their blood with urea and sugar to cushion their cells and lower the freezing point of their body liquids. Yay for having anti-freeze in your blood.

Tried to get a picture of the FOSP's red butt, but the light foiled us.

We spotted a few American Pipits in the front fields, as well as a Tree Swallow looking very possessive and at-home on one of the nest-boxes. We also had a Hermit Thrush singing his little heart out in the back and one of Sue's interns spotted an American Tree Sparrow. Several species of butterflies are out and about and several buds on our study birch tree have burst. Not the buds we're supposed to be looking at, but still. Green-up is still at least a week away.

I'll fix my waders (again) tomorrow and hopefully I'll be dry for a couple of days.

Cool birds for the day: 2 Boreal Chickadees, one caught twice, and a Fox Sparrow at the end of the day!

(Monday 9 May) Banding Summary: 16 birds, 6 species (MYWA, CORE, SCJU, BCCH, BOCH, FOSP)

In other non-bird news, I've signed a lease for a cabin! I get to move in in a week or so.