The Banding Life

Bird banding down in North Carolina is in full swing! We're nearing 1 month of fieldwork, and while there's lots to learn, I'm feeling comfortable with the birds and really enjoying the work. Here's a peek at our banding table. We haul it out into the marshes before sunrise set up the equipment, and this is where, one the birds get caught in the nets, we bring them back so we can band them, weigh them and get other types of info.


Aside from getting familiar with the banding table, we're getting to know the area on our time off. On my second trip to the outer banks with the other interns (Matt and Lauren) we went birdwatching along the coast, and saw close relatives of the Galapagos's Blue Footed Boobies, called the Gannet (not 'gansett). They're large seabirds, and were flying just offshore. It was strange to see a bird very similar to ones we knew so well in Ecuador, flying over the ice-cold water of North Carolina.


After some Outer Banks birding and a large spinach calzone, we made it back to the Wildlife Refuge to begin another week of birding. Just this morning we caught a young Red-winged Blackbird. I'm used to taking birds 1/3 their size out of the nets, so it was a new experience for me! Below is a picture of me and the blackbird.


The bird picture below is of a group of nearly 300 tree swallows flying above one of our work sites. They all like to eat at the same time, for protection, so they get in dense groups like this, and pile onto trees to eat the seeds. They cram so tight on the tree that the branches droop!



Thanks for checking out the NC pics, and also for contributing to my fundraising efforts for this summer's cross-country bike trip! If you haven't received a letter in the mail, you just might be receiving an email copy in the next few days. Yay for paperless fundraising! Stay well family and friends!

Mr. November

I hope everyone had the chance to see a little bit of Barack Obama's inauguration this morning! Here in the Swamp Sparrow house, as we affectionately refer to it, we saw his speech on our old, grainy-picture TV. It truly was inspiring; and for the first time in a long time I feel like the country is in pretty good hands. To celebrate, some of us went for a walk in the freshly fallen SNOW!


I have to admit, maybe some change isn't so good. We went from nice 50 degree days to snow! While the landscapes are beautiful, the weather has thrown a wrench into our work schedule. We can't do any banding when temperatures drop this low - the birds get too cold too fast. But the past two weeks of work have been a real blast. It's fun getting out into the marshes before sunrise and working by headlamp to take the little sparrows out of the nets. I'll try to get some pictures of the birds up soon!


I'm also getting settled in our section of Hyde County. We've been out to eat at a couple of local institutions. Both places (The Feedhouse and a restaurant run by Hot Dog and Edna) don't exactly cater to the vegetarian diet, but they make tasty grilled cheeses.

During our last break I drove over to the Outer Banks. What a great spot! I went to the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge and met some birders who have been with the refuge for over 40 years. And, go figure, I met a Rhode Islander who was volunteering there. She even referenced the old Outback Steakhouse in Warwick in an attempt to give me directions! Aside from birding, I stopped by the Bodie Island lighthouse which looked great on such a crisp, clear day.


I had to include a picture of Lauren's (one of the banders here) pet quail. They get to run around the house, but are pretty much scared of everything. This is the usually camera shy Theophelus making an appearance in the living room!

Bike and... Bird?

As some of you may know I have begun my 3 month stay in North Carolina (home to some members of the Moniz clan). I'm on week number one of my job as a bird bander. Me and 4 other birders are dedicating the next three months to tracking Swamp Sparrows that call the Mattamuskeet Wildlife Refuge their home for the winter. In order to band the birds we're up and out the door before the birds wake up. That means leaving our house (pictured below) at 5:50 and driving out into the marshes to set up nets. As the sun rises and the birds fly into our waiting nets, we hustle to remove the birds and put colorful bands on them so we can track them later in the season. Good thing i brought several pounds of coffee with me from RI!


I went on my first big bike ride of the winter to the nearby town of Engelhard. It was 30 miles round trip and the flat land of coastal NC made for easy riding. However, the dogs that ran out of several houses to chase me made the ride even more intense than riding in Boston traffic! Fortunately, I had plenty of homemade cookies to come back and snack on. Thanks Ava.

Here's our house. Pretty cool right? What's even cooler is that there's a Great-horned Owl living in our backyard! Last night a few of us went out into the backyard and tried "hooting" to the owl. To my surprise it flew around excitedly, and even hooted back.

A demonstration of my new hooting ability is on the agenda for our pre-trip party at the end of April.