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!