05 June 2009

Update - 5 June 09

Hello all (all 3 of you),

It's been a little while since my last post so I thought I'd give an update.  The project out here in western Nebraska is going well.  The curlews have hatched and are now struggling to make it to fledging.

But first, here are a few pictures.  The first is a Willet, one darn attractive shorebird of the prairies near the refuge:



The following pictures show the same female Long-billed Curlew wearing one of our satellite transmitters:




Ever wonder how noticeable an adult female Long-billed Curlew is on a nest?  Here is a picture showing one:

And lastly, we can't forget about the male curlews.  This is a bird wearing one of our radio-collars:

Wonder why we attach these to curlews?  Well, A) we'd like to learn where these curlews spend the winter (hence the satellite-tags) and B) we'd like to track these males back to nests next summer (hence the radio-tags). 

Another common resident (although rarely seen) is the Barn Owl.  Here is one near my house:


Lastly, the birding here at Crescent Lake has started to slow down.  Migrants are far and few between these days.  However, a couple days ago yielded a few new species for my "refuge list".  We had a lone Purple Martin but more excitingly, a MacGillivray's Warbler.  Unfortunately, couldn't manage any photos of those.

More from me later!