Goosey Goosey Gander

A few weeks ago I got to get out of the office and into the field for a day of goose banding. I know my last three entries, including this one, all talk about my time in the field. But let me assure you, dear blog reader, that these are the ONLY times I’ve spent in the field this summer! I just haven’t shared my hours of data entry, management, scanning, filing, archiving, etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s interesting work, just perhaps not blog worthy!

Anyway, the end of June/beginning of July marks Goose banding season. That time of year, the Canada Geese are moulting most if not all of their feathers over a period of several weeks. This coincides with their goslings getting off the nest and they are big enough to paddle around. So the Geese are bound to the water they’re are when the moulting begins. This is typically not an issue for them for food and safety, and it occurs like clockwork. Biologists of course picked up on this, and decided this was a perfect time of year to round Geese up and put bands on their legs for future monitoring.

Chelsea at her post on the edge of the pond!

My friend and SUNY Cobleskill classmate Chelsea, and I met up with waterfowl biologists and other DEC staff at the Region 4 wildlife field office in Stamford, NY on a Monday morning. It was an overcast, foggy morning, but the Geese didn’t care, so neither did we!

We first caravaned to a summer camp property that had a large pond on it. They allowed us to come trap and band the Geese that day, which was nice since the property is not public access land. We had to move quickly so that the Geese couldn’t get away. Although they couldn’t fly, they could disappear into the woods IF they could get past us onto the shore. When we pulled up, they were just hanging out on the water. There were I think around 75 of them, and we qucikly all spread out and surrounded the pond. It wasn’t too large, maybe 6 acres, and we had quite the team assembled that morning. We all took our posts and some got into kayaks to do herding once it was time, and then a few more people moved quickly to set up the pen that we were going to attempt to herd them into.

It seemed like a long shot, but I had faith that the biologists knew what they were doing!

Chelsea and I were of no REAL help to the group, but we were given the task of herding Geese, and had our spots to stand in, and were told not to allow a single Goose past.

A view of the Geese across the pond with a DEC staff member trying to shoo them back into the middle of the pond.

 

Canada Geese

Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the next few moments. The kayakers moved in, slowly pushing the Geese in the direction we wanted. Like a well oiled machine, the Geese went RIGHT where they were supposed to, and there were DEC staff waiting to shut them in the holding pen.




DEC staff corraling Canada Geese ready for banding.

Next the biologists readied themselves to determine the sex of the Goose, to determine the age of the Goose, and then banded the Goose.



DEC Biologist Mike Clarke examines the vent of a Goose to determine the sex.



Here’s my friend Chelsea handing over a Goose to be inspected. The way she’d handling the Goose may LOOK uncomfortable, but really it was a safer way (for us and them) to handle them. Their large wings could easily get bent or damaged if they weren’t secured. This kept us from getting beaten around by their wings, and kept them from getting hurt.

Check out these honkers! The Goose in the center of the picture has an interesting white patch of feathers. That is a full grown Goose too. You can see the neck of the Goose just to the upper left- that’s a juvenile. But this one in the center is an adult, just with a funky hair-do!

It was quite a gregarious experience. Lots of noise, and lots of commotion! Unfortunately I did not get my photograph with a Goose. It all happened so fast, that I wasn’t able to pass off my camera. I did get the opportunity to sex/age/band a Goose though. And I got initiated into the club: I was bitten and pooped on. Another great day out in the field, which certainly makes up for all the days at my desk!


A bird's eye view of mist netting and bird banding.

I'm sorry, I just can't resist a good pun!

Last week on April 1, 2013, my Wildlife Field Techniques class (SUNY Cobleskill) traveled to our professor's house for our lab. His property is really, really neat. It's totally set up and managed for his student's use. He has beautiful trails, a campfire area, and multiple different types of wildlife management sampling or survey methods set up (hair snares, vegetation plots, etc).

SUNY Cobleskill Fish and Wildlife Technician,
Krysten Zummo (right), is explaining to
students how to correctly hang the mist net.

He also keeps the wild birds well fed through the winter with multiple bird feeders. Because of this, he can be fairly confident that if he sets up a mist net near his feeders, he will be able to catch birds and lead a successful lab.

A mist net is a very fine, light net that is very hard to see, and easy to get tangled in. For birds and anything else that comes into contact with it. There are different weights and gauges for different types of birds, but I've only ever experienced mist netting little Passerines, or song birds. If a larger bird than say a Blue Jay flew into the net, it would more than likely bounce off and be on it's way.

Here's a picture of our net setup. It's hard to see, but just in front of and to the left of the front door are the inside poles for the 2 nets. They each extend out. In the picture below I've pointed out the poles and shaded in the nets so they're easier to see.

Mist net set up.

Even though the weather may look lovely in the pictures, it quickly turned nasty. A good bird bander, with good ethics, will not band in inclement weather. These birds are so small and delicate, if their feathers get disheveled or wet, they will likely get hypothermic. Especially because the temps were only around 50*F.


Before the weather turned on us though, we did get several birds. One of which, I was given the opportunity of extracting the bird from the net.

We hid behind our professor's garage, out of sight of the nets. Every few minutes though, we'd peek around to see if a bird got snagged. Two birds at once flew into the net- a Black-capped Chickadee and another bird. Unidentified at first from a distance, but that's the one I was directed to unravel.

Black-capped Chickadee being removed from the mist net.

Here I am, working at removing a Yellow-rumped Warbler from the net. This was my first time removing a bird, so I was a little nervous. But I was able to remove her quickly and gently.
Photo credit: Tyler Barriere

SUCCESS!
Photo credit: Tyler Barriere

A "second year" female Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Photo credit: Tyler Barriere

Unfortunately, right after this picture was taken, this little warbler got a leg free from my grip. Instead of trying to fight her and accidentally hurt her, I just loosened my grip and let her go. Only a few of us got to see her, and we didn't get to put a band on her...but at least we got pictures!

I'm in an ornithology class right now, and I'm cramming tons of birds into my head. I was impressed with myself for immediately being able to ID this bird correctly, even though it's not a male in his full breeding plumage. Those are usually the easiest to ID :) But I ID'ed her, and then asked for confirmation from Krysten, our technician, and a recent graduate from Cobleskill. She agreed.

I've been asked recently "why are you banding birds?". To those who don't know the inside details, it can appear stressful and unnecessary to submit these birds to getting tangled, handled, and banded. Instead of stumbling through an explanation, I am going to include a passage from the United States Geological Survey, which is the governing federal agency over the practice of bird banding.


"Bird banding data are useful in both research and management projects. Individual identification of birds makes possible studies of dispersal and migration, behavior and social structure, life-span and survival rate, reproductive success and population growth."


Working with wild animals is in my professional future. I support the efforts being made to learn all we can about the animals that make our country "home". I hold respect for the animals very high, and always strive to maintain a low voice, and to be cognizant of my movements. I admit, I get a little huffy when research is questioned, and no alternative means of data collection is suggested. I know, 90% of wildlife management is people management, and I need to be prepared for a lifetime of being questioned, doubted, and argued with by many of the general public. But, when someone merely says "banding is mean, why are you doing that?" or "can't you just do something else instead of catching them?"....  No. :)

Anyway, I love watching bird banding and participating in anyway. Even if it's just watching, and not actually handling the birds. Here are a few more pictures to end.

A Common Redpoll

Olivia and Krysten working on getting a Common Redpoll out of the net.

One of the "ladder-backed" woodpeckers, a Red-bellied Woodpecker! Beautiful bird!



Hawk Watching and Hawk Banding

Last night I experienced a weird thing on Blogger- all of my blog views disappeared and were "reset" to 0. I was so bummed, but I checked this morning and all was restored. Anyone else experience that? Weird!

 

Anyway, on Saturday, October 13th (2012), I was offered the opportunity to participate in a "Hawk Watch" sponsored by the Delaware-Otsego Audobon Society on Franklin Mountain in Oneonta, NY.

This opportunity was made available to students in the Wildlife Management course here at SUNY Cobleskill, and though I'm not a student in that class, not all the spots were filled so I asked to go. The DOAS was having an "open house" open to the public for an opportunity to see hawks soaring above, and learning to ID them as the migrate through our area.

View from the top of Franklin Moutain...the PERFECT conditions for birding!

We then found out that a hawk banding station was going to be set up that same day up above the watch station. We (9 of us Cobleskill students) decided to hang out with the man in charge to hopefully handle some raptors!

I'll cut to the chase and tell you: we didn't catch any hawks. BUT the methods of catching are interesting enough to share!

Step #1: Ready the site. This pole has a pulley system on it, that helps to winch the "lure" up in the air, and over to the trap when a hawk has landed.

 

Gary Lawrence (left), the licensed bander for the day, and student Adam are camouflaging the trap, which was called a bow net. In the picture below I've edited it to show the edges a bit better.

 

Right now, the bow net is folded in half, like a taco. When that trigger is...triggered (the disk inside the net), the bow net springs open and a net is thrown over the bird. But hawks have good eyesight, and are clever, so the trap has to blend in well. This bow net was for the larger hawks like Red-tailed (Buteo jamaicensis), Broad-winged (Buteo platypterus), and Red-shouldered (Buteo lineatus).

 

Next, Gary had to dress the lure. Notice I'm not saying prey, but lure. Gary uses a Rock Pigeon (Columbia livia) as the lure. Live lures work the best for luring in hawks, because they typically feed on live animals, rather than scavenging like a Vulture. So, Gary fits the pigeon with a little leather vest, that allows it to move around, but not escape. This also protects the pigeon from harm if and when a hawk lands on it.

 

Gary told us that very rarely does he lose a pigeon, either by it dying or by it getting free. These are wild birds that he trapped in a K-Mart parking lot. These birds are introduced, not native, to North America. They were introduced I think 400-500 years ago by Europeans (go figure), and have run rampant ever since. I know this is a live bird, and believe me, I felt bad for it. BUT this species is NOT in danger of population detriment. And it's actually kind of a pest. It doesn't really have "cute factor" on it's side, although the nape and mantle feathers (back of the neck, upper back) are really beautiful on this bird.

 

 

We also set up a mist net and this little battery operated "bird" hoping to snag smaller hawks like the Sharp-shinned (Accipiter striatus), and Cooper's (Accipiter cooperii).

 

Gary had a remote control that would send the bird spinning on it's side, flashing black and white, which would hopefully lure the hawk in for the kill. As the hawk swooped in, the idea was that it would hit the mist net, which was loosely hung, and then getting entagled enough to hang tight until Gary could leave the blind and retrieve it.

 

Speaking of the blind, here it is. A nice 2 story, camouflaged hang-out to wait out the birds.

 

It wasn't heated in there, and it was a COLD fall day (in the 30's!!!), but it was comfortable enough and gave 10 of us room to hang out in.

 

A view from the inside out, at our pigeon flapping around...NOT attracting hawks :)

 

Well, we tried. A Cooper's or Sharpie swooped in for a better view at one point (they look very similar), but didn't hang in long enough or close enough to get caught. It was a long, chilly day, BUT fun and interesting. Hopefully I'm able to go out with Gary again one day and be able to help band. I've banded song birds and ducks, now it's time to move on up the food chain!

 

 

 

 

For more information about Hawk Watching in your neck of the woods, check out this website:

Finding a Hawk Watch on Virtual Birder!

 

 

 

 

Wildlife Wednesday - Passerine bird banding

Today was our 2nd Wildlife Wednesday of the semester, and today's theme was mist netting and bird banding any of the Passerine's that came our way.

What does Passerine refer to? Perching birds, and commonly referred to as our song birds.

Several students, myself, and Professor John, and Conservation Dept Tech Sasha all met up at our East Hill Campus in Naples this morning. Last week John and Sasha went to the EHC to scope out a place to mount the mist net, so today all we had to do was set up the rebar and netting and walk away.

In my opinion, we were wildly successful, meaning many birds were caught, and there were a variety of birds!

Sasha, John and Adam setting the rebar.

We set the net between the woods/shrubby area, and the bird feeder :) , and walked away for 10 minutes to set up the banding station inside the house (doesn't everyone get to experience field work and animal processing in the comforts of indoor plumbing and heat???).

Sasha pulling the mist net across.

After 10 minutes had passed, we went out to check the net: 3 Black-capped Chickadees! Never have I personally been so excited to see such a common animal. I find myself realizing this time and time again recently- some of the most common animals are still REALLY cool! I see them often, yet at a distance, I just take them for granted. Up close though, those BCCs have beautiful plumage and such bright little eyes!

Here's the net completely set up.

The net is so fine and light, that the birds don't even see it, and easily get VERY tangled in it.

See below.

Black-capped Chickadee thoroughly tangled in the mist net, but comfortably being untangled while in the banding grip!

Before I continue on with the cool bird pictures, I want to show the "tools" of the trade.

John's banding tackle box with all of the essentials such as: different sized bands, special pliers meant for banding, cloth bags to store the birds during processing, and hand sanitizer.

Two different sized bands. On the left, probably appropriate for woodpeckers, and on the right, appropriate for BCCs.

Here are the pliers and the size bands we used for most of the birds.

This card is used to determine band size, if you are unsure. Just slip the bird's leg into a slot until you find one that's not too big, not too small...but just right!

John has one freed BCC and Sasha works on another, while students watch...

Inside now, John has the BCC in a 'photographer's grip', commonly used for getting good pics of the birds! About to clamp the first band on!

Because birds are migratory, and can be relatively long-lived...bands are managed on the state and federal level. Age, sex, location of banding, species, and band # all have to be recorded on a data sheet and submitted. I don't BELIEVE there are 2 numbers the same (someone correct me if I'm wrong?), kind of like a license plate. So, the theory is...if one of the birds we banded today, migrated to Tenessee, and caught there...it could be traced back to NY with all it's information in tow. With mammal tags, they are not as closely regulated because, and especially small mammals, they have VERY short life spans. Like, less than a year. And, they don't mass migrate over long distances like many birds do. In the picture to the left, it may look like John is nipping that little BCC's leg off, but no fear- he's not! The pliers have a hole in the nose that fits the specific band sizes and NO SMALLER. So, you can only clamp it as small as the band, which is just larger than the diameter of that birds leg. I'm sure accidents do happen where the ends of the band don't line up as they should, or it over-pinches/crimps, but that happens less than when all goes the way it should.

I was given a bird to release! I think I stated this in an earlier blog...but it's QUITE the rush to release a wild animal from your hands! I try not to think of it as a terrified little creature trying to escape, but as an amazing tiny organism full of energy and life returning to the wild!

The NEXT capture, was very exciting! A lively, vivacious, "bitey"...

Blue Jay! By the way, all of those above adjectives are all good things for a wild animal to be while handling them.

Sasha struggled a bit getting this guy/gal out of the net because of the height of it...and because he was clenching his feet around the net in a death grip! ...(perching bird)...

Inside, we got to check out the beautiful plumage.

My dear friend, and NON Conservation student, Julie tagged along for the morning. She had never experienced bird banding before, and was a little nervous to tag a little guy. So, with some gentle encouragement, she agreed to band the Blue Jay!

She just sent me a text message, and she had a great time!

Looking forward to having her along for the ride again...

We also caught many Dark-eyed Juncos, but my phone died (and that's what I was taking pictures with...I know, get a real camera!). If I can beg, borrow, or steal some pictures from someone else who was there, I will add Junco pics below! They are a pretty, slate-colored little bird...

Thanks to John and Sasha for facilitating and thanks to the birds for flying into our net!