Moths, Baby Birds, and Papier-mache

Right now, there are hundreds of moths fluttering like summer snow in the sunset light outside. The birds are ignoring them so they must not be very tasty. The Barn Swallows above the kitchen door have nestlings, and I'm betting most of the Cliff Swallow nests also contain babies. The Quail have been spotted leading fluffy chicks around too. And the Wrentits have already started building their second nests. Their first offspring are forming adolescent gangs in the scrub, and they try singing but sound a little hesitant. Life is everywhere.

The huge papier-mache Hummingbird (nicknamed "Hummy") is coming together, hopefully in time for the 4th of July parade in Bolinas. His tiny counterparts do not seem alarmed at the Frankenhummer coming to life next to their sugar water feeder. Hummy still needs paint, cloth wings and cardboard retrices. The summer is running away into July. Where is the time?

More Veggies, More Questions

So, if a shrub is really a conglomeration of shrubs, is it still a shrub? And what if I spend an hour seeking a snag and find none, is it worth more time to seek snags in the other three quadrants? And, if my 5 meter transect is through vegetation so thick that I have to toss my measuring tape over the shrubs and then disappears into the poison oak, how do I count plants without trampling them?

Such are the ponderings of a vegetation sampler.

Meanwhile, Wrentit YW/WS came in close to see what I was doing, and was not impressed. He expressed his disgust by churring.

Veggies

Veggies are vegetation surveys. I've started to do surveys around the mist-nets, and they offer their own unique challenges and frustrations. I'm feeling disgruntled enough not to want to go into detail.

Inside, cold and eye-sore

Spent the day inside today, filling out site status forms for the owls. Then, I worked on my Sharpie presentation. I'm giving it tomorrow. Should be fun, and I think it's all set. It'll be a strange way to kick off Palo Prom. Speaking of, it looks like it's gearing up to be a blast. Spiked punch, a disco ball, decorations..., good food, fun music, and lots of silly dressing up.

Skunked at Blake Canyon

Didn't find my owls at Blake, as I pretty much suspected. I have the hunch that they disperse pretty widely once the breeding season is over (or for non-nesting birds, once they have determined they will not be nesting this season). They could have been fairly close as the owl flies, but maybe tucked away up some arroyo where they couldn't hear me and I couldn't hear them.

It was a cold blustery day up the Cataract Trail though. Enough so that I was glad to descend and get back to hot food and a shower.

Tonight, I'm heading out again for more hooting.

Banding at Pine Gulch

Banded at PIGU today, after point-counting there. Banding was fairly slow, but it was nice to see Wilson's Warblers and Allen's Hummingbirds in the hand again. Heard and saw a male Black-headed Grosbeak, which was a treat.

We were right on the border of fog, with the cloud coming and going all morning.

Traffic

One doesn't expect to encounter traffic while living as a field biologist studying owls. However, the owls I work for require city driving. Between getting honked at twice, nearly colliding with a vehicle that suddenly switched lanes, and sitting in motionless traffic for an hour before turning around to go the long way home, I'm exhausted. And that doesn't take into account the 80 degree heat and the uncooperative nature of my owls today.