Dispersing...

Very interesting day in the field. I believe that some females are getting ready to leave already. I have been struggling to read a federal band with eight digits on a female all season, and I have all but that last digit! In recent visits she is feeding herself rather than her chicks, who have fledged. She has been gone for long periods of time, flying off as far as you can see. I suspect those females lose some muscle mass after all the incubating and then all the brooding, standing guard, shading. She seems to be needing to do some serious flying to get ready for migration. Alas, she has been hard to find as I try to get that last digit. I have seen other females perched alone, chicks off with Dad. We still have chicks that haven't fledged at this late date too. What a weird year. I also observed some very interesting and different behaviors today...some things I need to follow up on and revisit before I make sense of it all and post. I still am learning new things, seeing new things and scratching my head a bit. Love it. I get so excited sometimes by what these birds do.