Another day in the field yesterday...met with one of the new volunteers and toured a few nests. I am trying to meet with new volunteers that would like to spend some time in the field with me, so let me know if you are one of those people who would like to do that!
Most nests are incubating now...a few are not. I am seeing fewer territorial fights. Things are oddly unsettled on a few nests. I observed one female who was dirty, muddy looking with a fish in her talons, and a male sitting next to her. When she flew off, he chased her, as if he was trying to get the fish! Hmmm. Not sure how that is going to work out. Some of the nests that are not yet sitting on eggs are the new couples...still working on the courtship thing, nest building. Even on nests that have been active in the past, there may be a new bird. They are still playing musical nests, so I am still running back and forth between nests to see who ended up winning the territory, re reading bands when necessary. New nests are popping up. Many bands read, but still many more to read. On some nests it takes so much patience...especially now that they are incubating. Males can be hard to find, females won't stand up and reveal their legs. Of course males incubate also, but the females don't go as far as males do when they are on their break...they are usually somewhere nearby. I always have trouble keeping up with correspondence this time of year...so forgive me if I forget to answer emails. Just remind me. It's important to get the data...keeping people posted is also important and I am doing my best, but it's a lot of work.
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