2003 Bird Lab updates - Ventana Wildlife Society

Carmel Middle School
BSOL continued its offsite banding project at the
Carmel Middle School (CMS) in collaboration
with Craig Hohenberger. Species captured
consisted mostly of White-crowned and
Golden-crowned Sparrows; the highlight was a
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. In addition to the routine
mist-netting and banding, we spent one day resighting color banded
sparrows and maintaining the study area, which entailed clearing
vegetation and stabilizing guy lines. Meanwhile, BSOL is gearing up for a
Barn Owl study with CMS and spent one night this month checking nest
boxes for owls/eggs. To our surprise, egg laying had already begun in one
of the nest boxes!
Project Monarch Alert
With spring approaching and the numbers of
over-wintering monarch butterflies diminishing,
weekly surveys are coming to an end. While
there were over 3,000 butterflies surveyed in
Pacific Grove during December and January, the
last survey of February uncovered only 10
butterflies. The butterflies are clearly on the
move, so be sure to keep your eyes open for the tagged monarchs. If you
see a tagged butterfly, call the toll free number (1-877-897-7740) and
report the 5-digit number, sighting location, and your contact information.
Your information can help us figure out the missing pieces to the monarch
butterfly migration puzzle. (See the November 2002 Lab Update for a
photograph of a tagged butterfly.)
Snowy Plovers
Joining the Monterey Bay Snowy Plover
Conservation Project headed up by Point Reyes
Bird Observatory (P.R.B.O.), BSOL biologists
began scouring the Monterey Bay beaches for
snowy plovers in an on-going study to monitor
their local populations. Because of increased
human pressures, particularly walkers, joggers,
and their dogs, we weren't surprised when we didn't observe any snowy
plovers. We will be assisting this monitoring project through May.
Other Activities
Field ornithology often involves patient waiting. And although we are
dedicated scientists and naturalists, trying to make the best use of such
downtime by studying our reference books, cleaning up our field
notebooks, repairing various gear, etc., etc., etc., our minds do wander.
During February, some of us found our minds wandering into some
strange territory --- silly little riddles began popping into our heads. It has