Bird Banding Day

August 11, 2016

Moosehorn NWR takes part in the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship MAPS project. Click on the link to learn lots more about it. Basically it involves trapping birds in various habitats and then banding them as well as measuring the wing length and finding their weight.  They are also sexed and aged, if possible. The information gathered tells about the success of the various species and gives information of what habitat is preferred by each species.

I am also planting milkweed every hour I don't have something else to do, or as long as I can stand to work.  Kirsten didn't think they would have many birds before nine and told me to come out then.  So I planted milkweed from five-thirty to eight-thirty and then drove out to the capture site. The team had just returned from removing birds from the ten nets that are set up in two different ages of woods.  One was last cut in 1989,  I think, and the other was cut in 2009. The team had just caught the most birds ever trapped at once - I think it was over thirty birds.

So I got to observe how the birds were handled and then got to release them.  I also walked out through a rough, rocky trail to check the nets for the last time and then to take them down.

One of the most exciting things to the bird survey team which consisted of permanent staff, temporary staff, interns, and volunteers, was the capture of several Canada warblers, which is a bird of concern in this area.

At first glance, it looks like chaos

Megan is the data recorder for up to three birds at once

Mike is putting a band on a black-capped chickadee - Maine's state bird

Kirsten is aging a Canada warbler by looking at it's wing feathers

Kirsten measuring a wing

Kirsten blowing feathers to see if fat is around the cloaca and if the bird has a brood patch

The birds are gently put into the weighing tubes head first after the tubes are tared

This red-eyed vireo chewed on Kirsten's fingers while she gathered it's data. 

I think they finally decided the bird was a Nashville warbler 

Another view of the mystery bird 

This was another hard bird - it was finally called a song sparrow
but it didn't have all the normal field marks

I took this picture while keeping tension on the other end of the net - while it was still on its pole. 

And since I seldom get pictures of birds, I was excited to see a yard visitor the following day.  This is a hen wild turkey.  She has repeatedly appeared at different places around the refuge.  I suspect she may have lost all her brood.




I'll be joining Wild Bird Wednesday. Click on the picture below to read many more interesting blogs about birds from around the world.

Visiting Halifax, Nova Scotia- Part I: Public Library

The public library in Halifax is amazing both from outside and inside. It is listed as either first or second public space in Halifax.

From the outside, it looks like stacked boxes made of glass. And from the inside, it offers a look up the several steps of stairs to other amazing spaces, culminating with a look at the plant -covered roof.  It also provides great places to hide out and read, study, or research, as well as a place to hang out and drink coffee ( has two cafes).  It also has a 300 seat auditorium and boardrooms for local entrepreneurs.  And it offers gaming stations and music studios. It was built on the historical axis between the Halifax Citadel and the Halifax harbor.

Karen was the most interested in the library so Kris and I had time to go on-line and  read while waiting for her.  I totally enjoyed the views to both the Citadel and the Harbor from a comfortable chair in the front of the top box.

I couldn't get this view so took it from the Internet - click to see even the floor plans

The side view we saw as we came from the street behind the library to the front door

Inside and outside are integrated into a lovely whole

The stairways add to the feeling of adventure

I found several walls decorated with little "books"

There was a high tech system of sorting returning books into baskets for different floors

These shelves formed a maze-like structure

I loved the geometry

The structure itself had multiple interesting parts

Another view of a stairway

I had to beat a user to this couch in order to take the picture - the rest were full of lounger/readers

This area looked like it might be used for storytelling

One of the views looking towards the harbor

A look across part of the green roof

My favorite view of my favorite church

Walking from library to lunch on the Harbor Boardwalk

After the visit to the library, we walked down to the harbor boardwalk and found the restaurant the kids had decided on for lunch.  It was considered a high end restaurant but we all found it lacking, especially in both seasoning and imagination.  Then we enjoyed the walk on along the harbor boardwalk to our ferry, the ferry ride,  and the walk back to our apartment.

Visiting Halifax, Nova Scotia- Part I: Public Garden

August 2, 2016

The welcome center

The girls and I decided to tour Halifax from our apartment in Dartmouth, which is across the harbor from Halifax.  We were staying about a half mile from the ferry that connects Dartmouth with Halifax, so we planned to just walk.  We were not planning to leave until 10:00 A.M. so I decided to explore a little of Dartmouth, starting with Sullivan's Pond, which was in front of our apartment.   I took walking trails from there to a park along Lake Bannock where I got very envious of the paddlers.  The canal system goes into Lake Bannock, then drains into the pond and finally empties into the Halifax Harbor. (I started salivating when I read about the paddling in this area.

View of Sullivan's pond which our apartment overlooked

We had the upstarts of this house, across the street from Sullivan's Pond

I walked back on the opposite side of the Sullivan's Pond to our apartment and did not quite have two miles on my step meter, so I decided to walk a few blocks around the back of the house.  However that area is not divided into blocks and it took me over another mile to get back to the apartment.  But the houses and gardens along the way were interesting and I loved the walk. Not long after that, we were ready to start our Halifax excursion.

The day was gorgeous with bright, partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 60's.  It didn't take long to get to the ferry but we had about a thirty minute wait for the next one.  The price is the best going - $2.50 for adults and 1.75 for seniors, with free transfers to buses for the following two hours.  And you get fabulous view of both Dartmouth and Halifax, and can also enjoy the passing ships and boats.  It is the oldest saltwater ferry in North America.

Our plan was to walk to the Public Gardens of Halifax and then to visit the Halifax Public Library.  These are the top two public spaces in Halifax and have traded first places since the library opened in December 2014.

A look back at the Dartmouth ferry landing and one of the ferries 

Part of the Halifax shoreline

Shiping, cruising and ship building are all important parts of the Halifax economy

Theodore Too takes visitors on a half hour harbor tour

Another Halifax view from the ferry showing the diversity of buildings 

This is North America's oldest operating clock - built in London in 1767

We got to enjoy the Freak Lunchbox Mural which was number 14
of the International murals of 2015 

I didn't keep up with the milage, but we probably walked about a mile and a half to get to the public gardens after we got off the ferry.

I loved the starling's take on this fountain -several of them were drinking and bathing in it

The garden is one of the last victorian gardens in North America and had beds of flowers and lots of trees and shrubs forming backgrounds

A path goes around the garden under the tree canopy

And the flowering beds, surrounded by grass and backed by shrubs and trees
make for beautiful views

There is lots of statutory which is common to Victorian gardens

And model ships in the pond - another Victorian conceit - this is the Titanic

There were long, sinuous lines of flowers

Which I realized were dragons made of flowers - I zoomed in to show the head

Another statue

View around the gazebo

A planting to celebrate the International Year of Pulses - dry legume seeds

I had to make a donation to this young violin player who was raising money to go to a Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Contest and  for violin lessons

Then we walked a few more blocks to the other top public place in Halifax - their new library.  Part II later.