The good news: we eventually got into all of our high elevation sites in YOSE! We managed to band each site at least 5 times (although White Wolf, the highest elevation site had to have a Period pushed back because the breeding season had been so delayed! That means we banded there once a week until the end of the breeding season!).
Despite the snow and the delayed breeding season we had good numbers at most of our sites, equaling those of last year. However, towards the end of the season, when we normally see explosions of birds moving upslope, we didn’t get as many big days as we did last year, especially at our high elevation sites. Gin Flat last year was consistently busy with 40-60 birds every period we banded there (except the first one where we only caught 7 birds!). This year it didn’t hit 40 until the last period when we had an explosion of 81 birds! Far more than the biggest day last year, but up until that moment, far fewer than any day last year! Interesting, eh? White Wolf never developed enough ecologically by the end of the season, and therefore brought us no more than 36 birds in a day all season. We didn’t get any feeding frenzy flocks up there this year. Big Meadow saw lots of species diversity, as usual, and brought us a Bushtit (our only one of the season!) and a Northern Pygmy Owl in the last period! The NOPO was my Birthday Bird : D Big meadow also had a bit of an explosion in Period 7, with 77 birds! Again, a big day that is much bigger than any we had experienced last year. It’s also another site that had fewer birds than last year overall, but also fewer net hours (stressful site with lots of nets exposed to the elements which prompted frequent early net closures).
Overall, our capture rate was a little lower than last year. We caught roughly 1550 individuals this year. Last year we caught roughly 1750. Considering we got into so many sites so late, the difference in capture rates isn’t as bad as I thought it might be.
And may I say that my crew was great this summer : ) Even on busy days with 87 birds, when they had little to no practice with such high volumes, they were able to stay on top of net runs, extract bird after bird after bird, and process quickly, without getting too stressed out and without having to resort to only collecting minimum data! Good job all around!
I had registered to take the GRE in July and didn’t think about the breeding season and how that’s around the time everything picks up because all of our sites are finally open and the hatch years are about! So, I didn’t exactly have the best study strategy regarding the GRE….and didn’t do too well because I only managed to study for 4 afternoons while working and 2 days while not working (but I spent half of each day driving to my GRE test center in SF). I plan on taking it again, but my score was still slightly above average….which bodes well! Hopefully I’ll get within the range I want to be in when I have the opportunity to study more!
So, because of the GRE, a trip to LA, a trip to SF, and work picking up, by the end of July I was pooped! Totally worn out. Being the Biologist, as I mentioned before, is way more intense than being an intern, but even though it wore me out, I’d most definitely do it again : ) In addition to working our butts off we still managed to go see some live music, celebrate my birthday and make it to a couple more Sal’s Taco Nights : ) It was very hard to leave the community behind…it really felt like home at the end of the season and we had gotten to know so many GREAT people!
Finishing up the season, packing all the gear away and packing up our homes/tents was sad and exciting in that we all had something to look forward to, despite the sadness of saying goodbye. One of my intern’s partners flew out at the end of the season to drive back to the east coast with them. There, they will finish their degrees. The other intern got a job off the coast of Maine banding birds during the Fall. I got to go home for about 9 days in between jobs, which was lovely. I was happy to see everyone and I got some killer bday gifts ;) Some much needed new clothes (all bought at a thrift shop btw, so not really new, but still in perfect condition and at most half the price!). REI even chipped in, unknowingly, and replaced my tent because I’ve worn it out (finally, they listen to me). I’ve lived in it now for 11 full months, and 3 intermittent months, not to mention several backpacking trips over the years.
Now I’m up in Oregon, getting ready to help teach at a banding workshop that the Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) is holding and will then band with KBO until Oct 31st. I’m back in my old Cabin, in my old room, with a new crew and a new environment.
And so, my new journey begins : )
Pics to come! : )
P.S. Yes, I’m in a relationship with my YOSE coworker now…and it’s pretty darn wonderful : ) I don’t think I could be happier : D except maybe if he wasn’t 3,000 miles away, but we’re working on that. Cheers!
