We banded at Big Piney this morning, where it was exceptionally slow until 1050 this morning...we caught 7 birds on each of the last 2 net runs to end up with a total of 24 for the day, including an adult male Cerulean Warbler! There are several breeding populations on the base, mainly along the Big Piney River and a few along Roubidoux Creek. The cerulean's habitat selection is drastically different here, where they are only found along rivers or large waterways with mature bottomland deciduous forest, than in the Appalachian Mountains, where they are found on drier, mid-elevation, steep, deciduous slopes. I also flushed an American Woodcock from near one of the nets this morning...a state bird for me. Also of interest was a young groundhog that we observed climbing a small PawPaw tree by the banding station!
Karen and I are banding at Proffitt's Prairie tomorrow, afterwards we're planning on meeting up with the Hellbender research team again for another chance at seeing and photographing this amazing salamander.
24 individuals, 13 species
Cardinal, Northern 3
Ovenbird 2
Parula, Northern 1
Redstart, American 3
Thrush, Wood 2
Vireo, Red-eyed 2
Warbler, Black-and-white 1
Warbler, Cerulean 1
Warbler, Kentucky 4
Warbler, Worm-eating 1
Waterthrush, Louisiana 1
Wren, Carolina 2
Yellowthroat, Common 1
Cerulean photos are now up on my photo page
About Me
- Mike McCloy
- I'm Mike McCloy, a recent graduate from the Natural Resources Conservation and Management program at Western Carolina University who currently works as an Ecologist for an environmental consulting firm in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I have dabbled in seasonal/temporary ornithological field work through the lower 48 states in locations as diverse as Washington, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Missouri, Tennessee, and North Carolina. I was raised in a small town in eastern North Carolina and have been an avid birder and curious naturalist since I was a wee little chap of about five years old. Unsurprisingly, birding is the primary motivation behind most of my travels. However, I am becoming increasingly fascinated with other cultural aspects of international travel as and aim to incorporate more of these experiences into my travels and writings in the future. In addition, I hope to use this blog to inspire other travelers (particularly birders and nature enthusiasts) to pursue their dreams both professionally and along the road as well as provide helpful trips and tricks for traveling on a shoestring budget (as I often seem to do!).
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