Many apologies for my absence. There are good reasons for it, I promise. They have to do with all of my worldly goods being purposely carted 1,300 miles and the upheaval that that entails. Maybe I should post about that in the future.
My current reason for being post-less for so long is that I'm in the middle of a sparrowing trip in Grand Forks, ND. It entails getting up freakishly early in the morning and walking through wet, muddy, fragrant meadows with an iPod, a speaker, a net and a few other accouterments (weighing in total approximately 48 pounds).
Freakishly early in the morning.
And again (and every day).
The current total is up to 17 sparrows of the intended variety (Nelson's Sparrow). Today was a banner day in terms of biodiversity (n = 5). Not-so-much in terms of adding to the total for sparrows of the intended variety (n = 1).
But I suppose when you're not catching Nelson's Sparrows, you might as well be catching something else - just to pass the time. I often think, upon seeing a bird, that I would appreciate being able to hold it in my hands to examine it more closely. Today I got that chance, though I didn't particularly want it at the time.
We inadvertently captured five times more 'other birds' than Nelson's Sparrows today. Then we ate pancakes and took a nap.
The 'other birds' in no particular order...
(I cheated and used an old photo here - ND Savannah Sparrow wasn't lucky enough to be photographed this time. Truth be told, I just dumped him unceremoniously out of the net and let him go his merry little way. I was grumpy because he wasn't one of his cousins.)
On a sunnier (literally and metaphorically speaking) day, we did catch some lovely numbers of the 'right birds.' This is a Nelson's Sparrow friend I banded in ND two summers ago and ran into again this week. He was absent from my capture list last summer, but my bet is that he was here.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that the old adage of one bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is not necessarily always applicable. And in this case, it makes this being a bit grumpy.
So...
Dear 'other birds,' I do love you for who you are, but please tell your friends the Nelson's Sparrows that I require their presence... sooner rather than later.
Not pictured (but seen or heard): Clay-colored Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Bobolink, Wilson's Phalarope, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Harrier, White Pelican, Western Meadowlark, Eastern Kingbird, Cliff Swallow, Sedge Wren
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