Now that the godwits are back we transition away from scanning the mudflats and concentrate all our time and energy and efforts into finding nests. My research is centered on the information you can collect with a nest. If we find one, I get lots of data. If we don’t, I get almost none.
Godwits, if you remember from last year, are an incredibly difficult species to find nests for. I was talking to some shorebird biologists this winter and they all told me that of all the shorebirds (which are all notoriously hard to find) Hudsonians might just be the worst. While their bit of wisdom might give me some piece of mind when I don’t find them, it certainly doesn’t help me find them any easier!
Starting last week the crew and I have been working long hours in the bog tracking down areas where a pair is seen repeatedly and systematically searching for nests. I’ve been trying to rotate through the crew and spend some time with everyone. My goal is to point out areas or territories that have traditionally had nests, show them where old nests were, and help them develop a search image by showing them the best habitat types to look for nests. The hope is of course to find old nests while we do that so they know we’re looking in the right spots and hopefully just maybe flush up an active nest.
The other day I was walking around with Kyle. He needed to check a few other species’ nests he had written up, so we were moving through his plot without spending much time looking for Godwit nests. As he was checking his last nest I noticed a Godwit perched in a tree and I knew that we were already in a pretty productive area without seeing a bird too! I was trying to see if the bird was banded when my radio crackled.
For safety and coordination reasons we all carry two-way radios/walkie talkies. We typically aren’t on them much except to tell everyone that the work day is over and we had only been on it for an hour.
I pulled out my radio. I was smiling. Garrett, who decided to come back up to Alaska this year, would only be on the radio for one reason. “I got a Godwit nest!”, he exclaimed. He could barely contain himself over the radio he was so happy, and he was rightfully excited. Not only was it the first nest of the year but it was very gratifying for him to find the first one. Since he worked out here last year he had seen nests, knew where territories were, and had already developed a search image. His dedication to the project and his efforts paid off. He had specifically gone to this area to search based on what he had seen this year, what he remembered from last year, and where this pair had nested during the first four years of the study. It worked.
“Heck yes! That’s awesome! Do you know whose nest it is?” I asked him equally excited. I had just started to get concerned that we weren’t finding nests since all the behaviors we were seeing indicated that nests were active. I knew that once we could break that hurdle from 0 to 1 the next few would come much easier. Plus, any nest is good news for me - I get more data now!
“No, the female is banded, but she flushed too far while I was preoccupied with the nest. The male just flew in so I’ll try to get the ID.” Garrett knew exactly what I meant and what he needed to do. Getting the identity of the birds is huge. You never know when a nest could fail and a failed nest without knowing whose nest it was cant be used for as many analyses. But it’s also incredibly difficult to read the bands of a bird that flushes. Especially if you know that if you walk away from that nest before marking it - you may not find it again right away.
“Cool! Great job. You comfortable with the egg protocol or do you want me to come join you?” I had done a rudimentary training on the egg measurements using chicken eggs back at the cabin - but the stress and adrenaline from finding a Godwit nest always ups the ante. I knew Garrett could handle it, but since it was the first nest of the year I asked to be sure he was comfortable.
Garrett wanted me to come join him since he knew we would need to age the eggs, and two pairs of eyes is always better for that. I was pretty happy about that since it meant I got to do eggs which is always one of my favorite parts of the job. I started walking towards him - he gave me a marker I could navigate towards that was far enough from the nest that I wouldn’t stumble onto it, but still relatively nearby. As I was walking towards him I flushed up a Short-billed Dowitcher that had been on three eggs. Normally a cause for celebration - we monitor and study all the shorebirds here (boreal/ sub-arctic shorebirds are the least studied group of birds in North America) - but I was on a mission. After quickly marking it and jotting down some notes I kept heading towards Garrett.
I wish j had taken a picture when I finally reached him fifteen minutes after he had first radioed me. He was still over the moon excited. Unfortunately, when it comes to Godwit nests my brain is all work and no play, so after a quick congratulations I wanted to get to work.
Everything went smoothly. Even though they had a full clutch it had only been completed a day or two before - we would still be able to get as much data as possible out of it. We measured the eggs and marked the nest. Garrett had gotten a bad look at the females bands and thought he knew who she was before I got there. She was still around so we tracked her down and confirmed her identity. A female banded in the first year of the study. The male had left and all our work was done. We quickly packed up and left the area to let her settle back down. While I was totally jazzed about the nest Garrett had transitioned back to his work mode. He was ready to find another nest.
Since that first nest, we’ve found two more in the last three days (it poured on one of those days and we try not to disturb the birds in bad weather). One nest was still laying - the first in that stage during my time here so the two guys who found it will get treated to ice cream from the General Store. The other was also young.
I’ll start captures next, so I can fix bands and get a body condition score for the adults. Things are moving along well out here. We’ll see if we can get another nest today!
Godwits, if you remember from last year, are an incredibly difficult species to find nests for. I was talking to some shorebird biologists this winter and they all told me that of all the shorebirds (which are all notoriously hard to find) Hudsonians might just be the worst. While their bit of wisdom might give me some piece of mind when I don’t find them, it certainly doesn’t help me find them any easier!
Starting last week the crew and I have been working long hours in the bog tracking down areas where a pair is seen repeatedly and systematically searching for nests. I’ve been trying to rotate through the crew and spend some time with everyone. My goal is to point out areas or territories that have traditionally had nests, show them where old nests were, and help them develop a search image by showing them the best habitat types to look for nests. The hope is of course to find old nests while we do that so they know we’re looking in the right spots and hopefully just maybe flush up an active nest.
The other day I was walking around with Kyle. He needed to check a few other species’ nests he had written up, so we were moving through his plot without spending much time looking for Godwit nests. As he was checking his last nest I noticed a Godwit perched in a tree and I knew that we were already in a pretty productive area without seeing a bird too! I was trying to see if the bird was banded when my radio crackled.
For safety and coordination reasons we all carry two-way radios/walkie talkies. We typically aren’t on them much except to tell everyone that the work day is over and we had only been on it for an hour.
I pulled out my radio. I was smiling. Garrett, who decided to come back up to Alaska this year, would only be on the radio for one reason. “I got a Godwit nest!”, he exclaimed. He could barely contain himself over the radio he was so happy, and he was rightfully excited. Not only was it the first nest of the year but it was very gratifying for him to find the first one. Since he worked out here last year he had seen nests, knew where territories were, and had already developed a search image. His dedication to the project and his efforts paid off. He had specifically gone to this area to search based on what he had seen this year, what he remembered from last year, and where this pair had nested during the first four years of the study. It worked.
“Heck yes! That’s awesome! Do you know whose nest it is?” I asked him equally excited. I had just started to get concerned that we weren’t finding nests since all the behaviors we were seeing indicated that nests were active. I knew that once we could break that hurdle from 0 to 1 the next few would come much easier. Plus, any nest is good news for me - I get more data now!
“No, the female is banded, but she flushed too far while I was preoccupied with the nest. The male just flew in so I’ll try to get the ID.” Garrett knew exactly what I meant and what he needed to do. Getting the identity of the birds is huge. You never know when a nest could fail and a failed nest without knowing whose nest it was cant be used for as many analyses. But it’s also incredibly difficult to read the bands of a bird that flushes. Especially if you know that if you walk away from that nest before marking it - you may not find it again right away.
“Cool! Great job. You comfortable with the egg protocol or do you want me to come join you?” I had done a rudimentary training on the egg measurements using chicken eggs back at the cabin - but the stress and adrenaline from finding a Godwit nest always ups the ante. I knew Garrett could handle it, but since it was the first nest of the year I asked to be sure he was comfortable.
Garrett wanted me to come join him since he knew we would need to age the eggs, and two pairs of eyes is always better for that. I was pretty happy about that since it meant I got to do eggs which is always one of my favorite parts of the job. I started walking towards him - he gave me a marker I could navigate towards that was far enough from the nest that I wouldn’t stumble onto it, but still relatively nearby. As I was walking towards him I flushed up a Short-billed Dowitcher that had been on three eggs. Normally a cause for celebration - we monitor and study all the shorebirds here (boreal/ sub-arctic shorebirds are the least studied group of birds in North America) - but I was on a mission. After quickly marking it and jotting down some notes I kept heading towards Garrett.
I wish j had taken a picture when I finally reached him fifteen minutes after he had first radioed me. He was still over the moon excited. Unfortunately, when it comes to Godwit nests my brain is all work and no play, so after a quick congratulations I wanted to get to work.
Everything went smoothly. Even though they had a full clutch it had only been completed a day or two before - we would still be able to get as much data as possible out of it. We measured the eggs and marked the nest. Garrett had gotten a bad look at the females bands and thought he knew who she was before I got there. She was still around so we tracked her down and confirmed her identity. A female banded in the first year of the study. The male had left and all our work was done. We quickly packed up and left the area to let her settle back down. While I was totally jazzed about the nest Garrett had transitioned back to his work mode. He was ready to find another nest.
Since that first nest, we’ve found two more in the last three days (it poured on one of those days and we try not to disturb the birds in bad weather). One nest was still laying - the first in that stage during my time here so the two guys who found it will get treated to ice cream from the General Store. The other was also young.
I’ll start captures next, so I can fix bands and get a body condition score for the adults. Things are moving along well out here. We’ll see if we can get another nest today!