Netting the wrong owl and squirrel
What was going to be a quiet night of just trying to band migrant Northern Saw-whet Owls (Aegolius acadicus) turned into so much more. Tyler Christensen and I cut our mist nest lane configuration earlier in the day and returned around 6:45 to get things started. We use an audio lure to try and bring migrating Saw-whet Owls to the nets, so we started that and left the area. We decided to wait till 7:50 to check the nets again. We strolled down to the set-up to find no owls yet, but all of a sudden we heard some rustling. We both looked and saw a Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans) run...
Read MoreSouthern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans)
This Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans) was netted and subsequently photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser in New Jersey while he was attempting to capture and band migrating Northern Saw-whet Owls. These cute nocturnal creatures are the more discrete bird feeder robbers. Look for a blog entry later this week on this new friend of Sean’s…and watch for a fantastic photo of another pal he made tomorrow!
Read MoreRuddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
There are still plenty of shorebird migrants to be found like this Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) which Sean photographed while it was obviously rather busy! Good thing that’s not quicksand…
Read MoreSix-Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) by Sean Graesser
I went for a walk in the Sourlands today which is a large track of contiguous forest right by my home in New Jersey. It was very much early spring with many early wildflowers just peaking through the leaf litter. Tyler Christensen spotted this Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) while we were looking around. I immediately thought well that’ll be a good subject, now how to capture something so fast. Well as you can see I was successful, to the amazement of Tyler who thought I would be unsuccessful.
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