09-08-15 Field Note

09-08-15 Field Note

September 9, 2015

Kate Stone compiled this week's bird field note. The note shows bat trapping, songbird banding with UMBEL, and Osprey tracking from RVRI.

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Bird Field Note Kate Stone 9/04/15

The bird crew transitioned into “bat mode” for three nights of bat trapping with Lewis Young, a volunteer for MT Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. Carrie Voss, Debbie Leick, and Kate Stone joined Lewis in the field and contributed pictures to this update.

We trapped bats in three locations. We chose sites based on trapping success in previous years (Davis Creek Seep), and high levels of recent bat activity detected on acoustic monitors (Floodplain Channel, Tongue Creek Pond). The three sites also differed in surrounding plant communities and water availability.

We set all of our nets over water, taking advantage of a bat’s need to drink upon waking in the evening.

Lewis used a light to illuminate the joints in the wing of a Long-legged Myotis. Adult bats have rounded, knobby joints, while juveniles have narrow, tubular joints.

We captured more Long-eared Myotis (top) and Long-legged Myotis (bottom) than any other species. Most Myotis bats weighed between four and nine grams.

UM Bird Ecology Lab: Songbird Banding 24-28 August 2015

We added a species to the MPG Ranch species list: the Canyon Wren. We captured it at the Ridge station.

The Western Wood-pewee, a small tyrant flycatcher, migrates to South America each winter. We caught 10 Western Wood-pewees last week, but only one this week.