Wildlife Journys

This is a blog I am making to chronicle my journeys in the wildlife, biology, and conservation field. I will chronicle my job experience, adventures I have, and plenty of pictures. This my way of keeping friends and family updated on what I am doing. I...

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An introduction to the natural history of birds 

being the article “Ornithology,” from the seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

By Wilson, James, 1795-1856 

Aikman, George, , engraver.

Publication info Dublin :Adam and Charles Black ;1839.

Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries

Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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Moose mom and twins

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Processing our first hen of the season. That little back pack thing on her back is a satellite GPS unit that will provide us with her exact location for the next few years. This type of information helps us identify seasonal movements and the types of habitats Lesser Prairie Chickens prefer.

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Some Lesser Prairie Chicken males hanging out on a lek (displaying grounds) fighting for territory and females. 

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New Field site.

I know I’ve been MIA for awhile, but I recently moved to a new field site for work. I am now in South Central, KS on a new ranch. It has been pretty hectic moving from site to site. I am currently living in a trailer hooked up to an old ranch house and I don’t have access to the internet very often. I will probably only be able to post on here sporadically. We shall see. I might be able to queue up some posts and have them post throughout the week. 

We just started trapping so hopefully I will get to upload some actual Lesser Prairie Chicken pictures soon. Work has been very tiring and a bit stressful to be honest, but things have finally started to settle down and I am starting to get into more of a routine. Catching and handling the birds certainly helps. It is the best part of the job for sure and I get excited every morning when I get to sit out on the leks, watching the displays. I am currently in town running errands, so hopefully I can get up a few more posts while I have internet. 

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Evil Eyes by Jacques-Andre Dupont

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California law banning most ivory trade to be enacted July 1, 2016

In response to global concern over elephant poaching, California will become the third U.S. state to ban most trade in ivory, including elephant, mammoth, warthog, narwal, walrus and fossilized ivory.

Currently, it is legal to buy ivory that was imported into the U.S. “Pre-ban,” or before 1979. Once California’s AB 96 passes, even that ivory will be illegal to buy and sell, with limited exceptions for musical instruments with documentation, antiques that are 5% or less ivory, and some educational institutions. 

In response, The Bone Room in Berkeley is selling their soon-to-be-unsalable items at a discount, and, if they don’t sell, they will formally take those items off the shelves just before the ban is enacted. 

Several store owners in Chinatown, San Francisco, stock their windows with what appears to be ornately-carved tusks, which they will have to liquidate quickly. On Grant street, the touristy center of Chinatown, there is even a store called Man Hing Ivory Imports, although the owner says that they only sell mammoth and walrus. A sign in the window says “Help us retire! No reasonable offer will be refused!”

Some sellers label ivory as carved bone to avoid regulation, and some label bone as ivory in order to command higher prices. But elephant, walrus, and mammoth ivory are losing popularity in the face of concern over poaching and ivory-funded terrorism. One anonymous Chinatown store owner said that he only had two pieces of mammoth ivory left after he noticed fewer sales in the substance and stopped buying it years ago. “Our business always changes face,” he said. “Like fashion. [Ivory] is going out of fashion.”

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A turkey vulture checking out the bait by a camera trap. 

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Journal Entry

This is my last week here in Healy. I am moving to a new field site. That means I have to finish up the last bit of work I have here and pack up the house. It is going to be a long next few days. 

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This was the view on the ranch the other day. A nearby field was being burned. Farmers and ranchers use fire to basically reset the land and clear out dead brush. Fire can also be a good way to rejuvenate wild areas. Many plants need fire to germinate and it also helps to clear out invasive plants, allowing native species to come back. 

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Female Adult Mountain Lion with Juvenile Kittens

This footage was captured in NW Montana over Christmas, 2015. Don't miss the vocalizations of the adult female at 3:14.

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For the first time, scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have documented migratory movements of bird populations spanning the entire year for 118 species throughout the Western Hemisphere. The study finds broad similarity in the routes used by specific groups of species—vividly demonstra

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Throwback to my time in California, where I spent most of my day kayaking around wetlands. Caught this little pond turtle in one of our traps. 

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For wildlife wed, in honor of  the racoon I rescued yesterday, here is a picture of a couple hanging out near our camera trap. 

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Journal Entry

Well today kind of sucked. Let me explain, it snowed, alot, last week so I got a bit behind on the work I need to do. Its nothing a few long days out in the field won't fix, and I don't mind being outside for 8 hours so that's what I've been doing. The problem comes now that the snow is melting, and fast. It's causing all the roads on the ranch to become incredibly muddy. I've been slipping and sliding all over the place during the last few days and today it was the absolute worst. It got up into the 50s today, which was great weather to be outside in but it also meant the snow become slushy and the roads became muddy incredibly quickly. This is a problem when 50% of my job includes driving on those roads. I got stuck more then once. Usually I can get unstuck just by backing up or hoping off the road onto the grass but today was especially terrible. As I was driving I ended up stuck in a small ditch. Now this ditch wasn't that deep but when you combine snow and mud at the bottom it becomes a nightmare to get out. Lucky I had my shovel in the back and I was able to build up a ramp and back myslef out but man was it exhausting. I cannot wait for everything to dry out. On a happier note I rescued a raccoon today which made today not a total lose.

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Lots of snow this week