Duck banding

Well I completed my "Cruisin' the Canal" canoeing program.  It was a great success, too.  I want to thank all the people that joined me for this paddle and all the people that helped me "train" for this. This program went so well that I am in the process of setting up two, possibly 3, more canoeing programs before the end of my internship.  It should be good times though.  Well this was a long week, but a great week for me.  I did some duck banding, I ran my program, and I did alot of other fun work around the place.  I hope you enjoy my day to day break down of this last week. 

Day 1: Duck Banding

So I show up to work normal time and walk to the front door when one of the Bio. tech's busts out of the door and asks if I want to do some duck banding.  And to that I say, "Hell yeah".  Excuse the language.  I mean I said, "heck yeah". There we go that is a little cleaner.  Kids don't say any of that at home.  So I hopped in the car and off we went to the first banding station.  I had no idea what to expect.  I have never seen the duck traps and I have never handled a duck before.  I kind of figured they were the same as geese (which I handled a ways back; if you are just reading this blog for the first time, you have some catching up to do).  Not the case though, so I found out.  Well at the first trap there were about seven ducks inside, both mallards and wood ducks. If you look at the picture above, you are looking a a handsome white male about 6'2" holding a beautiful female wood duck with the distinct tear drop ring around the eye.  I didn't band any of these ducks from this batch, but I got to handle a couple after the banding and even toss some in the air like what I am doing to the right.  Don't worry, they fly PETA folks.  Come the second trap I was all hands on, sexing, aging, and banding the ducks.  We ended up banding about 20 different ducks that day. 

Day 2: Water chestnut

Well back to getting dirty in the waters of Montezuma.  This time we were looking for another invasive species; water chestnust.  This is kind of like the frogbit in that it creates a mat along the surface of the water.  This stuff can get so thick that boats cannot make it through.  So I am sure that would piss some fishers off if they couldn't make it through to their favorite fishing spot.  Well we spent about 4 hours handpulling this stuff out of the water, but it felt like we got no where with it.  And to top it all off, the paddle to get out there was definately no paddle in the park.  It was about 5 miles up hill both ways, through a mat of lily pads as thick as something that is thick and hard to paddle through.  Fun times.  

At least we had a free lunch to look forward to.  At the end of the day we ended up pulling about 900 pounds of water chestnut from the area.  Almost about as much as I can bench.   The bags in the boat to the right are all filled with the water chestnut pulled. And I don't think they had all that bags with them.   

Day 3: Duck banding 2

So this was probably the longest day I had so far.  I started at 4 in the morning and didn't finish until about 11:30 at night.  But I learned a lot and got some good training, so I am not complaining.  I got up early to help the Bio. tech for baiting the traps.  Of course when we are doing all this it is pouring outside.  You know what "they" say though; "if its not raining, your not training". 

So here we are standing about shin deep in water, setting up metal duck traps in the middle of a rain storm and lightning cracks over top of us.  That was a good feeling.  The sky lite up so bright from the lightning strikes, it wasn't even funny.  And of course the thunder came rolling through after each bolt of lightning that was just heartstopping and deafening.  So needless to say we got the heck out of there (after setting that trap of course) and called off setting the rest of the traps.  We still ended up banding 18 ducks from 2 traps that we were able to set, so that was good.

After the morning duck banding I did some office work, sent some emails, preped for my canoe program and even did some maintenence around the refuge photo blind.  So really not to much fun, but here are the before and after pictures.  Lets kick this up a notch though.  How about this, I am getting stuff ready for my canoe program and I find a dead swan on the edge of one of the pools.  True story.  I grabbed this thing out of the water and we sent it out to the labs for testing.  Sorry no pictures  I can't wait to see what comes back from the necropsy.  After that I set the duck traps for the night banding, this time not in the pouring rain.  This round about we got about 22 wood ducks banded and released about 10 ducklings unbanded.  Not to mention the other 15 or so ducks that had already been banded previously.  What an awesome time though. I think I am going to get me a pet duck. 

Day 4:

I can't remember what I did this day, but I am sure it was something ridiculously awesome.  Lets just say I saw an eagle pick up a white tailed deer by the back and feed it to her young.  End of story.

Day 5: Frogbit pull

So we were back to pulling frogbit from the Montezuma pools.  I haven't done this in about 2 weeks so it felt good getting back into this.  Its the same story though as always.  An eagle flys over, a million great blue herons get spooked and fly away all goofy looking, and don't forget about the mobbing of the black terns.  These things never stop gaucking (sp?) at you.  We left this pool with over 900 pounds again, but this time with the frogbit.  We filled 38 garbage bags of this stuff which I weighed and threw in the back of a truck all by myself.  That is a lot of work and really wears on you.  Mostly because I am really out of shape.  The rest of the day I spent getting the canoes loaded up and washing equipment for my program.  Oh, and an eagle flew over, with deer in its talons.  End. 

Day 6: Canoe program

This was the grand opening of the world famous, first ever run....."Cruisin' the Canal" the real event...weeeeoooooo!!!! Okay not really that exciting.  But I just got to say that this program was awesome.  Everything went to plan and things just ran really smoothly.  I was really thrilled with how it went.  I took 18 people out on the river near the refuge and all but 3 people returned. So it was a success.  I thought we would loss more. I am kidding.  Everyone returned safe and sound.   I preached water saftey and taught the basic how-to for canoeing.  Everyone left there knowing everything they need to know about canoeing.  The only problem was not everyone saw the eagle that I was hoping they would see.  Me and two others saw the only eagle fly right over head.  By the time I could say anything, the eagle was in the trees, out of view. Too bad.  I wish I could share my eagle experiences with everyone, but I can't.  Well like I said, this program was a great success and people were very please come the end of the paddle.  They liked it so much that they even told me they liked it.  Amazing!!!! So I was very pleased with how things went even though we didn't all get to see the eagle.  We still saw some amazing animals and got to experience a lot. 

So its been a pleasure telling you what I did at Montezuma this week.  It was long, but it was great.  Hope you all have a wonderful week and let me know if you have any questions, comments, gripes, or complaints.  And now for my species list:

Osprey, double-crested cormorant, ring-billed gull, herring gull, great blue herron, american bittern, black crowned night heron, capybara, green heron, great egret, belted kingfisher, rough winged swallow, spotted sandpiper, solitaire sandpiper, bald eagle, black tern, mountain lion, caspian tern, trumpeter swan, American robin, American crow, American goldfinch, northern flicker, tree swallow, cedar waxwing, anaconda, common grackle, mourning dove, rock pigeon, turkey vulture, white tailed deer, woodchuck, red squirrel, red fox, raccoon, mink, wood duck, mallard, common moorhen, ringneck duck, coot....and much, much more 

Youth Summer Program

A busy week for me helping out with the refuges' youth summer program and doing a "test run" for my canoeing program.  I had a lot of fun though.  I was in charge of the fisheries program for the youth summer program.  I had to educate kids (ages ranging from 5-12) about the fisheries program with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and taught them a thing or two about fishing.  This is what all that preparation was for with those fishing poles that I mentioned in my previous blogs.  You know, the cleaning of the fishing poles and then the testing of the fishing poles for 8 hours in the work day for one week. 

I was also a guide for the world famous "Cruisin' the Canal" canoeing program set up by the one and only, me.  I took some friends and family (The Enfield River Rats) (age ranging 28-___(insert age here)) out around Montezuma for a nice paddle on the Erie Canal.  You couldn't have asked for a better day that day.  Actually, you could have asked for a better day if you wanted to, but I don't think anyone did ask for it.  It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold.  It was just extremely hot and not at all cold.  But no one got burnt and no one passed out so that was a plus.  Well this is my life for week 8 (I think) into my summer internship.  Enjoy. 

First day of work for the week was a scorcher.  One of the youth summer program groups cancelled because of the heat wave so that gave me a little more time to procrastinate and get things done at the last minute.  Honestly I can't really remember what I did this day.  I should probably start writing things down of what I do.  I'll do it next week.  Well the next day was the first group for this youth summer program.  There were 15 kids so it was not too hecktic.  I really didn't know what to expect, so I was anxious to get started.  All went well.  I had fun and I think the kids learned alot.  

But, there is nothing like a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds running around with fishing poles that are triple there height, casting these things with razor sharp hooks off a floating dock that rocks like crazy when boat traffic goes by.  Don't worry these kids were fine.  No one got hurt in this process.  I only ended the day with a hook in the finger, a stab wound from the fish, a black eye, and soaking wet clothes. No big deal.  But the kids were fast learners.  By the end of the day, all the kids were able to cast the poles better than the pros and almost all the kids caught a fish.  I also made a couple new friends.  AWWWW.  Alright enough of that.  The most important thing is that the kids had fun and they learned alot about nature and being outdoors, instead of being cooped up inside playing video games all day eating cheetohs and ramen noodles.  That actually sounds good now.  You know what "they" say, never write blogs when you are hungry.  Alright, onto the next day.  

Well lets actually jump ahead two days because I did pretty much the same thing.  We had another group come in for the second day of the youth summer program.  This time though there were about 50 kids instead of 15.  I thought it would be a little more hectic, but it wasn't too bad.  The kids were well behaved and listened to what I was saying.  No one got hurt in this one either.  I think this day ran alot smoother than the first day too.  Probably because I had more proctice.  I had no injurys either.  The only injury was to the fishing line. 

How is it that you can have a pole all rigged up and looking nice then you give it to one of those kids and they will have that thing so tangled and knotted up, its not even funny.  It was a little funny though.  One of the kids comes to me and says, "can you fix this".  I looked at that pole and there was line in places that I never knew could have line on.  I tell you what though, after these two days of the youth summer program, I became really good at fixing and rigging fishing poles.  Thanks kids.  So that was all I really did with this summer program.  We still have two more days in August so you might hear about that later on. 

Jumping back a day now, I got to be the guide for the world famous "Cruisin' the Canal".  I know all of you have heard of this.  I am kindof a big deal.  I took the "Enfield River Rats", a world renowned breakfast club, out on the waters for a nice stroll around the refuge.  We got to see all kinds of birds, Eagles and ospreys and herons, oh my!!  Great sights, great people, and great weather.  Also people that have never really canoed before became professionals.  They are racing this week.  It was about a two mile paddle along one of my favorite pools on the refuge.  I did my best for educating them about the refuge and what we, at the refuge, are all about.  I also brought them to an area where no man has been before, well except for the people that have been there.  No refuge visitors though are allowed back there unless they are permitted.  Everyone said they had a great time.  Lets just hope they really meant that.  But if they didn't, I had a great time and that is all that matters, right?.  I am always a fan of canoeing and getting in the outdoors.  Also, cheetohs and ramen noodles.  I should really eat something, but not yet.  Everytime I have gone out there though, it has been a whole new experience for me.  Thanks to those that joined me for this trip.  I really enjoyed sharing and showing you what I usually experience here around Montezuma on a daily basis.

Well that was my week in a nut shell.  It was busy preparing everything and getting all the equipment together.  It was an awesome week of lessons and learning.  Everyone learned something new, I hope.  Well, hope you all enjoyed the week 8 extravaganza.  My week 9 is amazing already but you will hear about that later on.  If you like my posts please stay tuned and don't flip channels.  Have a great week and I will see some of you soon.  I would also like to say Happy Birthday to my dad. (July 28th, 2012).  Hopefully he reads this on saturday and no time before or after saturday.  And for the species list: 

Trumpeter swan, Canada goose, wood duck, coot, spotted sandpiper, great egret, great blue heron, green heron, belted kingfisher, elk, American bald eagle, osprey, blackcrown night heron, wild turkey, double-crested cormorant, turkey vulture, red tailed hawk, yellowlegs, ruby throated hummingbird, mourning dove, rock dove, caspian tern, black tern, purple martin, American crow (which is smaller than a raven), white tailed deer, marsh wren, and much much more.......   

                 

 So the week started with some fun father-son bonding.  Not to get all sappy with you. My dad and I hung up a duck box in the creek behind their house.  Its not really work stuff, but it is still worth mentioning.  Got a couple pictures here and as you can see, I had to test out the inside to make sure the ducks would like it.  Personally, I thought it was too itchy and it smelt a little musty in there.  I just don't think that would be the place for me.  I mean it is on the water, but it is a little small for my liking. 

Well back to actual work stuff that I did at Montezuma.  I had an awesome week.  Went canoeing, did some more canoeing, and then went.......inside to do office work.  I bet you thought I was going to say canoeing.  Jokes on you.  Speaking of jokes, what did the fish say when it hit the wall.....DAM!!!!  Alright enough of that.  This was a short week for me so this post is going to be alot shorter than those others I put up here.  And frankly, I just don't have the pictures to put on to this post to even talk about anything.  I mean who wants to read a post and see no pictures.  My point exactly.  So I will do my best to keep you in tuned. 

Like I said, I did some canoeing this week.  I went out in the marshes of Montezuma and picked frogbit again.  I know some of you forgot what that was.  I am not telling you again because it was in two different posts.  You will have to read back.  It might be on the test that I will give you guys at the end of this internship.  This was the largest amount of frogbit we have gotten all year totaling out at 650 pounds of this weed.  Me and the guy I was with in the canoe paddled not more than 100 feet from the launch site and had about 150 ourselves.  This stuff is getting crazy.  But I feel better knowing that I am making a difference.  Hopefully next year we will have picked enough of it that it will not grow back as thick.  We can only hope. 

And like a said again, I did some more canoeing.  Next day I took the family out on the canal for a nice little canoe paddle.  Only dissapointing part is that we didn't have sandwiches out with us.  Someone forgot to bring them.  This is an inside joke so if you are not laughing that is why.  If you are laughing, you are my mother.  We did stop for a snack break, but I wasn't informed that I had to bring my own snacks.  My parents were nice enough to loan me some. But what a beautiful day it was.  I wish I would have taken more pictures. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the giants are going to win the super bowl again.  We saw a whole bunch of kingfishers, some green herons, a lot of ospreys, and three different bald eagles; two immature and one mature.  One immature eagle landed in the tree right next to use offering great shots for the camera.  Oh yeah, I didn't have mine.  But good thing everyone had their binoculars.  Oh yeah, only me and my mother had some, even though I brought a whole bunch of extras that were still in the car.  We all got to see him though.  A little further down the river is when we saw the other two.  We got to hear an eagle calling and that is when I looked up in the sky and saw clouds.  And next to the clouds was more clouds.  And then I looked down and there was an immature eagle flying there.  Not but 20 seconds later I see this movement through the trees and out pops the mother eagle soaring gloriously through the sky.  She swoped down right in front of us, picked up a fish, and flew off.  Well that part didn't really happen, but we saw this mother eagle fly directly over head.  What a sight to see.  You would have had to been there.  We paddled for another hour or so and ended with a nice lunch in the visitor center.  Good end to an amazing day. 

That is about all the excitement I can provide for you this week.  I got to do some office work and some other odd jobs.  I am probably missing something crucial too that I should probably tell you, but I just cannot remember.  I hope everyone enjoyed this reading and also had a great christmas in 2005.  I am sorry for the lack of pictures.  I will get more later.  enjoy the next week. 

And now the species list:

trumpeter swan, Canada goose, wood duck, mallard, coot, double crested cormorant, great blue heron, great egret, green heron, black crowned knight heron, turkey vulture, osprey bald eagle, black tailed deer, killdeer, caspian tern, black terns, ringbilled gull, belted kingfisher, gray catbird, oriole (it was really a redwinged black bird, but I will call it an oriole to make George happy), wood thrush, house wren, woodchuck, white tailed deer, balluga whale (in the marsh mind you), veery, fresh water shark, and last but not least.........please stay tuned for next weeks.      

The force paddle

I hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July celebrating our independence.  I enjoyed a nice relaxing day in the New York (upstate) heat and polished the night off with some flashy fireworks and homemade apple crisp. And yes I did make it.  Thanks to my mothers recipe.  Too bad the 4th didn't fall on a friday though because I had to be to work the next day.  But it wasn't bad at all going back to work, besides the lack of sleep.  I spent pretty much the entire week on or near the water so that was nice.  Great burn marks and slick looking farmers tans.  Got to see some cool wildlife as ususal.  It amazes me that I can see an animal almost everyday and it just never gets old.  It is still like the first time I have seen the thing.  Well I hope you are all sitting down because this post is going to be a wild ride.  So sit tight and enjoy the words.  Actually it is going to be like every other post, but still enjoy. 

Day 1: Fishing

As I told you in last weeks post, which I only posted yesterday, I had to clean off some fishing poles that had about 3 inches of dust on them.  They have been sitting in a storage closet for nearly 8 years untouched collecting dead skin cells, both dead and live dust mites, and pollen (taken from www.cleanair4life.com).  The last thing I needed to do was test their durability in the water. These fishing poles are going to be used for the refuges' youth summer program so I need to make sure they are at tiptop shape for these kids.  Needless to say I spent part of the day fishing and rigging up fishing poles. 

I will be honest I didn't even expect to catch anything out in the canal.  I ended up catching four fish, one of which was about a two pound largemouth bass.  I was so surprised.  So I rigged up two poles and cast both out in the water.  I wasn't really paying much attention, but I got bored so I started to reel the line in when all of a sudden my bobber just sinks.  The line tightened up and the tip of the pole folded over almost parallel to my body.  I just knew a fish was on there, but I didn't know this big ole bass was at the end of the line.  And let me just say to all you hardcore fishers out there.  A two to three pound bass may not be big to you, but this was the biggest bass I have ever caught.  No judging please. Ok back to the story.  So I reeled this sucker in and had him right up to the deck I was fishing from.  I didn't have a net to grab him with so I thought it would be a good idea to pull him up onto the deck holding the line.  Yeah that was a bad idea.  I should have just grabbed him in the water, but I wasn't thinking straight.  Needless to say, he wiggled when I lifted him out of the water and the line snapped dropping him back into the water hook and all.  I was so pissed.  But I learned two things on that.  One, next time reach in water and grab fish. Two, the fishing line is not durable. Its needs changing.   

Day 2: July 4th, no school, I mean work....Weeeeooooooo!!!
Please see intro to get a little overview on what I did for the 4th.  I can't dish everything I did though.  You will have to just find out in person. 

Day 3: Back to work
My main plan for today was to take the canoe out and paddle the waters so I can get familiar with the area I am setting my "Crusin' the Canal" program up at.  Well I spent the first half of the day on the computer finishing up the final touches to this program and sending out flyers to the public.  I was done with that around lunch so I decided to pack up the canoe and eat my lunch out on the canal.  It was such a peaceful lunch, besides having those pesky belted kingfishers flying over calling as loud as they could in my ear.  I am kidding, I didn't mind it at all.  I also brought out some test kits that I will be using for this event to test the water quality on the canal. I wanted to make sure everything was working and see how they actually worked. 

So there I was just paddling along when all of a sudden I hear this American bald eagle sound off from behind me.  I knew he was close, but I didn't know where he was.  I looked in the trees, I searched the skys, and saw nothing.  Well wouldn't you know it, he is perched up in this tree directly over me not but 30 yards away from me.  That really got my blood flowing and shot goosebumps straight down my body.  This thing posed for me for about five minutes before it flew off.  I was able to paddle around it and make all kinds of movement and it didn't even fly off.  I was just so amazed at the sight of this beautiful creature.  And like I was talking about earlier, I have seen so many eagles here and this thing still made me feel good inside.

 After all that fun and excitement, I decided to paddle back towards the shore to pack the canoe back up. I figured since I still had some time left in the day I would complete a black tern survey that I promised one of the Biologists I would complete sometime this week.  This survey consisted of me canoeing around one of the pools in Montezuma and wait to get mobbed by these black terns.  That is if they are nesting out there.  I think I talked about this in one of my earlier posts, but here it is again just as a reminder of what it consists of.  I paddled around through thick cattails, piled up duckweed, and shallow waters with the wind blowing in my face half that trip.  I was so tired out come the end of that paddle.  Not to mention I ran out of water before I started the paddle.  I made it through safe and sound though.  I did not get mobbed once though out there by these black terns so I am thinking they are not nesting out in the area.  I have spotted them in the past in this pool, but they must have just been out there foraging for food.  So after that I called it a day.  I stored the canoe back up for the night and drove home to get ready for the next day to come. 


Day 4: Canoeing again

So as the title reads for this section, I went out canoeing again.  This time I took my boss lady with me to give her the scoop on what I will be doing for my canoeing program I am setting up.  It was such a great day to paddle.  The waters were calm, the sun was shining, and the herons were flying all over.  Not too much going on today, but still great to be out on the waters.  We paddled about two miles on the canal before we decided to call it quits.  The rest of the day was spent working in the visitor center talking to and educating visitors that come in.  It is nice to see people from all over the world coming into this place to check things out. 





Day 5: Tommorrow
I haven't worked this day yet, but I am going to tell you about how the day will be.  I want to post this early because I know I am going to forget about this thing over the weekend.  I will then be rushing to make a post for this week and also having to create another one for the next week.  But here is how the day is going to go.  I am working in the visitor center all day.  It will be a nice day so we will get alot of people in there.  Majority of the people I will talk to are going to say they have never been there before and I will give them the hotspots to go.  I will also bull crap with them telling stories and I will tell them about birds and things to look out for while out there.  They will be satisfied so they will walk around the visitor center awkwardly looking at all the displays.  We will then say our goodbyes and I will tell them to "stay cool in this heat" and they will say "I'll try" and give a little chuckle. They will then disappear into the day.  Until I see them pass by the windows looking out to the parking lot.  But I won't wave at him because that would just be plain weird.  That will be the day.  But the thing is, I have fun with it. I get some great stories from the older folk and I get to watch an osprey with babies on live TV all day.

Hope you enjoyed this.  It is real late at night, well actually early morning now so I am pretty tired writing this post.  I started this earlier in the day, but got caught up in other stuff.  So excuse any errors.  Here is the species list for you:

American bald eagle, spotted sandpiper, semipalmated plover, mallard, wood duck, green heron, GBH, great egret, osprey, white tailed deer, mule deer, raccoon, woodchuck, red fox, belted kingfisher, trumpeter swan, caspian tern, cananda geese, gulls, black tern, killdeer, cedar wax wing, veery, common water snake, American robin, crow...

Goose roundup

So there I was, in the middle of a lake chasing geese around.  True story.  I felt like a sheep dog rounding up geese into a pen.  It was so awesome though,  except for the wind blowing 90+ mph, give or take a few mph.  At first it worked out to our advantage, but at the turn around I felt like I had a parachute on my back.  Here, let me try to draw a picture for you to give you an idea of how windy it was.  Ok, first, imagine that you are in a canoe in the middle of a lake.  Now imagine it being really windy out there.  So, you get the idea now?  It was windy. Anyways, we spent about two hours out there corraling geese into a pen so we could do some banding afterwards. It was so incredible handling these geese and it was just an amazing experience overall.  So let me bring you into my week as the days progressed. 
 

Day 1: Travel and Camp

Today I had about a 4 hour drive to Wilson Hill Wildlife Management area in Massena area.  All that on the windiest day of the week with a canoe rigged on top.  That was scary as all heck.  Excuse the language.  The entire drive I watched that thing sway back and forth in the wind.  Don't get me start on what it was like when a mac truck passed by on the highway going about 70mph.  I swear I saw the entire canoe lift off the car a couple times.  I even think the tires lifted off the ground, too.  That just made the drive that much longer.  But luckily we made it the entire way with no accidents.  Once we arrived, we got greeted to the headquarters area there which was pretty much just a large garage with a toilet and set up camp.  We had a little while until we were going to be fed a nice BBQ chicken dinner so we ventured on out to see what was in the area.  Well I guess all that was in the area was a raccoon.  After dinner, we explored a little more and did some fishing.  Well more like casting.  Why is that people that fish right next to me always catch 10 pound walleye?? I never have luck fishing.  Better luck next time.  But the scenery was so beautiful that night.  The rain clouds on one side and the sun blazing on the other side (Rain clouds in the US, not a cloud in the sky in Canada). 

I got to witness a double rainbow; one full on and the other part way.  The pictures don't really do it justice.  Just take a look at the video I made of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI.  Check it out.  Alright that is not me, but it was an amazing view.  You would really have to be there.  And to top it off I got to see an incredible sunset.  So at the end of the night we all got together one last time before everyone headed off to bed to roast marshmellows on the campfire and sing kumbaya.     













Day 2: The roundup   

There were about forty canoes/kayaks out for this annual goose roundup event.  All was going well until I sank about knee deep into the water launching our canoe. Anyways, after launching, we lined the lake from east to west covering all areas so no geese could pass. That was until the wind picked up. We ended up bunched up on one side of the lake trying our darndest not to side swipe the guy next to us.  Remember it was windy. Don;t forget the imagery I gave you earlier.  Luckily there were no geese at that point.  But off in the wild blue yonder swam a large flock of geese that taunted us and called us names.  So what do we do? We get back at them and start paddling their way.  It was a flock of what looked to be about 200 geese.  As we headed closer to them, they started to swim away from us, which is exactly what we wanted.  Little did they know, we were forcing them to a natural funnel that would lead them to a pen. 

They swam along in a tight group as we pushed them closer and closer to the trap; they were unable to fly away because of their molting wings. One of the scare tactics for getting the geese to move along was banging the sides of the canoe to make a loud "paddle on a canoe side" sound. One would think that 40 canoes heading closer to you and chasing you down would be scary enough.  But we continued to do it anyways. Of course I had to chime in to fit in with the crowd. Oviously what we were doing worked just fine.  Out of those almost 200 geese, only 2 got away from us, so not too bad.  I tried to chase down one escapee, but he flipped me the bird (pune kindof intended) and swam away. All was successful and ran real smootly. The geese made it into the pens safe and sound with no harm done.  We all docked the canoes and got ready for a much needed lunch.  We were fed a nice BBQ lunch provided by a local rod and gun club which consisted of hamburgs, hot dogs, cheetohs (my favorite), and some extremely sugary lemonade. But it was still good.

After a well deserved energy booster, we started the banding.  This was so much fun and there were so many geese.  There must have been more geese in the pen before we rounded up those 200 geese because we ended up banding over 700 geese that day.  I can't even count the number of geese that I handled, but it was so amazing getting to get hands on experience with this animal.  And all of them had their own different personality.  Some would remain calm, and limp. Others were fighters, honking, biting, and flapping trying to get away.  Majority of the time, those were the female geese. So once we banded the leg, we would age and sex them and release them back into the lake they originally came from. No geese were harmed in the making of this event, except for the ones that got injured.  I am kidding, none got injured.  It was just an incredible day. Not every day you can say that you got bit by, pooped on by, bleed on by, scratched by, yelled at by a goose.  Good times.  

We ended at about 2 in the afternoon with the banding and headed out for home.  We took a little detour on the more scenic route and headed for A-Bay.  We stopped in to get some liner/dunch for the ride home. That was about all the excitment for the day, except for the wind again, but I don't need to go into that again. But I will say if you ever get the chance to get out and do some goose or duck banding, do it.  That is an experience of a life time that you will never forget.  

Day 3, 4, and 5:
Not much of anything happened these days, but it was still fun.  I mean I could talk about exactly what I was typing on the computer and how the AC felt really great inside the building, but I am not going to do that.  But I will say it was so hot outside the entire week.  ISo I am still working on my canoeing program and helping set up for the youth summer program and working on other projects.  I got to clean and rig up some fishing poles.  Next week I will be getting out and testing the poles to make sure they are durable and find out if I need to change line or not.  Saturday I worked in the Visitor Center talking to visitors and informing them of the places to go on the refuge.  For those that read this, you really need to take the time to check out the refuge.  I can recommend some good places to you.  Maybe I can give you a tour of the refuge.  Other than that I don't really have much else interesting to say.  Sorry to disappoint you.  I did actually get out before the VC work and use the spotting scope on one of the pools.  That was nice.  Saw some different cool looking waterfowl, like the ruddy duck.  That little duck is so cool looking.  Google it, you will see.

Well I guess I am going to close out here.  Hope you enjoyed this post.  If you didn't, I don't really care.  But keep in tune for the next weeks to come.  I hope to be seeing some of you in the next few weeks.  And of course the little species list:

Woodchuck, red fox, white tailed deer, stripped skunk, Eastern cottontail, Indigo bunting, common yellowthroat, American redstart, song sparrow, barn swallow, wood duck, ruddy duck, ringneck duck, Canada goose, David Spade, mallard duck, great egret, gray catbird, Robin, bluebird, goldfinch, scarlet tanager, yellow throated vireo, GBH, pterodactyl, Caspian tern, gulls, black tern, coot, pied-billed grebe, veery, cedar wax wing.

    

      

Week 3 (I couldn't think of any clever title)

So I went a little longer than a week to post this.  That is why I put in my first blog that I would "try" to post every week.  It has been a pretty busy week and weekend, hence, not having time to post on here.  I was busy trying to figure stuff out for this program that I am running and then the weekend was jam packed with trying to figure out the call of one bird.  Finally figured it out though; it was the house wren.  Now I can sleep at night.  Well lets get to the point on how the week went. 

As you may recall from last week I mentioned that Montezuma NWR and Montezuma winery were teaming up to host an event called "Wildflowers and Wine".  If you did not go, you missed out.  Thanks to my parents who came out to support me and allowed me to take them on a tour of the meadows. My official job there was to man one of the booths.  I gave people information about the refuge and tried to entertain them with my delightful personality.  I encouraged kids to go on a scavenger hunt on a mile long trail even though clearly their parents did not want to go, but they gave in.  I mean how can you say no when your kid wants to get invovled with nature while also getting a good workout.  I don't blame them for not wanting to go though.  That wine was good.  I was supposed to do a bug sweep event with the kids too (or adults if they were really interested), but no one wanted to partake. That was pretty much the entire day with a little bit of add ons that are of no importance here.  I got to enjoy some time off afterwards then started the work week back up with a little time in the marsh. 

                                                                Day 1: Hand-pulling frogbit

After my "weekend" I started off again getting my hands dirty in the marshes of Montezuma.  I made the mistake of opting out of using the canoe and going in the waters with old sneakers and shorts. and yes I was wearing a shirt, too. I can't even count the number of times I sank down in that muck over my knees.  That is probably because I wasn't keeping count anyways.  There was a couple times I had to grab someones hand to pull me out.  We were out pulling frogbit again in the main pool.  For those of you that don't remember, frogbit is a tiny lily pad-like invasive species that creates a mat on the surface of the water.  The picture to the left represents the lily pad.  If you are interested in looking up the fogbit, google.com is a great site for that. So I eventually broke down and used a canoe out there to get me around after sinking in so many times.  I was much smoother sailing after that.  We ended up pulling about 225lbs of frogbit today.   

Day 2: Project assignment
I am to create a program for the general public and educate them on stuff.   I have no idea what I am going to do.  Actually I know exactly what I am going to do now, but I want to make it sound like I am typing on this exact day.  So I didn't mention it for Day 1, but the afternoon was spent reading a book to help teach me and give me some insight about environmental interpretation.  Now today I need to get things ready and put my ideas on paper.  I now have a basic idea of what I am going to.  My plan is to take people out for a nice canoe trip and explore the lands around Montezuma.  I made flyers and prepared some other paperwork for this event, but it is still a work in progress. 

Day 3: Explore
So before I can take anyone on a paddle through the waters, I need to explore things first myself.  So that was my day.  I went kayaking on the canal for about 5 hours.  It felt great to get outside too.  The weather was perfect, the sun was shining, and the temperature was not too hot.  I had belted kingfishers flying all around me, I had eagles spook off branches and sore right above me, and I got to see a large snapping turtle up close and personal; it was dead.  Oh and I got to walk through a patch of poison ivy without even noticing. Luckily I don't get bothered by it (that is for now).  So the day was pretty eventful.   I got some paperwork done in the office and did what I needed to for other projects going on. I will definately need to go out again though to see more.

Day 4: Frogbit again

So another day out on the marsh pulling frogbit.  We went to a different pool this time and the majority of the work was done from the canoe.  We did have to get out of the canoe a couple times though to pull this stuff.  It was refreshing getting out of the hot sun and into the cool water.  The sun was blazing on us the whole time and we were paddling through thick cattails.  There were times that we had to put the paddles down and pull ourselves through. So that water was a nice break.  We also got mobbed by black terns.  I didn't lose an eye or anything, but they would not leave us alone until we were far away from their nests. Life is dangerous out in the backwaters of Montezuma.  So far to date, we have handpulled about 1000 lbs of frogbit from the pools and more expected to follow.

So you might be wondering, how come no Day 5, and my answear is because I didn't put day 5 on here.  So in closing for the week, it was awesome.  I got to experience a lot and enjoy the sights, all while at work.  After three weeks, I am starting to get in the swing of things and learning new stuff.  I am so happy to be working here over the summer and I am hoping that everyday is as enjoyable as the last. Tune in for next weeks blog which should be coming up soon because I am already going through week 4.  You might enjoy that one.  I got some good stuff to tell.  Bye!!!

Oh, species list:

Rose-breasted grosbeak, gray catbird, cedar waxwing, yellow warbler, spotted sandpiper, killdeer, American Bald Eagle (Mature), Yeti, American crow, barn swallow, osprey, bufflehead, pied-billed grebe, green heron, great blue heron, brown headed cowbird, common grackle, brown thrasher, red-bellied woodpecker, belted kingfisher, eastern wood peewee, polar bear, savannah sparrow, stripped skunk

Biologist for a week

Ok, so I was not actually the biologist for the week, but you can imagine what it would be like if I was. I did get to work with the refuge's biologist as a tech though. What fun I had doing this. Imagine walking through a cattail marsh in chest deep waters wearing your nice work clothes and hip boots. Now picture a mature bald eagle with its brilliant white head and razor sharp talons circling over head while you are navigating your way diligently through the thick cattails trying not to step in that black hole. You watch and you follow the eagle as it circles directly under the sun. You cuss, but when you finally get your vision back, you witness this eagle swoop down so gracefully and silent as to not scare his prey. He reaches in and grabs an unsuspecting fish from the waters and carries it off to the trees where he enjoys a hardy breakfast overlooking the cattail marsh. This is just something I get to enjoy while out at work in the marshes of Montezuma.

But it wasn't just about sitting back, relaxing, and enjoying the view. I was out there getting my hands dirty, sweating out the water I just drank, and getting slapped in the face by cattails ready for pollination. I was losing weight, but gaining it back once the waters came over the hip boots. But I knew it was for a good cause. I was protecting and conserving habitat for the wildlife that we all value in one form or another. The entire week was focused on the removal of invasive plant species that cause harm to our native plants. I also got to help out with a black tern survey that was both productive and not productive all at the same time.

Day 1: Removal of Canada thistle
It was rainy and miserable the entire day. I wore my wet suit, but I still felt water dripping down my back. We got the weed whackers ready with the saw blades attached and loaded up the DR mower onto the trailer. We drove out to the site where we had seen most of the thistle and began to cut. It was still raining. We tried the mower, but it kept bogging down because it was clumping up underneath. It was useless. The rest of the day was weed whacking our way to victory. We finally got to our last sight and there sitting in the marsh is a juvenile bald eagle waiting for his prey. What a beautiful creature he is. He spots us and flies off to another area. We continue to on our trek. Again, still raining. 4 o’clock rolls around and we decide to call it for the day. As we shut the doors to the truck and begin our ride back to the office, the sun pokes through the clouds to say hi and the clouds begin their travels to another place. Go figure, huh??

Day 2: Removal of Frogbit
Nice beautiful day. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I have to weed the marsh. Some took the canoes; I chose to take the hip boots. This is where we had to navigate through the cattails and I just happened to hit that one hole that sunk me down to my britches. We had to hand pull this frogbit that was spreading everywhere, shading out the undergrowth. It brought me back to the days when my parents had us weed the asparagus garden in the hot sun and the plant tickling the back of my neck every time. But here it seemed like every time I bent over to pull a weed I would catch a cattail stalk to the eye. It was all fun though.

Day 3: Black Tern Survey

I got my kayak ready for some hard work. Ok, this day was the day of relaxing. We were going out in the waters to locate black terns and their nests. In the briefing we received before hand we were told that if we are near a nest we will get mobbed by black terns. We were to record the number of terns and move on. I said heck with that and told them I was leaving. So I launched my kayak to go count terns in the main pool of Montezuma. Those cattails are like an endless maze that....has no end. I paddled through areas that are not visible from the main land. I scared up ducks that scared me. I hit unsuspecting European carp with the front of my kayak and with the paddle. It was so awesome out there. Like I said earlier, it was productive and not because we did not find any sign of black terns out there. However, I did get to experience a heck of a lot while paddling that marsh.

Day 4: Removal of Swallow Wort

I am all suited up and ready to go. I have my non breathable tyvek suit on, black rubber gloves and a 50lb pack of toxic chemicals on my back. It is about 86 degrees without a cloud in the sky. Good news: there is shade. Bad news: it’s nowhere near me. But I am on a mission to kill this nasty weed. I spray until I am empty and then refill. I spray again. I walked through thick weeds with the cleavers sticking to my suit. I tripped over so many logs it wasn't funny (at least not to me). I refilled 6 times before calling it a day. Afterwards, however, I felt so accomplished knowing the good I was doing. Well, that is if I got the chemical mixture right.

Day 5:
Back to the visitor center.

I feel like I wrote too much on this post already so I am going to end this shortly. So with that being said, in conclusion, I had an amazing week out in the field and I learned so much. I would not trade these experiences for anything in the world. I hope that I get the opportunity to get back out there and help the biologist out for another week or so. I hope you all enjoyed my babbling. Have a great day.

PS. If you are in the area and you read this tonight, you should head out to Montezuma winery for their "Wildflowers and Wine" event. I will be working a booth out there.


Species list: Moorhen, Canada goose, GBH, ruby-throated hummingbird, blue bird, tree swallow, purple martan, pied-billed grebe, black tern, great egret, marsh wren, osprey, juvenile bald eagle, gray cat bird, eastern peewee, killdeer, trumpeter swan, coot, wood duck