Today in L4 I saw AY-- (male) calling. The two dashes indicate that I clearly saw the bird's right leg, and it did not have any bands. Last year this same area belonged to a male banded AYYG. I believe this is the same bird. He must have lost those bands at some point during the winter. We will try to capture him again this year to confirm his identity and replace his bands.
In J2 and J3 A-GP (a male) was calling and foraging. A-GP had one of the earliest nests last year; in fact we found his nest just before the chicks were ready to fledge. We had to band them right away. It was the first nest we banded last year, and it was a bit of a disaster. The chicks were really past the prime age for banding. They bolted in every direction from the nest as soon as we reached into the nest. We had to run all over to catch the newly fledged chicks (without stepping on them!) to band them. It would have looked pretty hilarious to an outside observer, I'm sure. That's why we try to band the nestlings seven days after they hatch. At that age they are big enough to band, but they haven't opened their eyes yet, and there is no danger of them escaping. They just lay in your hand.
In H5 and 6 BRAN (a male) was singing for a long time (~5 minutes) while perched over a big patch of Himalayan Blackberry. After a bit an unbanded female (probably his mate) appeared from lower in the blackberry. I've noticed that BRAN tends to sing a few different song varieties. After standing there listening to him sing one song for a while, it's a bit startling to hear him start singing a different variety. Perhaps that has the same effect on neighboring towhees as well.
In J9, right along the fence that separates the park from the school soccer field, I saw YARN (a male) singing and foraging. Last year YARN had two nests right in the little strip of weeds on the soccer field side of the fence. A day or so before the nestlings of the first nest were due to fledge, they disappeared, and since YARN's female started building a new nest right away, we assumed that the nestlings of the first nest had been some predator's lunch. YARN's second nest was successful. It was pretty tricky at first to find the newly fledged youngsters. There is a steep hill on the park side of the fence, and the fence is covered in blackberry. We had to go back and forth around the fence to hone in on where YARN seemed to be taking food for his fledglings. After much stealthy creeping around, we managed to catch one of YARN's fledglings, GRAP, and attached a transmitter harness. We were curious how long GRAP would stay near the fence. He ended up staying near the fence for several days. In retrospect, it seemed like an advantageous position to be in. If any mammalian predator had its sights set on catching GRAP, GRAP could simply hop back and forth through the fence, neatly evading the larger predator. It sure worked on us! A few times we would use the telemetry to track him down and he would be perched right on the fence, under a tangle of blackberry!
A little ways outside the park, on Sundeleaf Drive, I observed ANYB, a fledgling from last year, singing high in a tree in someone's yard. We waited for what seemed like forever for him to come down so I could get a better look at him, but eventually we had to move on to catch the bus.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Field notes for March 26, 2009
I'm a little behind in posting field observations since I just got the blog up and running, so I'm posting observations from my last few visits to Springbrook Park today.
March 26, 2009:
This was my first visit to the park this spring. I was excited to see which towhees had survived the winter and if any towhees that hatched last year had claimed territories in the park this year. Since my mom was visiting me from Ohio, I brought her along so she could see what it was all about. When we arrived near the tennis center I heard towhees calling right away. I saw an unbanded male hanging out in the tennis center area (North N3). He was perched in a tree and sat there calling for a long time. He was perched in such a good spot that I let my mom borrow my binoculars and she was able to get a good look at the towhee. An unbanded female soon appeared from the bushes, probably his mate. I ID'd a banded female towhee who was calling right next to the road in M2. Her band combination was ORBA. To read the towhees' band combinations, we start with the top band on the bird's left leg, then the bottom band (closest to the toes) on the bird's left leg, then the top and bottom of the bird's right leg. "A" stands for Aluminum (the silver band with the unique number on it), "B" = Blue, "G" = Green, "N" = Pink, "O" = Orange, "P" = Purple, "R" = Red, and "Y" = Yellow. Also in M2 I saw a male towhee calling near the road. I didn't see his left leg, but his right leg had R and A. To note that I hadn't seen his left leg, I noted his combination as ??RA.
On the North-South Primary trail in P6 I saw BBAG (a male) singing for about 5 minutes near the top of a pine. Last year BBAG's nest was just a few feet from the bench at the intersection of the North-South and East-West Primary trails. Last year we were able to catch BBAG's mate building the nest. BBAG is the father of YPAY and GAGO. YPAY was one of our 14 fledglings that we tracked via radio telemetry last year.
A little farther down the North-South Primary trail in R4-6 we saw BARO (a male) calling with an unbanded female foraging near him. In S4 YGAN (a male) and ??OA (a female) were foraging. ??OA is most likely PBOA, his mate from last year. They ended up with only one fledgling last year, BABY. BABY's brood mate was very small and disappeard from the nest a few days before BABY fledged. YGAN and PBOA's second nest was depredated later in the season. BABY was also one of our radio tagged fledglings.
In T and U 10 we saw BGAN (a male) calling and foraging with an unbanded female. I was pretty excited to see that BGAN was claiming a territory. He is the first of our fledglings from last year to return. BGAN is the son of a towhee that seemed to have an injured foot last year. We were never able to see his left leg because he always held it close to his body. His right leg combination was BR, so we called him StubBR.
In X15 I saw ??AN (a male) and ??AY (a female) foraging. They are most likely GOAN (the male) and GPAY (the female). GOAN and GPAY were prolific breeders last year. They had two successful nests with 3-4 fledglings each, and then unfortunately one nest that they seemed to abandon. The third nest was very late in the season, though, and we assumed they abandoned it because there wasn't enough food to feed the nestlings. Last year GOAN spent a lot of time in the backyard just across Wembley Park Road. I am worried that this year he might decide to nest over there and we won't be able to monitor the nest.
The leaves are starting to come out on many of the plants in the park. The new green leaves of the Indian Plum shrub are just starting to appear. Waterleaf is starting to emerge just a few centimeters above the ground. Hazelnut leaves are also just beginning to unfold.
All in all it was a wonderful first day back in the park. I'm excited about what the new season has to offer.
March 26, 2009:
This was my first visit to the park this spring. I was excited to see which towhees had survived the winter and if any towhees that hatched last year had claimed territories in the park this year. Since my mom was visiting me from Ohio, I brought her along so she could see what it was all about. When we arrived near the tennis center I heard towhees calling right away. I saw an unbanded male hanging out in the tennis center area (North N3). He was perched in a tree and sat there calling for a long time. He was perched in such a good spot that I let my mom borrow my binoculars and she was able to get a good look at the towhee. An unbanded female soon appeared from the bushes, probably his mate. I ID'd a banded female towhee who was calling right next to the road in M2. Her band combination was ORBA. To read the towhees' band combinations, we start with the top band on the bird's left leg, then the bottom band (closest to the toes) on the bird's left leg, then the top and bottom of the bird's right leg. "A" stands for Aluminum (the silver band with the unique number on it), "B" = Blue, "G" = Green, "N" = Pink, "O" = Orange, "P" = Purple, "R" = Red, and "Y" = Yellow. Also in M2 I saw a male towhee calling near the road. I didn't see his left leg, but his right leg had R and A. To note that I hadn't seen his left leg, I noted his combination as ??RA.
On the North-South Primary trail in P6 I saw BBAG (a male) singing for about 5 minutes near the top of a pine. Last year BBAG's nest was just a few feet from the bench at the intersection of the North-South and East-West Primary trails. Last year we were able to catch BBAG's mate building the nest. BBAG is the father of YPAY and GAGO. YPAY was one of our 14 fledglings that we tracked via radio telemetry last year.
A little farther down the North-South Primary trail in R4-6 we saw BARO (a male) calling with an unbanded female foraging near him. In S4 YGAN (a male) and ??OA (a female) were foraging. ??OA is most likely PBOA, his mate from last year. They ended up with only one fledgling last year, BABY. BABY's brood mate was very small and disappeard from the nest a few days before BABY fledged. YGAN and PBOA's second nest was depredated later in the season. BABY was also one of our radio tagged fledglings.
In T and U 10 we saw BGAN (a male) calling and foraging with an unbanded female. I was pretty excited to see that BGAN was claiming a territory. He is the first of our fledglings from last year to return. BGAN is the son of a towhee that seemed to have an injured foot last year. We were never able to see his left leg because he always held it close to his body. His right leg combination was BR, so we called him StubBR.
In X15 I saw ??AN (a male) and ??AY (a female) foraging. They are most likely GOAN (the male) and GPAY (the female). GOAN and GPAY were prolific breeders last year. They had two successful nests with 3-4 fledglings each, and then unfortunately one nest that they seemed to abandon. The third nest was very late in the season, though, and we assumed they abandoned it because there wasn't enough food to feed the nestlings. Last year GOAN spent a lot of time in the backyard just across Wembley Park Road. I am worried that this year he might decide to nest over there and we won't be able to monitor the nest.
The leaves are starting to come out on many of the plants in the park. The new green leaves of the Indian Plum shrub are just starting to appear. Waterleaf is starting to emerge just a few centimeters above the ground. Hazelnut leaves are also just beginning to unfold.
All in all it was a wonderful first day back in the park. I'm excited about what the new season has to offer.
Welcome to the new blog!
Thanks for stopping by! The purpose of this blog is to keep research assistants (and anyone else who is interested) up to date on our Spotted Towhee breeding season research in Springbrook Park in Lake Oswego, Oregon. I will be posting information on towhee nests that we have found, adults and nestlings that we have banded, day to day details, as well as other interesting natural history observations. I will be explaining more along the way about the purpose of the research and other relevant background information.
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