As you may have noticed, posts dropped precipitously this fall. While the season was steeped in birds, I just didn’t have enough time to write about it! In September, I began a PhD program in Biology at the urban Rutgers University campus located in Newark, NJ. For several weekends, I joined Montclair State University’s ornithology class as they traveled around the state to stellar birding locations such as Brigantine and Cape May.
At Rutgers my focus will be birds. (Dear reader, do you expect anything else?) During the first semester, we were required to join a lab for mentoring purposes and pick a small project or skill to build upon. My adviser and I identified banding passerines for my mentoring project. Most of the following photos were taken by cellphone since the purpose of the activities were science, not photography.
Early in the season, I joined the New Jersey Meadowland Commission’s (NJMC) banding project:
In 2013, the NJMC banded 5,503 birds. More than 26,000 birds have been banded since the program began in 2008. The information helps researchers learn more about how habitats in the Meadowlands benefit migrating birds. (link)
The NJMC runs an extensive operation with as much as a dozen nets operating at once, capturing 200+ birds on a busy morning. On these days, they may have as many as 10-12 volunteers running the nets and banding the birds (hopefully!). Some nets require a quick bike ride to reach. It’s quite the challenge to bike and bird, but a greater challenge to bike and carry birds over one’s shoulder.
Early in the season I was at the Meadowlands about once a week, but as the season lengthened, things got busier and I was mostly at the Rutgers Station, pictured below.
Location of RUNBO: Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. Note the cart at the top right of the stairs. October 2014.
Claus and I decided to run the station twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, opening on Mondays if a day had been rained out. Compared to the Meadowlands set up, you might think our set up was rather drab, but how many banding observatories do you know of with a Starbucks close enough to hit between net runs?
On my first day in the Meadowlands, one of our first captures was an American Kestrel. As my previous research focused on the kestrel, the other banders decided this was most auspicious.
Early catch at the Meadowlands. Meadowlands Banding Program. September 2014.
At Rutgers, in addition to banding birds twice weekly, we conducted two point counts, a deathwalk, and Claus leads bird walks on Wednesdays in October and May. I’ve outlined our fieldsite below in classy yellow.
RUNBO field site located in urban Newark, NJ.
The above map indicates the location of our banding station, “RUNBO”, the Rutgers University Banding Observatory, our fancy name for our banding cart; the location of our two nets (in previous seasons there was a Net 2); and the path we walk on our deathcount, or deathwalk.
The deathcount, or deathwalk, is a lap we do around the interior of the quad to collect any of the poor migrants who fly into the glass surfaces. To date, we have a freezer with ~400 frozen bodies.
New friend; male Common Yellowthroat. Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. October 2014.
However, sometimes we find more than corpses. This young fellow, an immature male Common Yellowthroat was only stunned. I picked him up, and having nowhere else to put him safely where he could recovered from his befuddled state gave him a ride. He stayed with me for most of the perimeter until we encountered a stunned (or stunning?) female Common Yellowthroat. The immature male instantly recovered and demonstrated his prowess by immediately flying into a nearby window, not once, but twice.
Red-eyed Vireo. Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. October 2014.
We mostly catch Common Yellowthroats and various Sparrows, but sometimes we get an unusual visitor. Pictured above was a silly challenge to identify correctly. You don’t often get good looks at this fellow: a Red-eyed Vireo. Note the lack of red-eye in this photo – very deceiving!
Male Black-throated Blue Warbler recuperates before departure on a cold morning. Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. October 2014.
After removing them from the nets, and placing a USGS band on the leg, we release them. Sometimes however, they’re more content to remain in the hand, particularly when it’s a bit nippy out.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Note the fiery red cap. Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. October 2014.
This fellow looks quite fierce, but like the Black-throated Blue Warbler, he stayed in the hand before heading for the bush.
Rare Yellow-breasted Chat visits campus. Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. October 2014.
One of our most exciting captures was this Yellow-breasted Chat. Not only did we get one, but we got two. (And we know they were different individuals thanks to the bands!) It was also a lifer. (I saw it later perched in a London Plane tree.)
A common visitor, the American Woodcock. Rutgers Newark Banding Observatory. October 2014.
A surprising, but common find, are American Woodcocks. What is most unusual about this one is the fact it is alive (or at least was at the time of the photo). All too often we find these birds dead or dying due to collisions with the glass.
So why do wildlife studies in Newark? What’s the draw? While tropical and remote sites are fascinating to visit (until you acquire a botfly!), many areas are highly developed requiring the wildlife to interact with them in novel ways. So often we look to study pristine regions in hopes of conserving them and we forget about the natural places right close to home for most of us.
So lots of birds, just not lots of words.
birdworthy 