The mealworms are next to the milk.

The best way to find fledglings that are hiding in the scrub is to feed their parents and helpers at the nest mealworms. Live ones are best. So we keep ours in the refrigerator in a nice cotton sack next to the milk. Finding fledglings is harder than I thought it would be. You feed the adults in hopes that they will then fly off to give those tasty morsels to the fledglings… but they’re just hoping you’ll leave… so they can fly off and give those tasty morsels to the fledglings. I went to a territory to find some fledglings the other day that have a super dad. When Travis was doing provisioning watches on their nest almost nothing could distract him from flying to the pasture nearby to get some food, and then making a bee-line for the nest, over and over again. So needless to say, these little guys were well fed. When I finally located one of them in a scrub oak the little guy flew about 6 meters to try and get away from me. This is huge in Scrub Jay fledgling land. I was only briefly amused though, as I still couldn’t read his bands, and needed to figure out who it was. This is the look that says it all… “Maybe you can’t see me if I sit reallllly still…”


I’ve been out to do “Day 11s” with Travis and Michelle a few times. “Day 11s” are done when the nestlings are 11 days old, and consist of banding, taking blood samples, and taking morphological measurements. The second territory we went to today had some particularly whiny little nestlings. I enjoy how their little heads bobble around and their gangly legs kick, somehow thinking they might get away.


I also went out with Travis one morning to watch him capture an adult male, again, to take blood samples related to a project he is doing, and morphological measurements. To capture the adults we use wire traps. You bait the trap with peanuts, and then watch for when the Jay can’t resist the pile sitting just out of reach, and hops into the trap, tripping the door. The male we trapped was surprisingly quiet. I expected him to make a fuss and be squawking quite a bit. You could tell he didn’t like it. But as soon as he was released with a peanut he seemed a bit soothed. Peanuts make it all better…


In other news, I still hate prickly pear cacti. But they are pretty in bloom.


I’m 75% sure I saw a Coral Snake this morning, and apparently Travis saw Edward and Brad going at it again.

My time here at Archbold is almost done. In a week I will be making my way out west for the next chapter in my adventure. The return to Sheldon, and Badger Cabin is on the horizon… I wonder if Cletus is still there…