December 4, 2011
Have you ever watched one of those TV shows where someone insists they’ve been abducted by aliens? They talk about being restrained, poked and prodded and probed, and how they may or may not have a piece of alien technology installed somewhere on their bodies.
August 12, 2011
As the field season comes to a close, activities wind down and the ELOSH Recovery field staff have an opportunity to reflect on their experience. We are lucky to be able to spend our days working outdoors in the beautiful countryside, but it’s not all milk and honey. With my own surveys and the aid [...]
August 4, 2011
Whew! We’ve almost made it through a full season of shrike breeding here at Carden and have managed to escape with most of our sanity. All of our young captive-born birds have left their nests and many are well on their way to take the leap (or should we say the flight) into the wild. [...]
July 8, 2011In my last update I shared the exciting news of finding a 2010 geolocator bird in Dyer’s Bay. Having caught the bird and removed the tag successfully, the final step was to download the data recorded on the geolocator. This technology works by recording light levels as the bird travels. A small battery should allow [...]
July 4, 2011
By: Alexandre MacPhail The longer days and warm breezes all point to summer’s arrival. The synchronized concerto of blossoming hawthorns and prairie smoke mirror the return of chirping insects and warbling birds throughout Carden. Nevertheless, the uncanny beauty of the alvar overshadows a sombre reality that the species living on this land are in dire [...]
July 1, 2011
Hello again from Ellen and Myra! It’s halfway though July and breeding season is at its peak up here in Dyer’s Bay. While we have yet to release our first batch of fledglings, many of our shrike pairs have made it to the second round and their latest nests are in the process of hatching. [...]
June 30, 2011
Summer is here and nestling and fledgling shrikes abound. And the more shrikes we have, the more food we need to prepare for them so they can grow healthy and strong. We wanted to share with you how being a Shrike Captive Technician can sometimes be the grossest job in the world, mostly due to [...]
June 13, 2011
Hello again from Grey-Bruce! A lot has changed here since the last field update. The days have gotten much warmer, the early blooms of the Yellow Trout-lily have been replaced with Yellow Lady’s-slipper, my blood has nourished dozens of black flies, but the total count of known Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes (ELOSH) remained the same… that [...]
June 4, 2011
Baby Eastern Loggerhead Shrikes! Almost all of our cages have nestlings already, and those that don’t are just taking their time to make sure they get it right. There was a few weeks there where we sat and watched each cage, as they sat and watched us, while they sat on their eggs – and [...]
May 20, 2011
When winter finally relinquishes its icy grip, when snowdrifts give way to coursing waters and the sun begins to feebly shine, the time to spring into fashion is upon us. This applies not only to sophisticated models strutting catwalks the world over, but also to WPC captive breeding technicians as they go about their daily [...]
