all in a days work

Yesterday was mostly a bust due to rain almost the entire day. Last night when I did my last weather check it was 100% chance of rain again for today, so I slept in, which was great, except the rain never materialized (or if it did, it was overnight). Chance of rain was 10% for the rest of the day!

So I got a late start - I didn't arrive to my plot until 10:00. The birds were singing like crazy today - a great day to be tracking birds. I monitored the 2 nests I found at 3M last week - 1 is active and the other, well ? I found another seemingly complete nest only 50 m from the ? nest and no female on either. BUT a female foraging nearby the entire time I was in the area (>40 mins) and 2 males were singing nearby. So I don't know what is going on there. After I gave up trying, I stumbled upon another nest. I waited 20 mins to determine if the nest was active, and as I was finally walking away sullenly, I saw a female fly in and add material! After that, I found 2 more nests with nestlings.

FINALLY! I beat myself finally! This is my 5th season and my first 4-nest day. Many 3 nests days, but never more. So this is me, tooting my own horn, for finally beating myself. I may have even bested that, but I had to set up a camera at the nest with the incubating girl mentioned earlier and 1 of the ones found today with nestlings. All of that hauling and moving equipment and waiting around watching the adults take time so I ended up in the field til 7:00. But 4 nests and 2 cameras make it all worth it.