Approaching Purple Martin Season

The new purple martin season is upon us. Here in Southeast Texas (at least at my colony) they begin showing up around the first few weeks of February. If you have not done scheduled maintanence, repairs, etc. on your housing you best get busy they'll be here before you know it!
If you are not a member of the PMCA (Purple Martin Conservation Association), I would highly advise joining. They publish a great quarterly magazine, The Purple Martin Update, that has great articles and photographs, and will help further your knowledge of this beautiful swallow and how to maintain your colony. I built and maintain an index to this magazine that is located on their website for an easy search of articles.

If you have a colony or are interested in beginning one and have questions, you can email me and/or check out the PMCA's website which contains tons of info on purple martins.

Banding Birds

If you ever have the opportunity to band birds, by all means participate. I had the extraordinary experience of being involved in a bird banding project in the Big Thicket National Preserve. The project was part of a nationwide bird-monitoring program known as MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship). Through mist netting and banding birds during the breeding season it helps monitor shifts in bird populations that are impacted by factors such as climate change and loss of habitat. I have always wanted to do this not only to see how it is done, but to also be able to hold a live bird in my hands and see it really up close. We arrived at 5:00 a.m. and began setting up a series of 10 mist nets in a loop pattern around 6:00 a.m. The nets are made up of a black, fine mesh that is practically invisible to the birds as it blends into the forested background. Every hour we would walk the loop and check the nets for birds. Birds captured are delicately removed from the netting and then placed into a soft protective bag and then carried to the data collection station where they are identified, aged, sexed, weighed, and general condition noted. It is then banded with an aluminum numbered band (unless it was previously banded), and then released back into the wild. If your interested check with your local Audubon Society to see if they know of anyone needing volunteers to help with banding projects. It's an experience you'll never forget.

A Cat in the Reeds

Back in May of this year while checking out the birdlife along Highway 87 in Sabine Pass, TX, I decided to stop off at The Willow Pond Birding Trail aka "The Willows", a small marshy parcel of willow trees, bamboo reeds, and salt cedars near Sea Rim State Park. This area along with the Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) Sabine Woods about 8 miles up the road are well known migrant traps during the spring and fall. I was trying to get a photograph of a very active American redstart when I began hearing something treading through the thick bamboo near the edge of the 1/4 mile boardwalk that snakes through the area. Not 15 foot from me a bobcat hops up onto the walkway. The fur on its legs was damp from the marsh it had been trudging through and its trademark "bobbed" tail pointed skyward. I immediately froze where I stood fearing it would bolt as soon as it recognized what I was. I slowly began to raise my camera hoping not to miss this photo op. I began to take picture after picture as it remained static maintaining its intense glare in my direction. They are usually very secretive and wary, but this particular one seemed undisturbed by my being there, probably because it was accustomed to the presence of the many birdwatchers that frequent this area. After a few minutes it nonchalantly walked in the opposite direction down the walkway, stopping once to groom itself, then hopping silently back into the thicket of bamboo. I never heard it make another sound after that. I never even heard it touch the ground. I walked to the area where it had jumped and saw nothing. It was gone like an apparition....like it never had even existed.

Blog Under construction

Journals of an Amateur Naturalist, is currently under construction. As this blog develops I hope to share my experiences as I observe, identify, photograph, and write about the many species of animals and plants that cross my path in the wild.

NOTE: ALL WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHS ON JOURNAL OF AN AMATUER NATURALIST ARE EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OF JACE STANSBURY EXCEPT WHERE OTHERWISE NOTED. ANY USE IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT PERMISSION.