John V, Josh B, and I got out this week to kick off our second season of duck trapping and banding in RI. We were able to set traps three times this week, all at different locations. It was a complete success, we trapped and released 22 black ducks and approximately 200 mallards. Of those birds three were previously banded (a male mallard x black duck hybrid banded in New Brunswick 2007, a female mallard banded here in Rhode Island last summer and a male mallard without any info available) The rest were released with shiny new leg bands to carry with them wherever they may end up.
Lets hope we can keep the numbers up for the next few weeks. Here are some photos from week one of the project.
American Black Duck
Our main goal for the trapping/banding project.
As if 4am start times aren't bad enough!
A drake black duck that fell for the free corn.
pre-band
Getting a band
A hen mallard looks on as Josh records all her info.
John with a freshly banded hen mallard.
Two mallards and a black duck waiting in the crate.
An adult black duck wing. We use the primary coverts to establish their age (The second row of feathers just above the middle of the photo).
No comments:
Post a Comment