Last Friday, Lauren, Marisa, Matt, and I all went out to do some maintenance work on our MAPS station. We straightened, and in some cases, re-staked net poles, and Matt bravely used the cantankerous weed whacker to clear out vegetation beneath the nets. It is important to keep the area under a net free of any obstructions (including vegetation), because they can get caught in the net and therefore render it visible to birds in the area, or even damage the nets.
Our MAPS station has some really fascinating habitat surrounding it; although the station is sited at a small creek (Canyon Creek), the surrounding area is native shortgrass prairie used for cattle grazing. The dichotomy between the birds present at the MAPS station and the birds of the grasslands is actually quite pronounced, despite the small physical distance. Passing by the shortgrass & sage brush pastures, we saw a Long-billed curlew mate pair with a fledgling, a killdeer fledgling, sharp-tailed grouse, and even a sage grouse (of Cecil Sagehen fame). I approached the killdeer fledgling to take a better picture, and as it scampered away, its mother flew down on my right-hand side, pretending that she was seriously injured by shuffling awkwardly in the grass and holding one wing out awkwardly to the side. This act is known as a broken-wing display and its purpose is to distract predators from eating young by a parent feigning injury (therefore presenting him- or herself as an easy kill). Additionally, when I tried to approach the long-billed curlew fledgling, the parents started circling overhead calling very loudly and aggressively.
Killdeer fledgling in the middle of the two track (barely visible in the grass).
Curlew parent circling overhead (note how HUGE the clouds in Montana are!)
We subsequently did another waterfowl survey at a reservoir across from a local park (Faraason park), and I had another lifetime first—tree swallows! They have the most gorgeous bright turquoise back that is iridescent in the right light. We also saw willets, Northern shovelers with a shy duckling, American coots (2 of which were swimming together, potentially a mate pair), and many red-winged blackbirds. There was even a pelican, and from the sight of it, she had laid eggs in a shallow scrape on an embankment in the middle of the reservoir.
One really funny thing was that a bunch of cattle approached our truck, and we guessed that they were used to being fed from trucks. They were all pretty young, probably yearlings.
Cows surrounding the truck. Note the cow rubbing its face on the rim.
Yesterday (Saturday, 6/20), Lauren, Marisa, and I went to the “Red-Bottom Days”, a celebration and gathering of many Native American ethnic groups. The hosts were the Red Bottom clan of Fort Peck, and among the festivities were traditional dance competitions. All of the performers (okay, well, most of the performers—there were a few kids who were too young to dance all that well) did an excellent job, and perhaps the most exciting event was the first competition to be the traveling princess. A group of nearly 20 young women competed in traditional dance forms, and ultimately, the princess for 2009-2010 was crowned. The category of fancy dances for men included dance styles and clothing accessories highly reminiscent of sage grouse, particularly their tail feathers. Pictures will be coming soon!
Finally, I want to give a huge shoutout for Father’s Day! Happy Father’s Day! Or alternatively, Happy Parents’ Day! (this is for those of us who aren’t good about remembering both parent holidays, or just want to combine them into one more convenient event.)
Tags: cows, curlew, fledgling, indigenous people, killdeer, native american, pelican, red bottom