After a long hard week of school/midterms the weather warmed up and the spring birds arrived 2 weks early. On my way out to my proff's place to check the Goshawk trap I noticed this female kestrel hunting in an abandoned farmyard just off the main highway. As soon as the trap was placed she came in like a heat seeking missile and was caught almost instantly.
Female kestrel
After banding her and taking a few measurements she was released and I was back on my way. I decided to check out the area south of Lindsay where most of the snowy owls turned up this past winter. I found 3 snowies, one younger male who was sleeping on a fence post. Another kestrel flew over and landed on the wires to the north. It was a male and he was caught just as fast as the female before him. Banded, measured then released.
After banding her and taking a few measurements she was released and I was back on my way. I decided to check out the area south of Lindsay where most of the snowy owls turned up this past winter. I found 3 snowies, one younger male who was sleeping on a fence post. Another kestrel flew over and landed on the wires to the north. It was a male and he was caught just as fast as the female before him. Banded, measured then released.
Male Kestrel
After all that was done I headed back to school to meet up with Dave. He asked me to go out and try for some more after seeing the pictures of the two, so we headed out for another stint. All we could come up with though was a northern shrike which didn't waste anytime after the trap was dropped. After loosing a few drops of blood and alot of skin (Dave and myself) Shrikes are the worst possible bird to band! We set it free. It was a SY (second year) bird.
After all that was done I headed back to school to meet up with Dave. He asked me to go out and try for some more after seeing the pictures of the two, so we headed out for another stint. All we could come up with though was a northern shrike which didn't waste anytime after the trap was dropped. After loosing a few drops of blood and alot of skin (Dave and myself) Shrikes are the worst possible bird to band! We set it free. It was a SY (second year) bird.
Northern Shrike
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