2 Jul 2009
CREAMER’S VANDALISM CONTINUES…
ABO has experienced a rash of vandalism this spring and summer. Twelve of our Tree Swallow nesting boxes were destroyed in late May and our bird banding station was vandalized in early June.
Unfortunately, vandalism to the Tree Swallow nesting boxes has continued. We have lost three additional boxes in the last two weeks–all of them had nestlings. In conjunction with the stress from the cool, rainy weather, this has been a very difficult season for our Creamer’s Field swallows.
Please keep your eye out while walking at Creamer’s Field, especially in the evenings. If you notice any suspicious activity, please call the Alaska State Troopers at 451-5100.
Students rebuild nesting boxes at ABO!
30 Jun 2009
Tree Swallow Nest Box Update
On Friday June 12, students in ABO’s mentoring program worked together with ABO staff, interns, and community volunteers to build 17 Tree Swallow nesting boxes. These boxes will replace the ones that were vandalized in late May.
Many thanks to the following people who donated money, time, & materials to help us replace the damaged boxes: Marvin Hassebroek, Tank, Charles & Mary Hamby, Virginia Valentine, Robert Drozda & Lenore Heppler, Terri John, Jean Erickson, Kathie & Harry Cook, Barbara Logan, Sally & Joe Galbraith, Carol Scott, Bill & Martha Kapplin, Dermot Cole, and Chris Watson.
Thank you!
Nesting Tree Swallows hit hard by 2-day rain event
27 Jun 2009
At Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, this past week’s 2-day rain event posed a grave challenge for our population of Tree Swallows. Swallow parents were unable to acquire sufficient food for their nestlings during the hard rains, and unfortunately several boxes of nestlings were lost. Entire clutches were lost from five boxes, and in two of the boxes, only some nestlings were found dead. The losses of these nest boxes demonstrate how critical it is for swallow parents to get food to their young during the early nesting period and how reliant these birds are on flying insects. After flying thousands of miles to get here to breed, these birds literally put all of their eggs in one basket–this year’s young are lost for several swallow pairs and because of the short time-frame for nesting here, there’s really no time to re-nest. The good news is that although we’ve lost several boxes of nestlings because of the weather, many nests are still active and
should be fledging in the next few weeks.
A pair of Tree Swallows sit atop a nest box at Creamer’s Field. (ABO Photo)
Bird of the Day: 1 July 2009- Alder Flycatcher
1 Jul 2009
I’ve wanted for some years to get decent photos of Alder Flycatchers. They are only in Alaska for a limited time each year. In fact, they arrive late (usually not until the first week of June) and depart early (by mid-July) for the fastest breeding season of any interior Alaska songbird. Essentially they get in, breed, and get out. This short time in AK is preceded and followed by long migrations to and from southern South America.
I made this image near the top of Murphy Dome, a mountain northwest of Fairbanks. I’d been in the area a few days before conducting a breeding bird survey so I knew they were around. It took me a while to find a cooperative bird, but once I did, I was able to get several decent images including the one above. I used a tripod mounted digital SLR and a 500mm f4 lens.
-David Shaw/ABO Research Biologist
