Whimbrel Capture: April 29-May 1

On the morning of April 29th, we got up early again to try to catch whimbrel. The tide was extremely low and took a lot longer to come in than expected because of wind. We had to leave by 9:30 am though, to make another attempt at catching sparrows, so we didn't have much of an opportunity to catch whimbrel. We did however catch 7 sparrows, including 5 Nelson's, 1 seaside, and 2 saltmarsh sparrows. We tried again in the afternoon to catch whimbrel, but the low tide had so many mud flats open for foraging. A few eagles flushed the birds numerous times, but the whimbrel never came in to our net sites. A northern harrier also flew over the marsh a few times.

northern harrier

juvenile bald eagle

Yesterday, we woke up early with hopes of catching some whimbrel. We barely saw any, unfortunately. Any we did see were at a distance and being constantly flushed by bald eagles. The high tide was pretty low, so there was still a lot of mud flat exposed, giving the whimbrel more space to forage with no need to come into our trap sites.
Today, the whimbrel actually came into Box Tree marsh as the tide rose!!! Small groups came near the nets or flew just over, but none ever landed in the trap area. The high tide was pretty low again, which gives the whimbrel no need to come into the trap sites. A peregrine made an appearance in the morning, as did a juvenile bald eagle. The shorebirds are so on edge from all of the raptor activity at Box Tree lately that they even flush when turkey vulture or osprey fly over.  Despite the lack of chances to catch whimbrel, the Box Tree Marsh dock (built by the watermen that lives at the dock) is a great place to see a variety of wildlife throughout the day.

barn swallows are common at the dock, and nest on the porch of a nearby home

willet are common around the dock...this one is taking an afternoon siesta

an American lady on the refuge

diamondback terrapin frequently float by the dock

this Forster's tern perched on a dock post close to our table

Hopefully tomorrow we will have better luck catching whimbrel, and the high tide will start working to our benefit.