Well it has been an interesting past two days. My waders sprung a leak, and I also got water over the top of them, so left the field early to save my feet on Tuesday. I was speeding home on my ATV and got pulled over by a cop, who I told I couldn't even feel my feet and needed to get back quickly. He was very nice and told me with no ticket saying "Go get warmed up." After a shower, data entry and dinner, my friend and I decided to go out at 10:30pm and band some birds. On our way out, another researcher we know was looking excited, and we pulled over to the sound of "Dude, there is a RUFF out over there!" We drove down to the spot to find a full blown breeding male Ruff strutting around feeding. I didn't have my scope, but managed some IDable pics through my binoculars.
My waders leaked again today, so I had cold feet all day. I'll be
working on patching those up when they are dry. After finding four more
nests today and after dinner, most of our crew and some visiting
researchers went in search of the Ruff. Two groups had already been out to
look for it previously, but they didn't see it. Of course, that didn't
stop us from going out again. Sure enough, still feeding in the same spot
was the Ruff. This time I had my scope and got some decent pictures.
The bird is off the road quite a ways and not visible unless you walk out on the tundra. The only problem is you need a permit to walk on the tundra, which costs $50. Not bad if you are visiting and want to see some birds up close and get off the dirt roads. This Ruff could have been present for a while, and hopefully will stick around. I will be checking on him daily... hopefully. There were also King, Spectacled and Steller's Eiders close, along with Pacific Loons.
Also, today I banded my first Dunlin. I look forward to banding many more shorebirds when the nest searching term is up.
