Gotta love the courtship displays!

The terns have started landing and displaying courtship behaviors…even a little nest scraping going on. This is the first time I’ve come into a tern colony that WASN’T inhabited prior to my arrival. Granted, there might have been only a few terns hanging out at the other colonies…but at least there was that. The terns here only hang out until 11a.m. or so and then take off. If there not staying the night by next week…then it’s time for concern. It’s a lot colder up here and the terns are slower to settle in…from what I’ve been told.

Saw an odd thing today…I walked out the door and saw a sheep on its back with all four legs up in the air. I finally took a walk over to see what was up…hoping it’d get up and be on its merry way. Nope…the poor thing couldn’t even roll over on its side to right itself. The sheep was a mother…her lamb was trying to nurse and wouldn’t leave her side. So…I went and got alex and asked him to help me roll her over. Just a little heave ho was all it took…her and her lamb took off running…stopping to stand and stare at us from afar. Her wool on her back was smooshed down…it looked pretty funny. I don’t know how long she lay like that… could’ve been 2 or more hours. Ya know…sometimes us fat, fluffy gals just need a little heave ho to get them going!

We need to do a little night survey tonight…get out the ole night vision goggles and make sure that there aren’t any predators keeping the terns from staying overnight. It’s not going to be an all-nighter thing…just two hours each. Hopefully, I won’t see a darn thing…one predator like an owl or falcon…can wipe out an entire colony. At this stage in the game… a predator can keep the colony from nesting at all. I for one didn’t come out here solely for tipping sheep back over…I came for the terns.

Updated bird list:
Black and white warbler
Magnolia warbler
Yellow-billed cuckoo
Red-breasted nuthatch
Least sandpiper
Savannah sparrow
Baltimore oriole
Gray catbird
Blue Jay

Not much else is happening. I plan on calling the family tomorrow sometime. My niece Christi is having her baby tomorrow….caesarian… so she got to pick the date. My second great-nephew will be named Phoenix Nathaniel. I wish I could be there, but that would’ve meant passing up this job…and I just couldn’t do that. I’ll see him in august.
Keep in touch!!