I apologize to my followers as it has been a few weeks since I last wrote a blog post. We spent all of the second and the majority of the third week of May in Forest Service training workshops. We spent weeks three and four in the field, catching up on nest searching, performing nest checks, and conducting eagle surveys. We were lucky enough to catch a break in the rainy weather, enabling the crew to deploy nest-monitoring cameras on 75 different dusky Canada goose nests. Some goose eggs hatched, while others suffered varying forms of depredation. The crew collects the cameras from those nests with already known nest fates, regardless of success or failure, and deploys these cameras on new nests from late nesting or re-nesting geese.














Pictured on the left: A dusky Canada goose nest on one of a few hundred artificial nest islands constructed to help the geese avoid terrestrial predators and boost nest success. Pictured on the right: Many dusky Canada geese prefer to utilize slough banks as preferred nesting sites.
















Eagle surveys are an integral part to answering the dusky nest predator puzzle. We conduct eagle counts along the Alaganic River, in addition to those counts conducted within our two predetermined nest searching test plots. Increased eagle abundance caused by increases in alternative prey (i.e. not the dusky geese) may have apparent competition implications for those dusky Canada geese nesting on the Copper River Delta.




Examples of varying forms of dusky Canada goose nest fates. Pictured on the left is an abandoned nest, while the nest pictured on the right is a typical depredated nest. Nest cameras will reveal more details confirming the fates of these nests and the associated causes.










Above and to the left a northern pintail flushes from its nest (pictured above and to the right).



A depredated gull nest and possible depredated gull. Gulls, as well as other nesting birds, deal with some of the same nest predators as dusky Canada geese. 


The Alaganic River and its associated sloughs are tidally influenced, causing a constant change in current and water level.


Some of the first dusky goslings of the year

A moose cow with her two new calves. The delta is filled with iconic wildlife.   


One of many scenic hikes during my time off between trips to camp.
































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