Kern River Preserve Spring Festival Days 

          On Sunday, May 3, Mark and I went to the Kern River Preserve, outside of Lake Isabella, for one of their Spring Festival Days.  It was extremely blustery but the winds were warm, a vast improvement from the cold overcast skies we left that Sunday morning in Tehachapi.

          As soon as we got there, we found our bearings by checking out the many nature displays and vendors in the headquarters parking lot. Most importantly we asked where the trail was and we were on our way. We had never been there before so everything was new and exciting. The well maintained trail led us along a nicely flowing creek with willows, cottonwoods and elms growing along its banks. There was a trail of bluebird houses with closely neighboring swallow homes. We saw lots of both species while we walked.                           

         Because the winds were up the birds were down. We didn't get to see as many birds as we would have liked, but the walk along this very level trail was well worth the trip. I'm looking forward to going back when the wind is calmer. Next time I'd take some peppermint for bug control, a hat for sunny spots and a lunch to eat in the shade.                      

        The real highlight of our trip was participating in the banding of an American Robin. Most of us know that banding is a process where a bird is gently captured in a flight net. It is then weighted, sexed, the length is measured and the age is approximated by such things as the wear and tear and colors the flight feathers. All of this data is recorded and then organized. The information is then used to track individual birds through-out their life span and help analyze movements of populations and annual production levels of species. All this information increases our knowledge and understanding of birds and their habits.

                                                     A bird in the bag.

                                            Is weighted

                                                        Measured.

                                                   Banded

                       All data collected and organized.

                                          A final goodbye.....

                                ....and thanks to the banding crew!

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Richard Sparks said:

	Great photos! Mary, Thanks for sharing your experience. I really enjoyed the photos. There's always so much to do during spring migration that I'm bound to skip something good. It's great when I can hear what I missed. Richard
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May 7, 2009
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