View Single Post
  #4  
Old May 27th, 2011, 09:57 AM
hazelrunpack's Avatar
hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
The Pack's Head Servant
Chopper Challenge Champion, Mini KickUps Champion, Bugz Champion, Snakeman Steve Champion, Shape Game Champion, Mumu Champion, Mouse Race Champion
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Just east of the Hazelnut Patch, Wisconsin
Posts: 53,771
The mist nets are so fine that most birds don't see them before they hit them. There are also pockets that run the length of the nets and the birds often fall into them. Sometimes some feathers get rumpled, but a little preening will fix that.

Here an American goldfinch male (already getting yellow and putting on his dark cap) hangs in the net, probably trying to figure out what just happened.

Name:  Waiting goldfinch 3-30-11.jpg
Views: 264
Size:  108.3 KB

The bird is carefully extracted from the nets. The banders always do this part bare-handed so they can always monitor exactly how firmly they're holding the birds. This is one way they prevent injury to them.

Name:  Careful extraction from the mist net 3-30-11.jpg
Views: 251
Size:  100.5 KB

Once free of the nets, the birds are placed in cotton sacks until it's time to collect the data.

Name:  A downy about to be bagged 3-30-11.jpg
Views: 257
Size:  115.9 KB

Typically, it only takes at most a handful of minutes between the bird hitting the net and the release after processing.
__________________
"We are--each of us--dying; it's how we live in the meantime that makes the difference."

"It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived!"

"Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."
Reply With Quote