Greetings,

Today I had the unfortunate fortune of banding my last day at an offsite for this season as a bird bander at the Palomarin Field Station. It was kind of bittersweet to finish up my last day at an offsite, but one thing should go without saying, it was an amazing day to be banding. Not only did we see great birds at the sight including Black-headed Grosbeaks, Western Wood-Pewees with chicks, and Lesser Goldfinches, but we also caught some great birds including California Towhee, a Swainson’s Thrush without tail feathers (funny looking) and best of all a Second Year male Lazuli Bunting (see below).

All that is left now is a single day at Palo on Sunday and my work for PRBO will officially be over for the season. I am sad to see it end, but also VERY ready. A full season as a bird bander is a lot of hard work with early mornings, long hours in the field, and many hours looking over scores of data. This will all soon be over, and before I know it, Ryan will be out here in CA with me and I will have time to enjoy all of these sights in a way that I have yet to. It will be great, and I can’t wait for our X-country trip to begin…oops did I mention a cross country trip? More on that later. For now, enjoy the pics!

~Chad (07/28/2006)