A bit colder this morning. -6F and clear. Once again, I got up and switched the batteries. There was no new snow on the ground, so I made sure to use the tracks I made yesterday. It's not too clear if the birds get freaked out by fresh tracks. I have been trying to notice the answer to that question for a while, but it has yet to become clear. I have tried certain bait stations using only snowshoes and others without. Only time can tell....
Fewer birds seem to be interested in the bait this morning. I had expected otherwise since it was so clod. I figured that the birds would go to a known food source first to try and get the much needed food for warmth. Just when you think you have it figured out...
No birds really used the river bait today. There were two ravens and a magpie over by the park bait, along with a lot of mammal tracks. We didn't walk up to check on the status of the bait, but it looked like some was still there at least. On the way back into Kelly, we glassed 3 ravens perched in a cottonwood snag. There was definitely a mated pair, plus another. One of the mated pair was banded. After a while of waiting and watching them allopreen, I got the read; green band B/A. That was a bird banded at the office last winter with Peggy (a raven with a broken leg that we also caught). I thought I was onto something for a while because B/A's mate had "ears" while they were allopreening, and I thought B/A was a male. Turns out she's a female (DNA testing). More obs on that question later I suppose. It seems fewer magpies (~5) were at the office today feeding on the excess bait.
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