Blue Goose ~ Day 108

September 15, 2014 ~ Shady Side, MD to Pocomoke, MD

Faith had to get the commuter bus to DC at 0700 so I dropped her off at a large parking lot already full of cars and went on to Patuxent NWR, 45 minutes north, arriving at 0745. The VC didn't open until 0900, but I walked nearby short trails as the sun came over the trees. Patuxent is officially a Research NWR so I wondered what exactly that means. It has three sections: South Tract, Central Tract and North Tract. The Central Tract is not open to visitors and is the main research area. The North Tract was part of Fort Meade and was transferred to the USFWS in the 1990s. Patuxent also has a partnership with the US Geological Survey and is unique in that regard. All a bit mysterious but perhaps it's just my imagination.

Patuxent Reseaerch NWR - MD

The entrance to the VC on the South Tract is at the end of a mile-long access road through beautiful hardwoods. The land surrounding Washington DC has an abundance of mature preserved woodland in addition to all the inlets, creeks and rivers that flow into the Chesapeake. 

As always, there were trails and roads so the public can experience a part of the refuge. I wandered through a Pollinator Garden in the School Yard Habitat near the headquarters. There are regular tram tours, bird walks, a Honey Harvest Festival this coming Saturday....many events and programs for the public each month and many signs along the trails acknowledging pioneer conservationists.

I met a gentleman with binoculars who at first seemed to be an employee but on closer inspection, all the sewn-on badges were of a paramilitary nature, and he seemed a wishful paramilitary, as much of his conversation was about which parts of the refuge were not accessible to the public. He was a bit dismissive of the reasons given...reasons like "unexploded ordinance" or "ya know...after 9/11....." or, "You could probably go there, since you're not from around here and could say you didn't know..." He was friendly though and seemed knowledgeable about birds. While we were talking I saw an Indigo Bunting but immediately thought it could be a Blue Grosbeak and then it flew before I could get a better look. This is an example of what separates a fully competent birder (not me....yet) from a moderate birder (me). I did see a male Scarlet Tanager in fall plumage, a few warblers, Carolina Chickadees, nuthatches... The birds are mostly quietly foraging in the canopy these days and require long periods of looking nearly straight up...hard on the neck, and the trees are still full of leaves so often quick unsatisfying glimpses are all I get. Still, with perseverance one can see much more than is first apparent. Birds are certainly around since they are migrating south now, but they are less vocal than in spring. 

When I stopped at theVC, the volunteer told me that Whooping Cranes are one of the big research projects at Patuxent. I found this reference from May of 2014:  

REFUGEASSOCIATION.ORG

The captive flock at Patuxent began in 1966 with the arrival of a juvenile whooping crane, captured from the Canadian flock after it broke its wing. Patuxent had already been working with other endangered species, and had made plans to work on whooping cranes. It was a natural transition, and has turned out to be a success. Currently about 70 cranes are on the refuge, not including this year’s reproduction...John French, Research Manager at USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, showing how the researchers use the fake crane head to teach the chicks where to eat and drink. Researchers are actively breeding whooping cranes at Patuxent. Eggs are typically laid between mid April to early June depending on the year, and are hatched 30 days later. The cranes usually lay eggs in pairs, and when those eggs are removed, the cranes will lay more. Researchers can sometimes extract up to seven eggs per pair of cranes. The eggs are collected from the nests and brought indoors to a facility where they are incubated until hatching. Once hatched, the chicks are raised on the refuge for reintroduction to the wild.

As the chicks grow, the researchers working on the project teach the baby cranes everything they need to know. They dress in an all-white suits and use a fake crane head (shown in the picture on the right) to reduce the chance of humans imprinting on the young birds. The chicks learn where to get water, where to get food, and in some cases how to fly.

The birds are entered into one of two different reintroduction programs. In one program, the whooping cranes stay on the refuge for about six months after they hatch. During this time, they learn how to fly while on the refuge. At six months, they are then taken to coastal Louisiana, which is part of their native range. They will stay there the rest of their lives since this population does not migrate.

In the second reintroduction program, the birds are moved off of the refuge between five to seven weeks after hatching. These birds are mostly grown, but have not fledged and therefore cannot fly. These birds are taken to Wisconsin where researchers use ultralight aircraft to teach the birds to fly and migrate. Following the ultralight aircraft on their first migration, the birds migrate north with the rest of the flock, and then return to Wisconsin in the winter.

The refuge was serene on this early September kids-back-in-school morning, warm, sunny and very quiet. The VC had impressive exhibits and outreach programs for school kids and mentally challenged adults who love to "touch the fur" and "punch the interactive buttons" the volunteer told me.

After leaving Patuxent (and still kind of wondering what other research they do), I drove back east over the Bay Bridge and south to Pocomoke in brilliant sunshine. There was supposed to be a Starbuck's in Salisbury, and it was rush hour when I got in the general area. I never did find it which occasionally happens, so just kept going after making a couple of U-turns from busy roads and listening to my phone tell me it was "re-routing." Which was fine as I had also stopped in Easton for two hours to catch up with this blog. It was more rural the farther south I went. Tall Loblolly pines lined the main road in between the open fields and towns. I remembered to stop at a liquor store and bought wine and later Gouda cheese, crackers and deli potato salad in Walmart for dinner.

Faith has been on the 5-2 eating program for several months: Eat all you want for five days of the week and only 400-500 calories on two days. It has worked well for her and the semi-fasting days are good for us. I thought I might try it to impose discipline on my bad food choices lately, but completely forgot about until I ate too many nutritionally weak calories, including a Starbuck's Rice-Krispy cookie (very good, BTW). My days of somewhat faithful yoga, walking, drinking enough water, vitamins, arm weights, sit-ups and eating at least four fruits and/or veggies have been seriously and detrimentally disrupted. Jeez, who can I blame????

Patuxent NWR - MD