I arrived at Sand Prairie today with my banding gear, only to find nest #7 completely devoid of any birds. I don't believe they fledged because they still had quite a lot of development to go and the unhatched egg had also disappeared from the nest.
It feels like quite an unlucky streak, but in fact my results are not too unexpected. Some previous studies of lark sparrow breeding biology revealed a nesting success rate of only eight percent, which is fewer than one in ten. I would imagine predation is quite high in a habitat like Sand Prairie.
There is a male bird in the far northeastern portion of the refuge that continues to sing. I will try to record his vocalizations within the next week. I have also seen a pair in that area but saw no indication of any nests. The sheer remoteness of the pair has limited my exposure to them, however, so they may well be nesting. I will be checking on them quite frequently in the coming weeks.
My focus will now shift to vegetation surveys. There are currently no successful nests for me to monitor, and outside of the aforementioned pair I have seen no definitive parental action. I will keep my eyes peeled while I collect the plants, however.
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