Updates

Yesterday's visit to Sand Prairie was a bit of a disappointment.  Nest #6, which I had discovered only days earlier, was discovered by a predator and three of the young were gone, with the remaining individual already dead.  Also, nest #5 only had one egg remaining, and the female was not incubating.  On a positive note I did discover another nest, and this one had much older birds, at least 5-6 days.  Their eyes were open and feathers were beginning to develop.  There were two young and one unhatched egg.  I am hoping to band them this weekend barring another instance of predation.

I spoke with Dr. Bornstein, Southeast Missouri State's botany professor, and he suggested that I collect vegetation samples to strengthen the credibility of my research.  I am fully on board with this idea and will be learning to press plants in the coming weeks.  I am fortunate that a previous student, Josh Wibbenmeyer, has already conducted a floristic survey of Sand Prairie Conservation Area; his samples are available to me at the school herbarium.  This makes identification much easier for me.

Finally, I will be undertaking a independent research project this fall to survey the fish fauna of Cape LaCroix Creek.  I enjoy jogging along the creek and have seen a wide variety of species just in passing.  I will post updates from that research on here as well.