It’s Rochelle again, and I know it has been a while since my last blog post. Since then there was a lot of wrapping up to do and I got carried away with end of the season work, but I am now back in Clemson and here to update you on my first field season in Mobile, AL. At my last update, we had been banding and measuring pelican chicks at approximately 3 weeks of age. While banding and measuring chicks is certainly the most intense part of our season, there is still a lot of work to do after! With the color bands on their legs, our birds were much easier to pick out and we spent a lot of time resighting them both in the plots near their nests and out on the edges of the island.
You too can help us: if you see any color-banded pelican along the coast, report them here!
While I am happy to be back at Clemson and working in the lab, my first field season with Project Pelican went pretty well and I look forward to being back out in the colonies next year, sun, storms, and all!