The weather has been amazing this month. I have been here for 5 months already, and it is nice to see the refuge change as the months go by. I have also seen the wildlife change. Seeing the deer and their offspring, observing the snapping turtles coming onto land to dig their nests, and monitoring the purple martins as they lay eggs.

It has been a while since the purple martins have had eggs in their nests. They now have nestlings and fledglings to take care of. It’s between these times when they are not so new, and not able to fly yet that we band them. This was a fun experience for me, and I was a bit nervous. Holding a little bird in your hand makes you aware of how fragile they are. They are also not very happy with being banded, they wriggle and try to flap and squirm. I banded Canadian geese as well. We banded them when they were molting and unable to fly. They had goslings with them, and while I was not nervous to handle them, as they were bigger, their displeasure in being handled was more apparent than a tiny nestling. I learned a lot overall, and I look forward to learning more over the rest of the summer.