hello from the bayou

okay, you see where there ain't no cities thats right near where im at. im on a small wildlife refuge below grand lake and white lake in the southwestern corner

i started a new job in southwestern louisiana at rockefeller state wildlife refuge with THE university of arkansas-fayetteville. the study is investigating king rails (rallus elegans), a chicken-sized marsh bird, and their winter migration movements. little is known about the migrating populations in the mississippi flyway, other than that there are two populations, residents and migrates. my work is a preliminary study on how to attach VHF radio transmitters to rails to determine how they will adjust before we permanently attach costly satellite transmitters. we are trying two different harness methods (dywer and thigh) and materials.

dywer sits higher on the back with two straps, it crosses the esophagus which may interfere with swallowing large prey ie fiddler crabs.

thigh harness sits lower on the back with two leg straps and another around the chest.

this a dummy of the actual solar powered gizmo that will be used in the longterm study


the good docs explaination of the harness setup

to capture these boogers we take airboats into the marsh in the middle of the night and drive around with huge flashlights looking for these little cryptically colored “chickens.” when you spot one you keep the light on him and motor up and either grab them with your hands or with a small dip net then stuff them in a cage and keep looking for the next one.


recognize those sexy legs?

we caught 17 in the first two nights and spent the day attaching the harnesses and releasing them

the man himself

dr krementz with soon to be released bird

i will be tracking the birds to determine whether they are feeding and moving “normally.” hopefully after a month we will recapture the birds, remove the transmitters, check for chaffing and wear, and look for weight changes.


FREEDOM...almost