Hullabaloo and Ballyhoo

There are days we are wildly successful at sampling and trapping and then there are days that are long, arduous and less fulfilling.  Our current field site is located near shallow waters and the birds are gathering farther out in the water.  I am convinced that these savvy birds noted all of the hullabaloo in the past few days and decided to hang out somewhere else.  Pictured below is a Northern Shoveler.

In the meantime we were able to sample some birds and tag a few.  Each time we released a newly tag bird the spectators who came by to watch us cheered.  We continued well into the night and hoped to sample more birds.  We managed to examine one Northern Shoveler and two Temminck's Stints.

Today was Bala's last day with the trapping team.  His expertise and experience greatly contributed to our efforts and I can't thank him and his group enough for all of their help. 

A group of veterinarians from ICDDR,B attended the training session and also helped process birds in the field.  As our field season is coming to a close I'm thinking about ways we can improve our process for next year.  We are working up against the close of migration season.  

Reporting from Bangladesh, EcoHealth Alliance scientist Kurt Vandegrift is working toward monitoring highly pathogenic Avian influenza in wild migratory waterfowl.