Attracted by the song broadcast on the tape recorder, the birds became entangled in the webs spread among the caterpillars, elderberries, and blackthorn. Migrant calling season has just begun in the Moëze-Oléron reserve (Charente-Maritime) this Thursday in July. The resort, located on ancient sand surrounded by marshes, is one of the oldest in France. As every day until mid-November, the ornithologists set out before sunrise to set the traps between the hedgerows.
Calling program manager Pierre Rousseau gently nets two sparrows, a nightingale, a starling, a hornbill, a red-backed screamer and even a kingfisher. He closes them one by one in the dark, in small cloth bags, to reduce their stress.
The stripping operation, like everything else undertaken in this program, which is run under the supervision of the National Museum of Natural History (MNHN), follows strict protocol. “We…
Source: Le Figaro
