Why this species?

I have created this blog in accordance with the field notes assignment for the Animal Behavior MOOC offered via Coursera by Raoul Mulder and Mark Elga of the University of Melbourne.

I have worked in the Arctic for the past three summers for Wildlife Conservation Society on a Pad Rehabilitation study in collaboration with BP within the oilfields of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. I have observed two Parasitic Jaeger pairs nesting in the same areas these past years. Both pairs are back again this year, and taking this class, I realize that this might be a good species to do a field journal on.

Aside from apparently having site fidelity, these birds are some of my favorite tundra nesting species. They are superb fliers and predators, and are very defensive parents. I also suspect they are able to recognize individuals, for example, I have noticed they are more defensive when I am present than when another crew member is present. Again, this is my third summer here, and only the first for the other crew members, so I am interested in seeing if they "remember" me and hence defend against me more than a "stranger." I will describe the two separate pairs as Pair 1 and Pair 2. Pair 1 is the pair I am very familiar with and hope to get some interesting data from them and Pair 2 is the pair that will be used more for general observations. Please keep in mind that I am also working while completing these observations and most may be very brief, but I will try my best.

Dark morph Parasitic Jaeger from Pair 2, July 2013

If you are interested, I have another blog (specifically this post about my first enchantment with the Jaegers) where I have discussed more of the work I have done here. I told myself I wouldn't come back this year after the last and even the year before that, but here I am. The Arctic and the Arctic Coastal Plain specifically, is an amazing place and has sunk it's tendrils deep in my heart, drawing me back for this (I won't say last) summer. And yes, my background image is actually a Long-tailed Jaeger, I wanted to use it since it is one of the best pictures I have of any of the Jaegers here.