Full Circle

This is my farewell posting for the season. The seasons have gone full circle since my arrival in March - the spring migrants have left and the winter birds have arrived - the snow now blankets the wetlands and Muraviovka Park begins its winter slumber.

The posts will continue again with my arrival in the park in spring.... and until that time I leave you with a time-lapsed scene from the terrace of the past year:

Wildlife Disease Workshop

During 26-31 of October, Muraviovka Park initiated and hosted an International Workshop on Wildlife Disease Issues of the Amur Region. The goal of this workshop was to discuss disease threats to wildlife in the region, create a dialog between those institutions that deal with wildlife diseases, and to develop a network that would study and combat these issues. We had participants from the Veterinarian University in Blagoveshensk, the Directorate of Wildlife Protection, the Moscow Zoo, the Okra Nature Reserve, Khinghansky Nature Reserve, Bolonsky Nature Reserve, and the International Crane Foundation. The Workshop was sponsored by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, www.tmuny.org. In all there were over twenty participants.

The conference began with a day of labs and demonstrations given by ICF’s veterinarian Barry Hartup, to the students of the local Veterinarian University.

The following day, the conference began with several lectures at the University as well as a question/answer session involving the local media.

Days three and four, consisted of talks and discussions at Muraviovka Park.

The last day Barry Hartup performed a health check on the Parks captive birds. We used this opportunity to demonstrate techniques of handling and health protocols to the participants of the workshop.

The general consensus was that the conference was a success and we are already beginning to plan a follow-up meeting…..

October 2009

Although the locals will say that October is not officially winter, the daytime temperatures have only been reaching a high of –10 to –20 degrees C. We have received our first snowfall, albeit there was only slight accumulation.



The lake began to freeze over in the beginning of the month and now we have to break through the ice to obtain fish for the captive cranes.






Our activities at the Park have centered around preparing for the upcoming spring fires. This means conducting prescribed burning in critical areas and cleaning debris and leaves near buildings. We were lucky to have the help of a group of students from the nearby village of Korepatina. They volunteered an afternoon to rake and clean around the summer camp.





We have also been creating another nature trail that will allow visitors to explore the oak forests adjacent to terrace, while catching glimpses of the wetland below.






The creation of the trail has also stirred the curiosity of the local wildlife. Birds like the European nuthatch and Eurasian jay, have enjoyed exploring the raked leaves for insects and other edible debris.





The trail has already proven very productive. It winds near the burrow of a local Raccoon-dog, who made himself visible the other day. Additionally, a Ural owl was spotted in a tree adjacent to the trail!



Our family of Red-crowned cranes are still present and doing well. We were concerned that the late hatch date of the chicks may hinder their ability to migrate on time, but they are flying around the wetlands and looking quite strong.



Unfortunately, another crane is also still present at the park, a lone white-naped crane. This crane was observed in the nearby farm fields and allowed close approach.



After a moment of observation, it became apparent why the crane was still here and unwary. It sustained a grave injury to its leg. Its future still remains uncertain.



On another note, the final mist-netting episode yielded a great capture…a small flock of Azure-winged magpies…



I would like to end this blog by wishing everyone Happy Halloween!