A student climbs into a Ferruginous Hawk nest to retrieve nestlings to band with a color-coded and uniquely numbered leg band.
Photo by Janet Ng
Masters student Sean Konkolics uses a stake and string to form a circular sampling plot at the beautiful Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in western Alberta. Sean is counting fecal pellet groups to estimate habitat use by ungulate species such as elk, whitetail deer, mule deer and horses. Biannual long-term sampling such as this helps scientists track the changes in space use and relative densities of animals over time. Sean described this as a “turdtastic” day!