Banding at ACBO, 1 June

Tuesday, 1 June, was the official start of the field season at the Vestaburg Station of the ACBO.  We ran the ten nets around the bog with hopes that we would get the first Veery volunteers for our breeding season telemetry project study.  We heard Veery but none ventured in to the nets.  Neither did much else for that matter.

We had a total of nine individuals of six species of which seven were new and two were recaps.

The most exciting bird was the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.

This is a species I don’t catch very often at all and nests much further north than here (UP north).  On the property we have nesting Acadian Flycatcher which are sometimes confused with Yellow-bellied.  However, while Acadians have a yellowish wash to the underparts the Yellow-bellied is unmistakably “lemony”.  As my mentor from Texas said, “if you have to imagine that it is yellow enough to be a Yellow-bellied, then it isn’t.  When you have a Yellow-bellied you will know it.”  Besides that, they are just cuter than an Acadian!

One of the Hairy Woodpeckers was our first Hatching Year bird for the year.  You’ll notice in the photos below the adult male has the characteristic red markings at the back of the crown that indicate his sex. 

However, the HY bird has red on the head, but on the mid-crown not the back.

This is a female and she is showing the red head feathers all young Hairy’s (and Downy’s) exhibit before their first pre-basic molt.  By fall this bird will have a completely dark head like an adult female.

The American Robin and Brown-headed Cowbird recaptures were both birds banded last summer.

Here are the totals:

Hairy Woodpecker  2 N

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher  1 N

Wood Thrush  2 N

American Robin  1 N,  1 R

Gray Catbird  1 N

Brown-headed Cowbird  1 R

The Annual Bandout at Port Huron State Game Area, 21-23 May

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday of 21-23 May I made my annual pilgrimage to the Port Huron State Game Area for the annual Spring Bandout hosted by the Michigan Bird Banders Association.  Two other banders, Dan Miller and Alan Chartier and myself run five or six nets for the three days and band everything we catch.  We also show off the birds to the public which usually show up in big numbers.  This year I had three students come along to help out and rack up some brownie points. J

The weather was amazingly cooperative.  We arrived Friday, leaving heavy rain in Alma, to find sunny conditions for setting up our nets and for running them a few hours before dark.  It rained overnight and right up until dawn Saturday morning when it stopped as we opened and remained dry for the rest of the day.  Sunday dawned sunny for the last few hours of banding before we packed up and headed home.

We had six nets set up around the wooded creek and fencerows along the Black River.  And despite our best efforts we had the lowest numbers seen in recent years.  We had a total of 37 captures of 15 species of which 33 were new and four were recaptures.  Except for the Gray-cheeked Thrush none of the other birds we caught could be definitively considered passage migrants.  Everything else is known to have nested in the game area.

All of the recaptures were birds banded at last year’s Bandout.  The Yellow Warbler was banded by Dan and the rest were banded by me.

Despite the crummy turn out of birds and people we still had a good time and got to see some good birds.

Here’s the tally:

Eastern Phoebe  1 N

Acadian Flycatcher  1 N

Black-capped Chickadee  1 N,  1 R

Tufted Titmouse  1 N

Gray-cheeked Thrush  1 N

Gray Catbird  6 N

Yellow Warbler  2 N,  1 R

American Redstart  7 N

Mourning Warbler  3 N,  1 R

Canada Warbler  1 N

Common Yellowthroat  1 N,  1 R

Northern Cardinal  1 N

Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1 N

Indigo Bunting  4 N

American Goldfinch  2 N

Banding at Forest Hill, 20 May

On Thursday 20 May my class and I went to Forest Hill Nature Area, the school district’s environmental interpretive center.  We were doing a banding demo for several classes of fourth graders from nearby Ithaca.  We had six nets positioned around the wetland that dominates the property.  As the main purpose of the morning was to perform show-and-tell with the birds for the classes and since I only do demos there every other year or so I don’t generally band most of the birds I capture there.  So, the list of captures is largely unbanded individuals.

We had a very good morning (sunny, warm, no wind) and got to show the students a nice variety of the typical resident birds commonly found in the farm fields and wet meadows that make up our area.  There were 40 captures of 18 species of which 14 were new and 26 were unbanded.

The biggest surprise of the morning was a White-crowned Sparrow.  Generally, these are long gone by early May much less mid-month.  A female Eastern Bluebird was fun simply because I never catch them although they are quite common.  The Warbling Vireo is also a common nester at Forest Hill but is another one I don’t catch very often.

My students had a good time showing off their new found skills to a rapt audience.  And the fourth graders were, no doubt, just glad to be out of the classroom for the day!

Here’s the list:

Willow Flycatcher  2 N

Warbling Vireo  1 U

House Wren  2 U

Eastern Bluebird  1 U

Swainson’s Thrush  1 N

American Robin  1 N

Gray Catbird 2 U

Blue-winged Warbler 1 U

Yellow Warbler  3 U

Magnolia Warbler  2 U

Mourning Warbler  1 N

Common Yellowthroat  5 N,  2 U

Swamp Sparrow  1 U

Song Sparrow  2 U

White-crowned Sparrow  1 U

Red-winged Blackbird  1 N,  2 U

American Goldfinch  3 U

House Sparrow  3 N,  2 U

Banding at ACBO 17-19 May

During the week of 17–19 May my class and I spent our time banding at the Alma College Bird Observatory in Vestaburg.  Monday we ran the ten nets around the bog. Tuesday we ran the ten nets out in the field but had to close early on account of rain.  Wednesday we ran the bog nets and the field nets simultaneously.  The weather was so-so with morning temps in the high forties and finishing in the low sixties, but the wind was consistently moderate which is never a good thing.

For the three days we had a total of 58 captures of 23 species of which 40 were new, 13 were recaps and five were unbanded.  The species list was still dominated by year round residents and returning summer residents.  Our only definite passage migrants were two Swainson’s Thrush, a Gray-cheeked Thrush and two Magnolia Warblers.

The unbanded birds were mostly the three female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  While I’m not licensed to band them, I do clip a corner of one of their rectrices (tail feathers) so I can identify them if they are captured again throughout the summer.  The other two unbanded birds were a Wood Thrush and an Indigo Bunting that escaped my students’ best efforts to extract them from the net.

A large percentage of the birds caught exhibited breeding condition.  So, many females were sporting brood patches indicating they were laying, incubating or keeping naked young warm.  These included the Blue Jay, Brown Creeper, Black-capped Chickadee, Wood Thrush, American Robin, Northern Cardinal, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Among the many recaptures were a few birds of notable age.  These included a three year old Black-capped Chickadee, an at-least-five year old Veery, and at-least-six year old Black-capped Chickadee, a six year old Brown Creeper.  And the winner was a nine year old Veery!  That’s sixteen trips across the Gulf of Mexico on his way to the Amazonian rain forest and back each year!

Finally, the nesting Eastern Phoebe’s babies were about a week away from fledging.  So, we took advantage of this to band the youngsters.  They were very fuzzy-headed and sleepy as we banded and measured them.  Mom waited patiently until we returned them and then continued the chore of bringing them a steady supply of bugs.  For those of you who don’t already know, songbirds have a very poor sense of smell.  Handling baby birds will NOT cause the parents to abandon them.  Don’t hesitate to return naked or unflighted youngsters to a known nest.  Young birds on the ground that can fly should be left alone as mom and dad are watching out for them and feeding them there.

Here the catch:

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  3 U

Hairy Woodpecker  2 N

Eastern Phoebe  2 L

Black-capped Chickadee  4 R

Brown Creeper 1 N, 1 R

White-breasted Nuthatch  1 N

House Wren  2 N

Veery  2 N,  3 R

Swainson’s Thrush  2 N

Gray-cheeked Thrush  1 N

Wood Thrush  4 N,  2 R,  1 U

American Robin 1 N,  1 R

Gray Catbird  5 N,  2 R

Brown Thrasher  1 N

Nashville Warbler  1 N

Magnolia Warbler  2 N

Ovenbird  1 N

Northern Waterthrush  1 N

American Redstart  3 N

Field Sparrow  3 N

Northern Cardinal  2 N

Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1 N

Indigo Bunting  3 N,  1 U

Banding at Chippewa Nature Center

Saturday, 15 May was the first day of banding at Chippewa Nature Center.  This was our migration banding day but we were also beginning our breeding season study as well.  Consequently, we caught several returning breeding birds along with some transient travelers.

We had a total of 37 individuals of 23 species of which 26 were new birds and 11 were recaptures.  We ran the usual ten nets from dawn until noon.  It was a remarkable day for one hit wonders.  Of the 37 birds captured seventeen were the only representative of their species!  Among the migrants were a couple of my favorites, including a beautiful male Magnolia Warbler,

a male Nashville Warbler,

and an equally pretty, if more subtle Lincoln's Sparrow.

Among the resident birds were several Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  Including this pair, caught in the same net together.

Also, this female Baltimore Oriole.

A couple of birds captured that breed in the area but haven't been banded at this site before were a Swamp Sparrow,

and this very huffy Philadelphia Vireo.

Finally, the most unusual bird of the day also turned out to be one of the most those commonly banded at this site.  This Gray Catbird was a recapture (as were all six of the catbirds caught that day) originally banded on 7/5/07 as an ASY female.  That means she was born in '05 or earlier.  A respectable age for any songbird.  However, her eye color is all wrong.

While gray would be in keeping with her name, a normal catbird has a deep walnut-brown eye.  Interestingly, I had no note on the original capture that indicated she had a gray eye at that time.  Apparently, this is something that she's developed since then.  I have no other record of her recapture since '07.

Here is the final tally:

Least Flycatcher  1 N
Philadelphia Vireo  1 N
Black-capped Chickadee  1 N
House Wren  1 N
Swainson's Thrush  1 N
American Robin  1 N
Gray Catbird  6 R
Blue-winged Warbler  1 N
Nashville Warbler  1 N
Yellow Warbler  4 N
Magnolia Warbler  1 N
Ovenbird  1 R
Common Yellowthroat  1 N,  1 R
Lincoln's Sparrow  1 N
Swamp Sparrow  1 N
Song Sparrow  1 N,  1 R
Northern Cardinal  1 N
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  3 N,  2 R
Indigo Bunting  1 N
Red-winged Blackbird  1 N
Brown-headed Cowbird  1 N
Baltimore Oriole  1 N
American Goldfinch  1 N

Our next banding day is Thursday 3 June.  Hope to see you out there.

Songbird Banding at Whitefish Point

Our second week of the class (10 - 13 May) took us to Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula.  We went there to observe the owl banding program at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory.  At night we would visit with the owl banders and view the Northern Saw-whet Owls they were capturing, banding and releasing.  Then during the day we would run our five nets in the jack pines along the shore of Whitefish Bay.

As usual we had several very busy day of banding while we were there.  Conditions were perfect with low winds (always unusual for the Point) and no rain.  Because the bird observatory has feeding stations near the banding office many of the migrating birds spend the day stoking their furnaces with sunflower seeds.  Naturally, our nets intercepted many of them as they were having breakfast.  It is a great place for the students to gain experience recovering birds from the nets.

We had a total of 92 individuals of 13 species of which 90 were new and two were recaptures. This year Chipping sparrows and White-throated Sparrows tied for the most frequently captured species at 24 individuals each.  Blue Jays were a close second at 18.  The two recaptures were a Chipping sparrow banded on Monday and recaptured on Wednesday and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  The sharpie was banded by a hawk bander operating traps just down the road from our location less than a quarter of a mile.  I eventually determined that he had banded it the previous week.

Warblers were still in short supply, though we did catch some lookers.  These included Nashville, Palm, Yellow-rumped and Black-throated Blue Warblers.  Probably the best bird of the week was a Clay-colored Sparrow mixed in among the numerous Chipping Sparrows.

Here is the catch:

Sharp-shinned Hawk  1 N,  1 R
Blue Jay  18 N
Black-capped Chickadee  4 N
Nashville Warbler  2 N
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3 N
Palm Warbler  2 N
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1 N
Chipping Sparrow  24 N,  1 R
Clay-colored Sparrow  1 N
White-throated Sparrow  24 N
White-crowned Sparrow  10 N
Red-winged Blackbird  1 N
Common Grackle  1 N

My Field Ornithology Class

My spring term class is over, grades are turned in and now I will try to catch everyone up with the banding activity for May.

The first week of May (2-8) we visited a hawk banding station in eastern Michigan, north of Port Huron, at Lakeport State Park.  Each day, while half of the class spent the day with Dan Miller observing his hawk banding operation, the rest of us ran mist nets around a small wetland in the state park's picnic area.  The park is closed this time of year so we have the grounds all to ourselves (by permission of the park officer).

We were running a total of five nets for about six hours each day.  Weather conditions were cool and alternately sunny and overcast.  It was rather windy all three days which isn't very conducive to successful netting.

Consequently, it was a rather humdrum three days with a lot of waiting around for no birds to show up.  We had a total of 18 individuals of 13 species all of which were new birds.  Warblers were conspicuously absent with a Blue-winged Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat representing the entire family.  A nesting pair of Brown Thrashers were good birds given the overall decline in Brown Thrashers throughout the east.  Lingering White-throated- and White-crowned Sparrows were good for the students to see.  Other than that is was quite slow and even the bird watching was relatively uneventful.

The hawk banding went much better and the students got to see numerous captured Sharp-shinned, Cooper's and Red-tailed Hawks.

Here is the tally:

Northern Flicker  1 N
Black-capped Chickadee  2 N
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1 N
American Robin  2 N
Gray Catbird  1 N
Brown Thrasher   2 N
Blue-winged Warbler  1 N
Common Yellowthroat  1 N
Song Sparrow  1 N
White-throated Sparrow  1 N
White-crowned Sparrow  3 N
Northern Cardinal  1 N
American Goldfinch  1 N