HANA MAPS Station Period 6

High Acres Nature Area (HANA) – June 26, 2015

With a crew of only three people, we had a busy day at HANA! We banded 29 birds of 9 different species. In addition we handled 13 recaptures. The fact that we are starting to see newly fledged birds, especially Yellow Warblers, made things even more interesting. Some of the young birds are barely recognizable. The day was also remarkable for the fact that we banded 6 unusually colored Song Sparrows (see photos). This led to a good discussion on sparrow identification!

Juvenile Song Sparrow. Young sparrows sometimes look quite different from adults, making summer banding a real challenge!  Their breast streaking can be very different, and there is often a buffy or yellowish color to the face.  Photo by Jim Saller.

David Mathiason deserves special thanks for walking the entire route and removing the birds from the nets all day. We estimated that he walked at least 10 miles! Jim Saller also deserves special thanks for scribing and for providing the attached photos.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak. This is a great example of one thing banders look for when aging birds. Did you the contrast between the black and brown feathers on the wings? That’s a molt limit! The brown feathers are juvenile feathers that the bird grew in the nest, and the black feathers are fresher feathers that come from a later molt. An older adult bird would be uniformly black, which means this is a second-year bird. Photo by Jim Saller.

This handsome garter snake was evidently checking out the banding lab . . . .Photo by Jim Saller

John Waud – Bander in Charge

DEAD CREEK BIRD OBSERVATORY MAPS SESSION 3

Through the Woods to Check the Nets
Photo by Ryan Kayhart

Waiting for the Next Net Check!
Photo by Ryan Kayhart

Saturday June 13, 2015.  26 new birds and 13 retraps.

The crew started with Ryan, Henry, Becky, and BIC Brendan.  We had everything set up on time (around 5:30 AM).  Lisa and Ethan came to help out.

The bird of the day was Yellow Warbler with 8 banded!

It was a nice day with very little wind.

Becky brought muffins and two types of cookies – Chocolate Chocolate Chip and regular Chocolate Chip!

Henry banded his first bird of the season … the third Red-eyed Vireo banded –  and the bird I poached last summer!

So far this season, Brendan, Henry, Becky and I have perfect attendance.  Missing today was Mr. Olsen and Claire Trombley.  Claire will be BIC on our next banding session which will be Tuesday June 23, 2015 (rain date Monday June 29).

Ryan Kayhart

HANA MAPS Station Period 5

Sunday June 13, 2015:  After dodging the early morning rain, the team of volunteers was able to complete the second Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) session. We banded 21 new birds and had 9 recaptures. Even though the numbers were a little low, we had a nice variety of species. By far the most interesting bird of the day was a recaptured Veery, which was banded as an After Second Year Bird in 2011. This means that this bird is at least seven years old!

Birds are not the only interesting organisms at High Acres Nature Area. Barbara Wagner, one of the MAPS volunteers, took the attached photograph of a snake attempting to swallow a snail which appears to be too wide to be eaten. At the very least, you have to admire the snake’s ambition!  –

A Northern Water Snake attempts to eat a snail.  It looks like he is trying to swallow the whole shell . . . but most snail-eating snakes pull the snail from the shell with their teeth.

DEAD CREEK MAPS SESSION #2

Dawn at Dead Creek
Photo by Ryan Kayhart

SY Male American Redstart
Photo by Ryan Kayhart

 

Saturday June 6, 2015

Henry, Brendan, Mr. Olsen, Becky and I got the place set-up.  Ryley and Brendan’s son Quinn helped for the day.   The wind was blowing pretty good so we closed three nets.

We ended up with 19 new birds and 11 retraps.  The highlight of the morning was a Snowy Egret flying over Dead Creek!

Becky brought her cookies and muffins that she made the night before.

We caught a SY Male American Redstart.

The few visitors that came were Jeff and his daughter Maycee, Bradley and his mother, and Fionna and her mother Rachel.

Ryan Kayhart

 

HANA MAPS Station Period 4

Sunday June 7, 2015:  The MAPS season got off to a good start at High Acres Nature Area (HANA) on Sunday, with the help of seven volunteers. MAPS stands for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship. This is a program designed to evaluate changes in bird populations throughout North America. The data from the birds captured, along with data from hundreds of similar MAPS station are sent to the Institute for Bird Populations, where trends in populations are calculated. These trends are invaluable to bird conservation. The data is also sent to the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is used for many other types of bird conservation research.  It is also being used locally as a conservation planning tool at HANA.

A total of 33 new birds were banded. Age, sex, and a series of physical measurements were determined on each of these birds. There were also 9 recaptured birds on Sunday. Gray Catbirds were the most common species (8 new catbirds were banded). We also had 2 beautiful Wood Thrushes.   One of the last birds of the day was a Veery, which continued to sing as it was removed from the net!

HANA in the morning. Photo by John Waud

Wood Thrush. Photo by John Waud

John Waud – Bander in charge

Final Day of the Spring Season

Saturday June 6, 2015:  12 new birds of 7 species, 13 recaps.  Bird of the day was Gray Catbird with 4 new bands.

The season let us know it over today, by giving us only a handful of new birds – almost all of which are locally breeding species.  Despite the lack of birds, the crew had a pleasant morning – chatting, drinking coffee, and sitting outside in the sunshine.

Unofficially, we ended the season with 4,118 birds of 88 species, and 626 recaptures.  Notable birds included a Pileated Woodpecker and a Prothonotary Warbler.  A noticeable absence was Baltimore Oriole.  While we recaptured several from previous seasons, we did not band any new orioles.  While the season started off slowly, we had several amazing 200+ days, and we ended the season about 300 birds better than last year.

Thanks to everyone who made this season possible, from our regular crew of daily volunteers, to our slightly irregular crew of mowers, trimmers and menders, to our all important members and donors.  BBBO needs you all, and we appreciate everything you do!

See you all in August!

Great-crested Flycatchers and Gray Catbirds Tie!

Friday June 5, 2015:  52 new birds of 21 species; 7 recaps.  Bird of the day was Traill’s Flycatcher with 13 new bands, followed by Swainson’s Thrush with 5 new bands.  We had a nice, lazy morning with fine weather and a good crew.  Alice and Marilyn did most of the net-picking, while Pat L. and BTC student Julia did most of the banding.  Tom and Rick provided support in both places, while Judy scribed.

The birds were of the expected mix today, although a female Blackburnian Warbler, a female Red-winged Blackbird, two Field Sparrows, and two Great-crested Flycatchers were cause for excitement.  It doesn’t happen very often that we band as many Great-crested Flycatchers as we do Gray Catbirds, but it happened today!  We banded two of each.  It’s worth noting the late-season species diversity today.  Out of the 21 species banded, we banded only one or two birds of 15 species.

“It’s a pretty bird . . . “

Thursday June 4, 2015:  32 new birds of 11 species, 16 recaps.  Bird of the day was Traill’s Flycatcher with 8 new bands, followed by Gray Catbird with 6.  We are definitely hearing more birds than we are catching!  Wood Thrushes sang incessantly from the woods all morning, as Baltimore Orioles sang their fluting notes overhead.  Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats seemed to sing from everywhere, and a duo of mimics (Brown Thrasher and Gray Catbird) kept us entertained near the station.  Yet despite the euphony, we had a fairly slow day.  It’s just more evidence that these singers are local birds, and have learned where the nets are!

The star bird of the day was brought in by Katie.  She wouldn’t tell us what it was, only that it was a pretty bird.  When we pulled it out of the bag, we were treated to the pastel pinks and blues of a Mourning Dove.  Despite their funny looking legs and feet (bright reddish-pink, fleshy, and often with missing toes or toenails) and despite their apparent lack of anything resembling a neck (they are just one big fluffy feathery mass!), they are awfully pretty . . . perhaps even more so up close when you can appreciate their soft coloring.

Thanks much to the Thursday crew!

Final Wednesday of the Spring 2015 Season.

Wednesday June 3, 2015.  18 new bands; 6 retraps.

We had an uneventful and pretty slow day!  The most interesting bird was a Swainson’s Thrush with a fat score of 5!   He weighed 41.4 grams.  Other Swainson’s Thrushes we banded weighed in the last couple of weeks weighed in the low 30’s.  With a wing chord of 101, he was definitely a male too.

Other birds banded included a few catbirds, American Redstart, Yellow Warbler, a Northern Waterthrush and a handsome male Red-winged Blackbird.

Cindy Marino – BIC

 

Locally breeding species dominate

Tuesday June 2, 2015:  43 new birds of 16 species, 15 recaps.  Bird of the day was Red-eyed Vireo with 10 new bands, followed by Traill’s Flycatcher with 7 new bands.  We had a better-than-expected day, filled mostly with likely locally breeding birds.  We banded or recaptured several American Robins, Common Grackles, and Red-winged Blackbirds – all of which appeared to have been interested in the pickings on the soggy driveway as they were caught in the front six nets.  A few warblers lingered, including Wilson’s, Mourning, Blackpoll and Black-throated Blue, and they joined the local Yellow Warblers and American Redstarts.  We also reached a spring milestone today, banding our 4000th bird of the season.  We weren’t keeping track, but our datasheets suggest it was either a Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Blackpoll Warbler, or Gray Catbird.

Thanks to the Tuesday crew for a good spring season – we’ll see you in the fall!