Metro Beach Banding - April 24-25, 2009

The warm spell from last week not only continued this week, but intensified, with the high temperatures on both Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 coming close to breaking records. With the warmth, there was also wind, not too bad on Friday but preventing setup of the Field Nets on Saturday since they're completely exposed to southwest winds. While we ended up closing the station before the rain started on Saturday, we only got about half of them down before the rain (and a little thunder) started. We were quickly soaked, but continued to take the station down. Extra thanks to Dave, Renee, and Cathy for enduring the additional discomfort.

A total of 93 new birds, 46 on Friday and 47 on Saturday, was banded continuing the good results experienced this spring.

On Friday, April 24, banding highlights included an adult female Eastern Towhee, a species not often banded here. Getting a photo showing her bright red eyes turned out to be difficult as she kept "blinking" with her nictating membrane every time I clicked the shutter.

Another highlight was the first, and unusually early, Northern Waterthrush of the season. One had been heard calling in the shrub-swamp near the road earlier, so there may have been two different individuals present.

Another highlight was a Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker. The bird of the day was again Red-winged Blackbird and this season is on track to beat last spring's record of 92 (70 so far this year). The 7 White-throated Sparrows banded today represented the first influx of this species of the spring. Highlights of birds observed but not banded included a Sora calling in the shrub-swamp, Purple Martins overhead, late(ish) Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, two Yellow Warblers heard singing distantly away from the road, and a Field Sparrow heard singing in the marsh before sunrise.

On Saturday, April 25, banding highlights included the first Blue-headed Vireo, House Wren, and Yellow Warbler of the season, and a record late Brown Creeper. As with last week, the number of Red-winged Blackbirds banded decreased as the birds apparently figure out the net setup on consecutive days. The bird of the day today was clearly White-throated Sparrow, with 26 banded. Highlights of birds observed but not banded included a female Blue-winged Teal grunting from the shrub-swamp near the cars, a Chimney Swift overhead, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that called just a couple times, at least 3 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, at least 2 Northern Waterthrushes, and 1 Louisiana Waterthrush that burst into song after the thunderstorms stopped just as we finished taking the nets down.

Many thanks to the volunteer assistants who made banding on these two days possible: John Bieganowski, Nick Dicresce, Dave Furi, Renee Render, Cathy Thiesen, and Marilynn Thomas.
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Banding Data:
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:38 a.m.
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00
Hours Open: 7.00
No. of Nets: 5.00-13.25
Net Hours: 86.375
Temperature (F): 48-81
Sky: 50% cloud cover
Wind: ESE-SE @ 7-10-15 mph
Barometer: 30.02 - 29.93
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 46 (plus 6 recaptured and 3 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 14
Capture Rate: 63.7 birds per 100 net hours
Assistants: John Bieganowski (a.m. only), Nick Dicresce, Cathy Thiesen, Marilyn Thomas

Northern Flicker - 1

[Black-capped Chickadee - 2 recaptured]

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1

Hermit Thrush - 4

American Robin - 1 (plus 1 released unbanded)

Northern Waterthrush - 1

Eastern Towhee - 1

Song Sparrow - 3 (plus 2 recaptured)

Swamp Sparrow - 1 (plus 1 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)

White-throated Sparrow - 7

Red-winged Blackbird - 17 (plus 1 released unbanded)

Common Grackle - 2

Brown-headed Cowbird - 2

American Goldfinch - 5 (plus 1 recaptured)

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SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2009

Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:36 a.m.

Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00

Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00

Hours Open: 7.00

No. of Nets: 3.75-10.75

Net Hours: 70.500

Temperature (F): 69-81

Sky: 50-90% cloud cover

Wind: SW @ 10-15-20 mph

Barometer: 30.03 - 30.03

Precipitation: None (brief thunderstorm during takedown)

No. Banded: 47 (plus 7 recaptured and 2 released unbanded)

No. of Species: 12

Capture Rate: 78.0 birds per 100 net hours

Assistants: Dave Furi, Renee Render, Cathy Thiesen

[Downy Woodpecker - 1 recaptured]

Blue-headed Vireo - 1

Brown Creeper - 1 (record late)

House Wren - 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1

Hermit Thrush - 4

American Robin - 1 (plus 1 released unbanded)

Yellow Warbler - 1

[Song Sparrow - 2 recaptured]

Swamp Sparrow - 5

White-throated Sparrow - 26 (plus 1 released unbanded)

Red-winged Blackbird - 5 (plus 1 recaptured)

American Goldfinch - 1 (plus 3 recaptured)

Metro Beach Banding - April 17 & 18, 2009

Ten degrees above normal and sunny skies made for very pleasant conditions on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18. The net setup was changed slightly on these two days because a deer ran through one of the Field Nets last week and ruined it, requiring me to buy yet another net (the 8th one since banding began in 2004). Three enthusiastic and very helpful first-time assistants came out on Friday, and four cheerful and hard-working assistants came out on Saturday, including Neil Gilbert who was visiting from California. In the photo below, Neil is helping Renee with the "photographer's grip".

And here Neil holds a Swamp Sparrow for Joan to photograph while Frank looks on.

A total of 110 new birds was banded over the two days, a very good number for so early in the season.

On Friday, April 17, highlights included four Hermit Thrushes, the first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the spring (record early for spring banding), the first Swamp Sparrow of the spring, the first Dark-eyed Junco, and possibly the last, and two American Tree Sparrows. Perhaps of more interest today were two recaptures, one of a female Black-capped Chickadee that was banded in 2005 as a second-year bird, which now makes her a 6th year female. And, a female Hairy Woodpecker was recaptured that was banded in 2004 as an After Third Year, making her an After EIGHTH Year female. Interestingly, I took photos of her when banded in 2004, as well as today. These photos are below, with the 2004 photo above and the 2009 photo below.

Interesting birds observed but not banded today included a Wilson's Snipe winnowing at sunrise over the marsh, an American Woodcock that flew across the road while we were driving in, both Caspian and Forster's Terns on the beach but visible and audible from the banding area, an Osprey perched near the beach, the first Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Ruby-crowned Kinglets of the spring, a Field Sparrow out among the Field nets, and a flyover Pine Siskin.

On Saturday, April 18, banding highlights included the first Ruby-crowned Kinglets of the spring, 9 Hermit Thrushes (a record for spring banding), two Yellow-rumped Warblers including the nice adult male shown below, a very late American Tree Sparrow (tied late record for spring banding), and the first White-throated Sparrows of the spring.

Interesting birds observed but not banded included a Common Loon flying overhead, two Cooper's Hawks engaged in courtship flight, a calling Virginia Rail, a Sora (Neil only), a winnowing Wilson's Snipe at sunrise, two Blue-winged Teal (Joan only), a Belted Kingfisher, a Pine Warbler found by Neil which sang only briefly, and another flyover Pine Siskin. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was reported along the "trail" on the fence along Cherry Lane, which was refound by Joan, though she was too close for comfort when a big 30-foot multi-trunked tree fell down near her! We all heard and saw this amazing sight! An odd non-avian highlight of the day was an early afternoon bat sighting. Suddenly, a bat was flying back and forth over us in the bright sunlight. At the time, I thought it was a Red Bat, but after looking at my photos more carefully, it appears that it is actually a Big Brown Bat (based on tail shape, leg placement, and ear size), which is also somewhat migratory. I believe that I can see an insect in the bat's mouth in the photo.

Many thanks to the volunteer assistants who made banding on these two days possible: Chad Geurts, Jean Gramlich, Frank Lautner, Gisela Lendle King, Renee Render (half day), Joan Tisdale, and especially Neil Gilbert who came all the way from California to help out. Well, not really, he was here anyway. Here is a final photo of Neil "hypnotizing" a Golden-crowned Kinglet...it's amazing how easily amused these California guys are!

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Banding Data:

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009

Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:48 a.m.

Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00

Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:15

Hours Open: 7.25

No. of Nets: 5.00-13.25

Net Hours: 88.563

Temperature (F): 36-70

Sky: 0% cloud cover

Wind: Calm-SE @ 0-5-7 mph

Barometer: 30.46 - 30.36

Precipitation: None

No. Banded: 61 (plus 18 recaptured and 4 released unbanded)

No. of Species: 16

Capture Rate: 93.7 birds per 100 net hours

Assistants: Chad Geurts, Jean Gramlich, Gisela Lendle King

[Downy Woodpecker - 1 recaptured]
[Hairy Woodpecker - 1 recaptured]
[Black-capped Chickadee - 3 recaptured]
Brown Creeper - 4
Winter Wren - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 3 (plus 1 recaptured)
Hermit Thrush - 4 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1
American Tree Sparrow - 2
Fox Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 6 (plus 6 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 3
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Northern Cardinal - 1
Red-winged Blackbird - 23 (plus 2 recaptured and 2 released unbanded)
American Goldfinch - 11 (plus 4 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)

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SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 2009
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:47 a.m.
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:30
Hours Open: 7.50
No. of Nets: 5.00-13.25
Net Hours: 93.000
Temperature (F): 48-77
Sky: 0-20% cloud cover
Wind: SW-WSW @ 3-5-10 mph
Barometer: 30.19 - 30.10
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 49 (plus 8 recaptured)
No. of Species: 15
Capture Rate: 61.3 birds per 100 net hours
Assistants: Neil Gilbert, Frank Lautner, Renee Render (half day), and Joan Tisdale

Eastern Phoebe - 2

Brown Creeper - 1

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2

Hermit Thrush - 9 (one-day spring record)

American Robin - 2 (plus 3 recaptured)

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2

American Tree Sparrow (tied record late)

Fox Sparrow - 2

Song Sparrow - 2 (plus 2 recaptured)

Swamp Sparrow - 5

White-throated Sparrow - 2

Northern Cardinal - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)

Red-winged Blackbird - 4

American Goldfinch - 13 (plus 2 recaptured)

Metro Beach Banding - April 11, 2009

The first full day of spring banding was quite wintry for the first few hours (we started setup just after 6 a.m. E.D.T.). The temperature was in the low to mid-40s and the wind was out of the north, sometimes strongly, giving us the effect of wind chill. But better weather is ahead! Eventually the winds diminished a little and the temperature rose through the 40s, ending up in the low 50s. The beautiful blue sky was a nice distraction also.

For this early in the season, the 60 birds banded was quite a good total even if Red-winged Blackbirds dominated the catch (19). One highlight of the day was banding not just one, but FOUR American Tree Sparrows. This species typically leaves southern Michigan by mid-April, and often departs the banding area earlier than that, so these will almost certainly be the only ones we band this spring.

Another early spring migrant is the Fox Sparrow, though it can remain into late April most years. We were lucky to catch two Fox Sparrows today, hopefully not our last for the spring.

Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers were again among the early migrants banded today, while single Winter Wren and Hermit Thrush were the first of the season. Two more Eastern Phoebes were also notable. An interesting situation occurred in early afternoon when all 5 of the Black-capped Chickadees (4 returns, 1 new) were captured on the same net run, but different nets.

Interesting birds observed but not banded included a winnowing Wilson's Snipe before sunrise, a Sora calling in the marsh, and single Eastern Towhee, White-throated Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, Purple Finch, and Pine Siskin.

Many thanks to the volunteer assistants who made banding today possible: Renee Render and Joan Tisdale.

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Banding Data:

SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2009
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:58 a.m.
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:30
Hours Open: 7.50
No. of Nets: 4.75-13.00
Net Hours: 87.938
Temperature (F): 32-54
Sky: 2o-0% cloud cover
Wind: N @ 7-10-15 mph
Barometer: 30.19 - 30.31
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 60 (plus 14 recaptured and 5 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 15
Capture Rate: 89.8 birds per 100 net hours
Assistants: Renee Render, Joan Tisdale

Downy Woodpecker - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
Eastern Phoebe - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - 1 (plus 4 recaptured)
Brown Creeper - 4
Winter Wren - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 4
Hermit Thrush - 1
American Robin - 3
American Tree Sparrow - 4
Fox Sparrow - 2
Song Sparrow - 6 (plus 4 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
[Northern Cardinal - 1 recaptured]
Red-winged Blackbird - 19 (plus 1 recaptured and 3 released unbanded)
Common Grackle - 1
American Goldfinch - 11 (plus 3 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)

Spring Banding Season Begins

On Sunday, April 5, 2009, four intrepid volunteers and I arrived at Metro Beach Metro Park, Macomb County, Michigan at 8 a.m. (7:00 E.S.T.) to clear net lanes and set up mist nets for the first official banding day this spring. Migration monitoring and stopover ecology of migrant birds has been studied here since 1989, and my own banding here has continued this research since 2004. There are no photo highlights in this installment, but hopefully there will be some as the season progresses.

After such a snowy winter, it was surprising that there wasn't more to clear away from the net lanes, and there was less water than usual (but plenty of mud) so we got the nets up and running quite early considering the late start. The first half of April is always iffy as far as the weather goes, but is the best chance for us to document the presence of certain wintering and early migrant species including American Tree Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and Fox Sparrow. Unfortunately, we didn't catch any of these today, but we did capture other early migrants including Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, and Eastern Phoebe. As expected, Red-winged Blackbirds dominated the captures, as they probably will for another couple weeks. The total of 24 banded today (plus 5 recaptures) of 10 species is a slightly better than average start. A shepherd's hook with two thistle feeders was put out inside the Field Nets u-shaped setup, as was done last fall, to attract goldfinches and other sparrows to the area. This will be moved at the beginning of May to the Field Edge and hummingbird feeders will replace the thistle feeders, consistent with past practice.

Interesting birds observed but not banded included Rusty Blackbird, Eastern Towhee, American Tree Sparrow, and Pine Siskin. A male and female Hairy Woodpecker caught our attention with their boisterous courtship activity. A few Tree Swallows were flying over the marsh, but have not yet shown an interest in the "Gilbert House," a nest box donated and put up by Neil Gilbert in 2007. There were still many ducks on Lake St. Clair at our meeting spot at the Day Sail parking area, but of course none were visible from the banding area.

Many thanks to the volunteer assistants who made banding today possible: John Bieganowski Chris Goulart, Renee Render, and Joan Tisdale.

Banding Data:

SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2008
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:08
Time Open (E.S.T.): 8:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00
Hours Open: 5.00
No. of Nets: 4.75-12.75
Net Hours: 55.50
Temperature (F): 36-48
Sky: 5o-100% cloud cover
Wind: ENE-ESE @ 5-7 mph
Barometer: 30.04 - 29.94
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 24 (plus 5 recaptured and 4 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 10
Capture Rate: 59.5 birds per 100 net hours
Assistants: John Bieganowski, Chris Goulart, Renee Render, Joan Tisdale

Eastern Phoebe - 1
[Black-capped Chickadee - 1 recaptured]
Brown Creeper - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
American Robin - 1
Song Sparrow - 5 (plus 1 recaptured)
Northern Cardinal - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 7 (plus 2 recaptured and 4 released unbanded)
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
American Goldfinch - 4