Fall Banding at Metro Beach

On Saturday, August 7, a team of 5 volunteers and I worked hard in the morning to clear the net lanes for what will hopefully be a productive fall season of banding. Luckily it wasn't as hot and humid as it had been recently, and the mosquitos weren't too bad either. The nets were fully open for only a couple hours, and not many birds were caught. One surprise was a hatch-year Swamp Sparrow that became the first bird of the season by flying into the Field Nets while we were still getting them open!

The species most frequently captured today was Yellow Warbler, and these won't be in the marsh much longer as they are very early migrants. The hatch-year in the photo below is in very fresh plumage.

Interesting birds observed today, but not banded, included Caspian Tern, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Purple Martin (circling high overhead), Indigo Bunting, and Baltimore Oriole. Several of these are early migrants and won't be around much longer.

Many thanks to Thierry Lach, Jerry McHale, Aaron Potts, Tom Schlack, and Jeff Silence for doing the hard work that needed doing to get the banding area ready for the coming banding season.

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Banding Data
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SATURDAY, August 7, 2010
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:30
Time Open (E.S.T.): 8:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 12:00
Hours Open: 3.25
No. of Nets: 4.25-13.25
Net Hours: 33.813
Temperature (F): 58-77
Cloud Cover: 10-40%
Wind: Calm-S @ 0-7-12 mph
Barometer: 29.69-29.68
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 7 (no recaptures)
No. of Species: 4
Capture Rate: 20.7 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 8.0 hours, 7:00-15:00): Thierry Lach, Jerry McHale, Aaron Potts, Tom Schlack, Jeff Silence.

American Robin - 1
Yellow Warbler - 4
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 1