Sunday, November 6, 2011

Metro Beach banding report - The final day, November 4, 2011

I managed to convince three volunteers to try to band one more day at Metro Beach, luring them with the possibility of catching an owl early in the morning. Unfortunately, we did not succeed in catching an owl, and the number of birds banded was not high, but we had a really nice day to be out, considering it was early November in Michigan! White-tailed Deer have been less of a problem than in some recent fall seasons, but today they finished destroying a net that I'd turned upside down so the holes they made were at the top, making new holes in it; and they also ran through an adjacent net, ripping out the bottom entirely.

After reading the highlights and totals from this week, continue reading for a basic summary of the season.

Highlights of the 26 birds banded on Friday, November 4 included only the second Tufted Titmouse this fall.

Hatch-year Tufted Titmouse















This species is very uncommon in the banding area, and only a few are found in the park year-round. They can become quite secretive, especially in summer, as evidenced by the fact that the park bird checklist does not indicate that they are a breeding species. But having banded hatch-year birds over the past three years is certainly proof that this non-migratory species does breed in the park.

Hatch-year Tufted Titmouse














A small number of kinglets was still present in the park, with both species banded. Numbers of kinglets banded this fall were quite low, for reasons unknown.

Hatch-year male Golden-crowned Kinglet














Hatch-year male Golden-crowned Kinglet














The only Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the day was the last bird banded this season.

Hatch-year male Ruby-crowned Kinglet














As expected, the selection of birds banded included a wintery mix, starting with a good number of American Tree Sparrows. The bi-colored bill shows up well in the photo below.

Hatch-year American Tree Sparrow














One Fox Sparrow was still lingering in the banding area, which they may do through November but few if any will remain through the winter.

Hatch-year Fox Sparrow















Of course, Dark-eyed Juncos are the classic winter bird, although they have been in the banding area for almost a month already.

Hatch-year female Dark-eyed Junco














Song Sparrows have not gotten a lot of attention in this blog. They are common as a nesting species, and quite a few over-winter every year, and we typically band well over 100 in a fall season, as we did this year.

Hatch-year Song Sparrow














An adult male House Finch was the 11th banded this fall, the most since 1993 but short of the record of 16 in fall 1991.

After hatch-year male House Finch














And we did very well with American Goldfinches this fall, with more than 400 banded being just short of last year's record. This photo shows a hatch-year female quite well, with her dull (not shiny dark) blackish wings and blurry dull whitish tail spots.

Hatch-year female American Goldfinch














Interesting birds observed but not banded included a soaring Sharp-shinned Hawk, three Red-tailed Hawks, calling Eastern Screech-Owl and Great Horned Owl when it was still dark, and a flyover Belted Kingfisher. Perhaps the most interesting bird observed today occurred during a mid-morning net check. While we were out at the Field Nets, the half-dozen Mourning Doves in the dead tree in the center of the array suddenly flushed away, being replaced by a similar-sized gray bird. A Northern Shrike!

Banding could not have been done today without the help of three dependable volunteers, John Bieganowski, Dave Lancaster, and Tom Schlack.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
FRIDAY, November 4, 2011
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 7:09
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 12:15
Hours Open: 6.50
No. of Nets: 5.00-13.50
Net Hours: 81.25
Temperature (F): 37-52
Cloud Cover: 80-0%
Wind: NE @ 1-3-5 mph
Barometer: 30.26-30.41
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 26 (plus 3 recaptured)
No. of Species: 13
Capture Rate: 35.7 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.0 hours, 5:00-14:00): John Bieganowski (6.0 hrs), Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack.

Tufted Titmouse - 1
[Brown Creeper - 1 recaptured]
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
American Robin - 3
American Tree Sparrow - 7 (plus 1 recaptured)
Fox Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 2
Swamp Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 2
[Red-winged Blackbird - 1 recaptured]
House Finch - 1
American Goldfinch - 4

============================
2011 Fall Banding Totals
-------------------------------------
First Banding Day: 7 August
Last Banding Day: 4 November
Total Banding Days: 25
Total Banding Hours: 169.25
Total Net Hours: 2057.375
Total Banded: 2115 (plus 302 recaptured and 53 released unbanded)
Total Species Banded: 79
Overall Capture Rate: 120.1 per 100 net hours

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - 1
Eastern Screech-Owl - 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 158
Downy Woodpecker - 9
Northern Flicker - 2
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee - 8
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 2
Alder Flycatcher - 3
Willow Flycatcher - 6
"Traill's" Flycatcher - 4
Least Flycatcher - 11
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
Eastern Kingbird - 1
Blue-headed Vireo - 2
Warbling Vireo - 19
Philadelphia Vireo - 6
Red-eyed Vireo - 11
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - 13
Tufted Titmouse - 2
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Brown Creeper - 27
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 5
Winter Wren - 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 19
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 23
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Veery - 2
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 19
Swainson's Thrush - 25
Hermit Thrush - 50
Wood Thrush - 1
American Robin - 27
Gray Catbird - 29
Cedar Waxwing - 11
Tennessee Warbler - 34
Orange-crowned Warbler - 4
Nashville Warbler - 129
Northern Parula - 2
Yellow Warbler - 15
Chestnut-sided Warbler - 8
Magnolia Warbler - 51
Cape May Warbler - 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 34
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 58
Black-throated Green Warbler - 2
Blackburnian Warbler - 1
Palm Warbler - 5
Bay-breasted Warbler - 3
Blackpoll Warbler - 10
Black-and-white Warbler - 4
American Redstart - 18
Ovenbird - 13
Northern Waterthrush - 6
Mourning Warbler - 3
Common Yellowthroat - 53
Wilson's Warbler - 20
Canada Warbler - 2
Northern Cardinal - 8
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 3
Indigo Bunting - 6
Eastern Towhee - 1
American Tree Sparrow - 12
Field Sparrow - 2
Fox Sparrow - 15
Song Sparrow - 170
Lincoln's Sparrow - 12
Swamp Sparrow - 96
White-throated Sparrow - 240
White-crowned Sparrow - 32
Dark-eyed Junco - 4
Red-winged Blackbird - 56
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Baltimore Oriole - 10
House Finch - 11
American Goldfinch - 445

Watch for the detailed fall summary at the end of the year at the Metro Beach Banding web page.