Metro Beach banding statrion report - October 25 & 26, 2012

As often happens in Michigan this time of year, we had a day of near-summer followed by a day of near-winter this past week. On Thursday, October 25, the warm conditions allowed us to keep the nets open for the full standardized time period in the protocol. On Friday, rain closed us down fairly early for nearly three hours, but once that stopped it was a very productive banding day despite the temperature having dropped 7 degrees since sunrise with the passage of the cold front. A new species for the station was banded this week, but surprisingly not just a single individual but a total of 19...13 on Thursday and 6 on Friday!

Many thanks to the following banding volunteers who made banding on these two days possible: John Bieganowski, Paul Bowling, Doug Carmack, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack, Blanche Wicke, and Sue Wright.

Highlights of the 69 birds banded on Thursday, October 25 included a good number of Hermit Thrushes, plus a late (for us in this habitat) American Robin that was drawn in to the owl "tape" that we play at the end of October before the sun comes up. The first (and possibly only) Eastern Towhee of the fall was this hatch-year female.


Hatch-year female Eastern Towhee













Eastern Towhees can be aged by their eye color; red in after hatch-year and brown in hatch-year.

Hatch-year female Eastern Towhee













A fairly good number of sparrows were captured today, including a fairly late Lincoln's, but the real highlight was a new species for the station, Pine Siskin! The second one banded (both from the same net run) is shown in the photos below, but before the day ended we had banded a total of 13 of them.

After hatch-year female Pine Siskin



After hatch-year female Pine Siskin













After hatch-year female Pine Siskin













Siskins are aged by skull ossification, and according to Pyle only after hatch-year birds can be sexed this time of year. My entire life's experience with banding siskins before today was two winters ago in my backyard banding station when I banded 28 of them. Of the 13 siskins banded today, only two were after hatch-year, the female above and the male below.

After hatch-year male Pine Siskin














After hatch-year male Pine Siskin













After hatch-year male siskins tend to have more yellow, and longer wings, than females. The male above even had broad yellow tips on its greater secondary coverts (the larger wing bar). I also noticed that the hatch-year siskins seemed to be a bit more contrasty with more sharply defined streaking, but I don't know if this is a dependable characteristic.

Hatch-year Pine Siskin













The amount of yellow in the wings (on the bases of primaries and secondaries) of these hatch-years varied from a little to none.

Hatch-year Pine Siskin














Hatch-year Pine Siskin













And the yellow in the tail also varied, though only one individual showed almost no yellow.

Hatch-year Pine Siskin



Hatch-year Pine Siskin













Interesting birds observed but not banded today included an Eastern Screech-Owl that responded by calling back to the audio lure, but not going into the net, a Carolina Wren still singing, two flyover American Pipits, two Fox Sparrows (one singing!), and a singing Purple Finch. Today was the first day since early August with no warblers seen or banded.

Highlights of the 73 birds banded on Friday, October 26 included four Brown Creepers, which brought the season's total to a record of 28.

Hatch-year Brown Creeper













An influx of Yellow-rumped Warblers after the rain stopped gave us hope that there may still be a few yet to come through.

Hatch-year female Yellow-rumped Warbler













And sparrow numbers remained fairly good, especially of Song Sparrow which seems to peak later than most species except Fox, Tree, and Dark-eyed Junco.

Hatch-year Song Sparrow













And getting 6 more Pine Siskins today made me wonder why we haven't gotten them before now...the winter of 2009/2010 was a really big one for siskins yet none dropped into our nets. And there have been flyovers in other years as well.

Hatch-year Pine Siskin













Interesting birds observed but not banded today included a flyover Killdeer, a flyover Eastern Bluebird (rare in this park), and a calling Eastern Towhee. No American Tree Sparrows have arrived yet in the banding area, which they typically do around October 25.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, October 25, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:57
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 12:30
Hours Open: 6.75
No. of Nets: 5.0-13.5
Net Hours: 85.875
Temperature (F): 57-72
Cloud Cover: 20%
Wind: S-SE @ 5-7-10 mph
Barometer: 30.03-29.97
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 69 (plus 6 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 14
Capture Rate: 88.5 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.00 hours, 5:00-14:00): Paul Bowling, Doug Carmack, Blanche Wicke, Sue Wright.

Black-capped Chickadee - 2
Brown Creeper - 3
Winter Wren - 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Hermit Thrush - 10
American Robin - 1
Eastern Towhee - 1
Song Sparrow - 5 (plus 3 recaptured)
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 7 (plus 1 recaptured)
White-throated Sparrow - 15 (plus 1 recaptured)
PINE SISKIN - 13 (plus 1 released unbanded)
American Goldfinch - 5 (plus 1 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
FRIDAY, October 26, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:58
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 14:00
Hours Open: 5.5 (closed from 7:15-10:00)
No. of Nets: 5.0-13.5
Net Hours: 68.00
Temperature (F): 55-48-50
Cloud Cover: 100-90-100%
Wind: WNW-NW @ 7-10-15 mph
Barometer: 30.02-30.24
Precipitation: Rain from 7:15-10:00
No. Banded: 73 (plus 17 recaptured and 3 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 15
Capture Rate: 136.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 10.5 hours, 5:00-15:30): John Bieganowski, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack.

Downy Woodpeker - 2
Black-capped Chickadee - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
Brown Creeper - 4
Winter Wren - 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 (plus 1 recaptured)
Hermit Thrush - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2
[Fox Sparrow - 1 recaptured]
Song Sparrow - 14 (plus 4 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 9 (plus 3 recaptured)
White-throated Sparrow - 9 (plus 3 released unbanded)
Northern Cardinal - 4
PINE SISKIN - 6 (plus 2 recaptured)
American Goldfinch - 9 (plus 5 recaptured)

Metro Beach banding station report - October 18 & 20, 2012

The two days of banding this past week were quite different. On Thursday, October 18 the rain arrived in late morning, curtailing our efforts and resulting in one of the lowest number of captures of the entire fall. And the strong southest wind, which had been a near-constant for about 10 days, prevented opening four of the 13 nets and resulted in a leaf to bird ratio of about 500 to 1. But despite the low number of captures, there were some interesting birds just before we had to close for the day. On Saturday, October 20, it was overcast all day and looked like it was threatening rain, but nothing fell other than a few minutes of mist a couple times in the morning. The results were spectacular, with the second largest number of captures ever at this station.

Many thanks to the following volunteers for making banding possible on these two days: Paul Bowling, Charlotte Calhoun (visiting from Wisconsin), Stevie Kuroda, Dave Lancaster, Anne Ross, Tom Schlack, Edie Schmitz, Bruce Watson, and Blanche Wicke.

Highlights of the 19 birds banded on Thursday, October 18 included the first Blue-headed Vireo of the season. Most years the first one is captured at least two or even three weeks earlier than this, and very few are captured after this date.

Hatch-year Blue-headed Vireo

There were still a few warblers coming through, of the expected later migrating species including Yellow-rumped Warblers and a Palm Warbler

Hatch-year male Yellow-rumped Warbler



Hatch-year male Palm Warbler













Most fall seasons there are 0 to 1 Field Sparrows captured, so it was nice to see a second one of the fall today.

Hatch-year Field Sparrow














A non-bird highlight included a small, possibly recently hatched, Eastern Garter Snake that was browner than most I've seen. There have been many more snakes along the banding road this fall than I can ever remember.

Eastern Garter Snake














Interesting birds observed but not banded included a few late Chimney Swifts heading south, and an Eastern Phoebe. After the station was taken down, a few of the volunteers and I drove to the North Marsh to check out the ducks, as the rain and wind increased in intensity. We did see a few Northern Shovelers, Gadwall, Gadwall, and Green-winged Teal along with the numerous Mallards and Wood Ducks. Two Northern Harriers interacting with each other over the marsh were fun to watch.

Highlights of the 222 birds banded on Saturday, October 20 included, well, a near-record of 222 birds banded. Wow! Only one day in the history of this station had more birds captured, 224 on October 21, 2011...almost exactly a year ago. Last year's record also included 13 recaptures for a total of 237 captured. But this year, an amazing 43 recaptures came into the nets for a higher overall total of 265 captured.

There were some interesting similarities and some surprising differences between these two big days. Last year's record was primarily due to a single day record for White-throated Sparrows (96), while this year there were only 15 of those. This year's high numbers were due primarily to the large number of Golden-crowned Kinglets (36), and single day record numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets (35; previous record was 34) and American Goldfinches (62; 42 in the Upland nets in one net run!). All of these were in much lower numbers last year; 11, 9, and 3 respectively. There were more Hermit Thrushes in 2011 (19) than this year (5). Both years had near-record numbers of Brown Creepers (9 in 2011 and 10 this year; the record is 11 on October 30, 2006). Among the less frequently banded species, it is surprising that both years had single Blue-headed Vireo, Carolina Wren, and late Gray Catbird. Species that were captured on the big day in 2011, but not this year, included Nashville Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Fox Sparrow (2), Lincoln's Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco.

Species captured on this year's big day but not last year included the second Mourning Dove of the fall, and 3 Black-capped Chickadees. The two Red-breasted Nuthatches brought the season's total to a record of 9 (the previous record was 4 in 2007).

Hatch-year female Red-breasted Nuthatch













Two White-breasted Nuthatches were also captured today, one new band and one recapture. This species only rarely finds it way into the nets back in the swamp woods and cattail marsh transition field.

Hatch-year male White-breasted Nuthatch













As previously noted, there was a single late Gray Catbird today. Surprisingly, this was only the 4th of the season, which even for this station is very low. Comparing Metro Beach to almost every other banding station in eastern North America, our seasonal range of 8-29 is very low for reasons likely related to habitat.

Hatch-year Gray Catbird













One species that was banded on the big days of both years is Downy Woodpecker. Until now, the number captured has been lower than normal, but what was unusual about today is that FIVE were banded, a single day record here.

Hatch-year male Downy Woodpecker













A trio of wren species was banded this year, none of which turned up on the 2011 big day, including the uncommonly captured Carolina Wren, an unusually late House Wren, and four Winter Wrens. Photos below provide head shots to show differences in field marks and structure that might be useful in the field.

Hatch-year House Wren
Note longer bill than Winter Wren, and
relatively plain, unmarked face with no pale
supercilium, and paler underparts with little
or no barring on the breast.


















Hatch-year Winter Wren
Note shorter bill than House Wren, and fairly
prominent pale buff supercilium, and darker
throat and underparts with more prominent
barring on the breast and belly.


















Hatch-year Carolina Wren
Size and tail length are not visible in these
head shots, so note the darker crown, very
prominent whitish supercilium, whitish throat,
and unmarked buffy breast.
















Just to complete the collection of wrens banded at this site (Sedge Wren has only been banded here once...in 1994), below is a head shot of an adult Marsh Wren banded earlier this fall.

After hatch-year Marsh Wren
Note bold pale supercilium similar to
Carolina Wren, but more blackish crown
and straigher bill; also note black upper back
with distinct white spots.
















A few warblers continued today, including two Orange-crowned; a species that was not captured on last year's big day.

Hatch-year male Orange-crowned Warbler













Interesting birds observed, but not banded, included a juvenile Great Horned Owl calling in the morning, several flyover American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and Pine Siskins, a couple Fox Sparrows, and a single lateish Nashville Warbler. The most interesting of the 43 recaptures was a Song Sparrow that was originally banded at this site on September 29, 2006 as an after-hatch-year unknown, making its current age after 7th year. Recaptures in 2007 allowed the bird to be sexed as male.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, October 18, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:49
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 8:45 (wind and rain forced early close)
Hours Open: 2.75
No. of Nets: 4.5-9.5 (wind prevented full setup)
Net Hours: 23.625
Temperature (F): 59
Cloud Cover: 100%
Wind: SSE @ 7-10-15 mph
Barometer: 29.51-29.51
Precipitation: Rain started at 8:45
No. Banded: 19 (plus 4 recaptured and 2 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 10
Capture Rate: 105.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 5.00 hours, 5:00-10:00): Charlotte Calhoun, Dave Lancaster, Anne Ross, Tom Schlack, Edie Schmitz, Blanche Wicke.

Blue-headed Vireo - 1
Winter Wren - 1
Hermit Thrush - 3 (plus 2 released unbanded)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 2
Palm Warbler - 1
Field Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 1 (plus 2 recaptured)
[Swamp Sparrow - 1 recaptured]
White-throated Sparrow - 3
American Goldfinch -6 (plus 1 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
SATURDAY, October 20, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:51
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:30
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:30
Hours Open: 8.00
No. of Nets: 5.0-13.5
Net Hours: 101.25
Temperature (F): 46-52
Cloud Cover: 100%
Wind: SSW-NW @ 5-7-10 mph
Barometer: 29.65-29.76
Precipitation: Trace rain
No. Banded: 222 (plus 43 recaptured and 3 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 22
Capture Rate: 263.4 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 11.5 hours, 5:00-16:30): Paul Bowling, Stevie Kuroda (3.5 hrs), Dave Lancaster, Bruce Watson (3.5 hrs).

Mourning Dove - 1
Downy Woodpeker - 5
Blue-headed Vireo - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 3 (plus 5 recaptured)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
Brown Creeper - 10
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 1
Winter Wren - 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 36
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 35 (plus 1 recaptured)
Hermit Thrush - 5 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Gray Catbird - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4
Song Sparrow - 24 (plus 16 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
Swamp Sparrow - 7
White-throated Sparrow - 15 (plus 1 recaptured)
White-crowned Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 1
American Goldfinch - 62 (plus 19 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)

Metro Beach banding station banding report - October 11 & 13, 2012

Banding this week was a bit challenging, with high winds forcing us to close down part of the station (Upland Nets) early on Thursday, October 11. And on Saturday, October 13 high winds at the start prevented us from setting up the Upland Nets, while rain stopped us entirely by late morning. The result was that no large numbers were captured, but there were some interesting captures nonetheless.

Many thanks for the following volunteers for making banding on these two days possible: John Bieganowski, Paul Bowling, Jean Gramlich, Stevie Kuroda, Tom Schlack, Bruce Watson, and Blanche Wicke.

Highlights of the 60 birds banded on Thursday, October 11 included a common species, but only the fourth ever banded at this station, a Mourning Dove.

After hatch-year male Mourning Dove















After hatch-year male Mourning Dove














One more Black-throated Blue Warbler was banded today, bringing the season total to 34.

Hatch-year female
Black-throated Blue Warbler















There are many interesting aspects to this species' migration in our area. Partly because I am a little competitive, but also because I like to look at what other banding stations are doing, I have been comparing the captures of Black-throated Blue Warblers to the Kalamazoo Nature Center on the western side of Michigan. BTBs are known to migrate on one of the more easterly paths of any warbler, and the majority of them spend the winter in the West Indies. They breed mostly east of Michigan, with most of the northern parts of our state having breeding populations, and their range extends north of Lake Superior not too far west into western Ontario. Most years, the number of BTBs banded at Metro Beach is very close to (sometimes more than) the number banded at KNC, even though they operate at least 5 times as many nets, and band almost every day. It appears to me that KNC is close to the western limit of the migration path of this species. It may also have something to do with Metro Beach's "coastal" location perhaps concentrating migrants here. BTBs are also one of few warblers that are expected to migrate into mid-October at our latitudes. At Metro Beach, they also show a more distinct preference for one habitat than the other Setophaga species of warbler, with most of them being caught in the Swamp Nets, and almost never out in the Field Nets (which are preferred by species like Nashville, Tennessee, and Orange-crowned). Black-throated Blue Warbler also tends to be the most frequently recaptured migrant here, as they seem to spend more time stopping over before continuing on.

Interesting birds observed but not banded included a calling juvenile Great Horned Owl, a good bunch of Chimney Swifts overhead (and not quite low enough to be captured!) all day, an Eastern Phoebe, probably the last Swainson's Thrush of the season, and no less than 4 Eastern Towhees (none found their way into the nets!).

Highlights of the 52 birds banded on Saturday, October 13 included another Northern Flicker, which is always an interesting experience, and a good number (4) of Winter Wrens and a single Orange-crowned Warbler. The Ovenbird recaptured today was the second latest ever at this station, and had gained 3.2 grams (17%) since it was banded on September 29.

Hatch-year Ovenbird














A Common Yellowthroat today was also rather late, but the Chipping Sparrow was only the third ever banded here (they're not in swamp forests and cattail marsh edge very often), and the first adult.


After hatch-year Chipping Sparrow













Interesting birds observed but not banded included two flyover Great Egrets, a Tree Swallow (swallows have been mysteriously absent at this locale since late August), three Carolina Wrens, one Marsh Wren calling from only a few feet from the Field Nets, and possibly the last Gray Catbird of the fall.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, October 11, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:41
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 12:45
Hours Open: 7.00
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 78.50 (wind forced 4 nets closed @ 10:30)
Temperature (F): 36-61
Cloud Cover: 10-30-0%
Wind: S @ 5-7-15 mph
Barometer: 30.21-30.08
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 60 (plus 8 recaptured and 3 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 13
Capture Rate: 90.4 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.00 hours, 5:00-14:00): John Bieganowski, Paul Bowling, Tom Schlack, Blanche Wicke.

MOURNING DOVE - 1
Winter Wren - 1
Hermit Thrush - 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 8
Blackpoll Warbler - 1
Fox Sparrow - 3
Song Sparrow - 2 (plus 2 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 2
White-throated Sparrow - 23 (plus 3 recaptured and 2 released unbanded)
White-crowned Sparrow - 3
Northern Cardinal - 2 (plus 1 recaptured)
American Goldfinch -8 (plus 2 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
SATURDAY, October 13, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:43
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 9:30 (rain forced early close)
Hours Open: 3.50
No. of Nets: 4.5-9.5 (wind prevented full setup)
Net Hours: 30.75
Temperature (F): 46-50
Cloud Cover: 10-100%
Wind: SE @ 7-15-5 mph
Barometer: 30.35-30.31
Precipitation: Rain started @ 9:30
No. Banded: 52 (plus 4 recaptured)
No. of Species: 16
Capture Rate: 182.1 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 6.5 hours, 5:00-11:30): Jean Gramlich, Stevie Kuroda, Bruce Watson.

Northern Flicker - 1
Winter Wren - 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 5
Hermit Thrush - 11
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 7
[Ovenbird - 1 recaptured]
Common Yellowthroat - 1
CHIPPING SPARROW - 1
Fox Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 4
Swamp Sparrow - 31
White-throated Sparrow - 10
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
[Northern Cardinal - 1 recaptured]
American Goldfinch - 4 (plus 2 recaptured)

Metro Beach banding station report - October 4 & 6, 2012

It was another good week of banding, with 72 new birds on Thursday October 4 and 138 new birds on Saturday, October 6. Among these were new arrivals for the fall and some interesting species. The weather on these two days were quite different. The 4th was clear and mild, with the temperature getting close to 80 degrees by early afternoon when we closed, while the 6th was chilly in the morning and only getting up to 50 degrees.

Many thanks to the following volunteers who made banding on these two days possible: John Bieganowski, Paul Bowling, Chris Charlebois, Jacob Charlebois, Trisha Charlebois, Stevie Kuroda, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack, Bruce Watson, and Blanche Wicke.

Highlights of the 72 birds banded on Thursday, October 4 was the second Northern Parula of the season, which was part of an early afternoon influx of warblers in the Upland Nets.

Hatch-year female Northern Parula














Among the other warblers captured today were Tennessee, Orange-crowned, nashville, and Black-throated Blue. Another Red-breasted Nuthatch was also banded today.

There was also a modest showing of thrushes, allowing a good comparison of three species; Gray-cheeked, Swainson's, and Hermit. Below is a comparison of the heads of all three species, which is sometimes all you can see as they skulk around in the undergrowth. I tried to capture all three species in the same pose, and in the same light, so that a good comparison can be made.

The Gray-cheeked Thrush has "cooler" olive-brown tones on the upperparts, a more whitish and narrower eye ring, and no prominent pale area above the lores. The gray on the cheek is often difficult to see; on this individual it is most evident in front of the eye, and there are small whitish streaks in the cheek. The blackish breast spots are on a mostly whitish or pale buff breast.

Hatch-year Gray-cheeked Thrush














The Swainson's Thrush has "warmer" olive-brown tones on the upperparts, a bold buffy eye ring, and pale buffy line above the lores. The cheek is not grayish, and is mottled with buffy splotches. The blackish breast spots are on a mostly buffy breast.

Hatch-year Swainson's Thrush














The Hermit Thrush is a warmer olive-brown on the upperparts, and has a narrow but prominent whitish eye ring, and only a little buffy above the lores (not forming spectacles as on many Swainson's). The bold black breast spots are on a mostly whitish breast.


Hatch-year Hermit Thrush













And for the sake of completeness, here is the head of a Veery banded on September 1. The upperparts have a definite rusty tone from crown to rump, and the eye ring is indistinct at best. The cheeks can actually appear quite gray, suggesting Gray-cheeked Thrush to some, but the brownish breast spotting is very light and sparse, and on a yellowish-buff breast, quite different from the others.

Hatch-year Veery banded 9/1/12














Interesting birds observed but not banded included a calling Great Horned Owl when we first arrived, a singing Carolina Wren, a modest migration overhead of Blue Jays and American Robins, and single Magnolia and Black-throated Green Warblers. A single Indigo Bunting called briefly in the early morning from out in the field.

A non-bird highlight was yet another hatchling (or the same one from last month) Northern Water Snake. This one was pretty aggressive, locking its small jaws onto my knuckle. After I pried it off, it got a bit more docile as I was supporting its body more so that it felt more comfortable.

Northern Water Snake













Highlights of the 138 birds banded on Saturday, October 6 included a surprising number of warblers. The most interesting of the 8 species banded were the 5 Palm Warblers, a species that doesn't get captured in such numbers at this station.

Hatch-year Palm Warbler














And somewhat surprising was not one, but two Bay-breasted Warblers, both hatch-year males (showing chestnut on the flanks). It is a tad late for these. 

Hatch-year male Bay-breasted Warbler

Other warblers banded today included Tennessee, Nashville, Magnolia, a good number of Black-throated Blues, and Blackpoll. A Red-eyed Vireo was only about the 5th for the season, and a Gray Catbird was surprisingly only the third of the season! Two more Red-breasted Nuthatches brought the season total to 7, officially making it a good year for the species.

Sparrows are becoming more prominent as the season progresses, and the two Fox Sparrows today arrived right on time.

Hatch-year Fox Sparrow














A few White-crowned Sparrows have already been banded this fall, but one of the two today appeared to be of the more westerly (central Canadian tiaga) subspecies gambellii. Hatch-years are more difficult to assign to this subspecies, but this individual was showing the clean white loral area and brighter orange bill typical of Gambell's White-crowned Sparrow.

Hatch-year "Gambell's" White-crowned Sparrow














The biggest surprise today was the handsome adult male Purple Finch, which was only the second banded here since 2004, and only the third ever here.

After hatch-year male Purple Finch














After hatch-year male Purple Finch

Interesting birds observed but not banded today inluded a flyover immature Bald Eagle, a briefly singing Blue-headed Vireo (none banded yet this fall), and a Black-throated Green Warbler near the road.

Another non-bird highlight was yet another Northern Water Snake. This one was larger though, about 15 inches in length, and may have been the one that we saw on the side of the banding road last week (it didn't make the photo highlights then). I can't remember when I've ever seen so many water snakes in the banding area.

Northern Water Snake













============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, October 4, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:33
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:30
Hours Open: 7.75
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 96.375
Temperature (F): 61-77
Cloud Cover: 30-10-40%
Wind: SSW @ 7-10-12 mph
Barometer: 30.10-30.08
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 72 (plus 6 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 20
Capture Rate: 82.0 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 10.00 hours, 5:00-15:00): John Bieganowski, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack.

[Black-capped Chickadee - 1 recaptured]
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Brown Creeper - 3
Winter Wren - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 2
Swainson's Thrush - 4
Hermit Thrush - 5
Tennessee Warbler - 1
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Nashville Warbler - 7 (plus 1 recaptured)
Northern Parula - 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 2 (plus 1 recaptured)
Common Yellowthroat - 2
Song Sparrow - 11 (plus 1 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 16 (plus 1 released unbanded)
White-crowned Sparrow - 2
American Goldfinch -8 (plus 2 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
SATURDAY, October 6, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:35
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:15
Hours Open: 7.50
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 94.250
Temperature (F): 42-50
Cloud Cover: 20-95%
Wind: SW-S @ 5-7-12 mph
Barometer: 29.98-30.07
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 138 (plus 15 recaptured and 7 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 27
Capture Rate: 169.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 10.0 hours, 5:00-15:00): Paul Bowling, Chris Charlebois (5.5 hrs), Jacob Charlebois (5.5 hrs), Trisha Charlebois (5.5 hrs), Stevie Kuroda, Bruce Watson, Blanche Wicke.

Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 2 (plus 2 recaptured)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
Brown Creeper - 3
Winter Wren - 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 9 (plus 2 released unbanded)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 5
Swainson's Thrush - 5
Hermit Thrush - 20 (plus 3 recaptured)
Gray Catbird - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 2
Nashville Warbler - 3
Magnolia Warbler - 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 8
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 9
Palm Warbler - 1
Bay-breasted Warbler - 2
Blackpoll Warbler - 2
Fox Sparrow - 2
Song Sparrow - 21 (plus 3 recaptured)
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Swamp Sparrow - 3
White-throated Sparrow - 18 (plus 2 recaptured and 3 released unbanded)
White-crowned Sparrow - 2
Northern Cardinal - 2 (plus 2 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
PURPLE FINCH - 1
American Goldfinch - 5 (plus 3 recaptured)

Metro Beach banding station report - September 27 & 29, 2012

I want to start this week's entry by announcing that, finally, I have completed my detailed report from the spring 2012 banding season. It is posted on my website at: www.amazilia.net/MetroBeachBanding; scroll down to the link for the Spring 2012 Banding Report which is in PDF format.

This past week was ideal for banding, with excellent weather and some mild fronts moving birds through the area. More than 300 birds were banded last week, with 157 on Thursday, September 27 and 163 on Saturday, September 29. Most years, the period from September 25 - October 10 sees the largest numbers of birds banded at this station, due to large influxes of White-throated Sparrows, Hermit Thrushes, and kinglets among others. Several firsts for the season were banded this week too, as expected.

Thank you to the following volunteers for making banding possible on these two days: John Bieganowski, Rebecca Blundell, Paul Bowling, Chris Charlebois, Jacob Charlebois, Trisha Charlebois, Dave Lancaster, and Tom Schlack.

Highlights of the 157 birds banded on Thursday, September 27 included a great diversity of 37 species, with 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, which may be the last of the season at this site. Another fun species captured is shown in the two photos below, in a sort-of ID quiz, but showing the bird REALLY close! See if you can guess what species this is. The correct ID is revealed farther down in the blog.

Bird feather pattern #1

Bird feather pattern #2

Later in the season, as we are now, the only flycatcher that can be expected is the Eastern Phoebe, and we had the season's first today.

After hatch-year Eastern Phoebe














Although they are resident in the park, Tufted Titmice rarely find their way back to the banding area, and rarely into our nets, so the one captured today was one of very few we've had over the years. Clearly, the kinglet migration has begun as they were detected earlier in the week on surveys, and today both species were banded for the first time this fall.

Hatch-year female Golden-crowned Kinglet



Hatch-year female Ruby-crowned Kinglet

The last warbler to arrive is typically the Orange-crowned Warbler, and there were two of them today.

Hatch-year male Orange-crowned Warbler














And a big surprise today was yet another Connecticut Warbler, the third this fall, which is a record for any season at this locale.

Hatch-year female Connecticut Warbler













It was a good day for sparrows, and this Field Sparrow was maybe only the 11th or 12th banded here since 1989.

Hatch-year Field Sparrow














Two Indigo Buntings today were unusual as most entire years only one or two are banded here. Considered a sign of winter at this latitude (42 N), Dark-eyed Juncos often arrive in late September or early October, and today we banded the first of the fall season.

Hatch-year male Dark-eyed Junco

And one of the last birds of the day was not a great rarity, or a fall arrival, but a species that is very flamboyant in-hand, and is not often caught in our songbird nets as they are big enough to escape quite often. It is the bird shown in the ID quiz above, a Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker.

Hatch-year male Northern Flicker














Interesting birds observed but not banded included a fairly decent migration of diurnal raptors, including Turkey Vulture (1), Bald Eagle (1), Sharp-shinned Hawk (7), Cooper's Hawk (3), Broad-winged Hawk (71), and Red-tailed Hawk (2). We also heard two Great Horned Owls calling when we started setting up, a sign that the sun continues to rise later as our start time remains the same. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was heard near the banding area, a Marsh Wren was out near the Field Nets, and a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers was around most of the morning.

Highlights of the 163 birds banded on Saturday, September 29 were quite numerous. And it was a good day to have so many interesting birds, as the Nature Center was running wagon rides back through the nature area and right past the banding station (the nets are all well off the road, so were not disturbed). Photographer/volunteer Paul Bowling provided the following photo of one group listening to me talk about banding, stopover ecology, migration, and the importance of conserving habitat. A gold star to anyone who can identify the bird in my hand!

Banding demonstration for wagon riders.

Another photo from Paul shows how busy it was back at the Field Nets, with volunteer Rebecca Blundell (an MSU student who has been out quite often this fall) removing one of today's many White-throated Sparrows from the net.

Rebecca Blundell at the Field Nets















One of the last birds today was again a woodpecker that we don't catch very often. This one, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, is banded even less often than are flickers.

Hatch-year female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Another flycather appeared in the nets today; this one an Empidonax flycatcher. After last week's late Willow Flycatcher, today's Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was within the expected window of migration for the species in the area. Least Flycatcher is the only other Empidonax that has occurred later.

Hatch-year Yellow-bellied Flycatcher














It seems that Red-breasted Nuthatches are moving south this fall, after almost none were detected south of their breeding areas last year. Two were banded today, including this nice adult male.

After hatch-year male Red-breasted Nuthatch














Brown Creepers arrived today in force, with a good number of 5 banded, suggesting that it might be a very good fall for the species.

Hatch-year Brown Creeper

The third Carolina Wren of the fall was banded today, this one a hatch-year, suggesting that successful breeding occurred in the park this summer.

Hatch-year Carolina Wren














It was a great day for kinglets, especially Golden-crowned. But this Ruby-crowned Kinglet made today's photo highlights because of the yellow, not ruby crown. Females typically have no crown patch. This bird was aged as an adult based on its completely ossified skull and less pointy tail feathers. It was determined to be a female based on the wing length, which was shorter than it would be if it was male. Sometimes older females of some species acquire male-like characteristics, and perhaps that is the situation here. If anyone has a different opinion about this bird, I'd be very interested to hear it.

After hatch-year female Ruby-crowned Kinglet














Surprisingly late was this Veery, which normally would not be found in this area much after mid-September.

Hatch-year Veery

Brown Thrashers are not captured here every year, so it was nice to catch yet another one (the second this fall). And while this one was in the bag at the station, another was heard calling in the brush nearby.

Hatch-year Brown Thrasher

The warblers banded today were mostly expected species, though the one Bay-breasted was a bit later than expected. Sparrow numbers were even greater today than on Thursday, with many White-throated and a few White-crowned including this first adult White-crowned of the fall.

After hatch-year White-crowned Sparrow

Interesting birds observed but not banded today included one Great Horned Owl calling briefly in the dark, several Chimney Swifts overhead, three American Pipits flying over the marsh, and a single Pine Siskin flying over.

A non-bird highlight was this Fiery Skipper captured by Rebecca in the cool morning.

Fiery Skipper (Hylephilus phyleus)













============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, September 27, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:24
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:15
Hours Open: 7.50
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 94.25
Temperature (F): 49-64
Cloud Cover: 20-70%
Wind: NE-NW @ 5-7-12 mph
Barometer: 30.26-30.27
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 157 (plus 8 recaptured and 7 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 37
Capture Rate: 182.5 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 10.00 hours, 5:00-15:00): John Bieganowski, Paul Bowling, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack.

[Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 released unbanded]
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 5 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Northern Flicker - 1
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
[Carolina Wren - 1 recaptured]
House Wren - 4 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Winter Wren - 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 9
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 4 (plus 1 recaptured)
Hermit Thrush - 9
Tennessee Warbler - 2
Orange-crowned Warbler - 2
Nashville Warbler - 15
Magnolia Warbler - 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 4
Black-throated Green Warbler - 1
Palm Warbler - 1
Blackpoll Warbler - 1
Connecticut Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 5 (plus 1 recaptured)
Wilson's Warbler - 1
Field Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow - 7 (plus 1 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 4
White-throated Sparrow - 17 (plus 1 released unbanded)
White-crowned Sparrow - 3
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Northern Cardinal - 1
Indigo Bunting - 2
American Goldfinch - 45 (plus 3 recaptured and 2 released unbanded)

-------------------------------------
SATURDAY, September 29, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:27
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 15:00
Hours Open: 9.25
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 116.625
Temperature (F): 46-70
Cloud Cover: 30-50%
Wind: NW-SE @ 1-3-10 mph
Barometer: 30.10-30.00
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 163 (plus 14 recaptured and 5 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 31
Capture Rate: 156.1 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 11.0 hours, 5:00-16:00): Rebecca Blundell, Paul Bowling, Chris Charlebois, Jacob Charlebois, Trisha Charlebois.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Black-capped Chickadee - 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
Brown Creeper - 5
Carolina Wren - 1
House Wren - 1
Winter Wren - 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 24 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 6
Veery - 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 2
Swainson's Thrush - 4
Hermit Thrush - 6 (plus 2 recaptured)
Brown Thrasher - 1
Nashville Warbler - 10 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 3 (plus 2 recaptured)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3
Black-throated Green Warbler - 1
Bay-breasted Warbler - 1
Ovenbird - 2
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Song Sparrow - 11 (plus 7 recaptured)
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1
Swamp Sparrow - 5 (plus 1 released unbanded)
White-throated Sparrow - 37 (plus 2 released unbanded)
White-crowned Sparrow - 3
Dark-eyed Junco - 1
Red-winged Blackbird - 2
American Goldfinch - 23 (plus 3 recaptured)