Metro Beach banding station report - September 6-7, 2012

Conditions for migration in the week before these two banding days was improved over previous weeks. While we were gathered in the darkness along the shoreline of Lake St. Clair each morning before heading back to the banding area, migrants were heard calling overhead as they came into the park from offshore, many of them Swainson's Thrushes. The number of nocturnal flight calls heard was greater on Friday (Sep 7) than on Thursday (Sep 6). But clearly the banding results can sometimes be the opposite as you'll see from the summary below.

The station was closed early on Thursday due to a personal emergency. I want to thank the following volunteers for making banding possible on these two days: Dave Lancaster, Marie McGee, Kathy McDonald, Tom Schlack, and Blanche Wicke.

Highlights of the 44 birds banded on Thursday, September 6 included a number of warblers. A good omen for the day was the very first bird captured, a Connecticut Warbler. This was the 5th at this station since 2004, all of them in fall. This compares with a total of 8 banded by Ellie Cox (the previous bander here) from 1989-2000, with 2 in spring and 6 in fall. So the capture rates seem to be similar.

Hatch-year female Connecticut Warbler

Hatch-year female Connecticut Warbler

The second bird captured today is one that has been nearly as infrequently captured, a Cape May Warbler. This was only the 6th banded here since 2004, all in fall since 2010. This contrasts with a total of 16 banded from 1989-2000, with 7 in spring and 9 in fall.

Hatch-year male Cape May Warbler

Hatch-year male Cape May Warbler

Another uncommon warbler captured today was Mourning Warbler, with two banded. From 2004-2011, an average of 5.4 per season have been banded (range 1-10), and the two today brought the season total to 5. The hatch-year bird showing a nearly complete, but still broken eye ring, provided a good comparison to the Connecticut Warbler (remember to click on the photos for an enlarged view).


Hatch-year Mourning Warbler













The other Mourning Warbler was a bit of a surprise, as it was an adult male, which made the day feel more like spring with his plumage being brighter than all the Mournings we've banded this fall.

After hatch-year male Mourning Warbler

The final warbler highlight came in the form of a commonly observed, but irregularly banded species, the season's first banded Palm Warbler.

Hatch-year Palm Warbler

Interesting birds observed but not banded included two American Woodcock flushed from different parts of the banding area...we'll catch one eventually! Only two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were observed and sadly none banded, which is very unusual at this peak time of their migration. Also, warblers observed but not banded included Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Green, and Ovenbird.

Highlights of the 23 birds banded on Friday, September 7 included 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. Normally, I'd be banding 10-15 per day this time of year, but the past two days have come up empty so it is nice to see a few in the area.


Hatch-year male Ruby-throated Hummingbird













Typically, more than 90% of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds banded at this site are hatch-year birds. It is not clear why that is, but the park's habitat does not support more than a couple breeding pairs, so most are assumed to be migrants here. Determining the age of these birds is accomplished by looking at the surface of the upper mandible (maxilla) with a 10x magnifier. Hatch-year birds show "corrugations", sometimes faint, along most of its length. This is difficult to show to others, and is not easy to photograph, but I did manage one today and it is posted below (again, click on it to enlarge).

"Corrugations" on maxilla of hatch-year
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (also note buffy
fringes on forehead and crown feathers)

Determining the sex of these hatch-year birds is accomplished by measuring the wing chord; males are smaller than females with very little overlap in size. Other characters that observers can use, that are less reliable than wing chord, include the "5-o'clock shadow" effect of dense spotting on males, as on the bird above. And sometimes young males show stray iridescent red throat feathers. Another character that is still being explored is the pattern of white on the second rectrix (third from outside), with males tending to have white on the tip only on the inside of the shaft, with females having more extensive white. Also, the shapes of the male's tail feathers are subtly more pointy than females.

Hatch-year male Ruby-throated Hummingbird
with white mainly on inside web of second
rectrix.

Interesting birds observed but not banded included two Red-breasted Nuthatches, and a calling Marsh Wren. Warblers observed but not banded included: Tennessee, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Blackpoll, and American Redstart.

I had hoped to provide photos of the progress of the Monarch chrysalis discovered along the side of the road last week, but unfortunately the park decided to mow a wide swath down both sides of the banding area...puzzling to me as this is a nature trail in the natural area.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, September 6, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:02
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 10:15 (personal emergency forced early close)
Hours Open: 4.50
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 53.75
Temperature (F): 66-73
Cloud Cover: 50%
Wind: NW @ 3-5-7 mph
Barometer: 29.90-29.97
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 44 (plus 4 recaptured)
No. of Species: 15
Capture Rate: 89.3 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 7.00 hours, 5:00-12:00): Dave Lancaster, Kathy McDonald.

Swainson's Thrush - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 2 (plus 1 recaptured)
Magnolia Warbler - 1
Cape May Warbler - 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1
Palm Warbler - 1
Blackpoll Warbler - 4
American Redstart - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 2
Connecticut Warbler - 1
Mourning Warbler - 2
Common Yellowthroat - 8
Song Sparrow - 6 (plus 2 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 2
American Goldfinch - 11 (plus 1 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
FRIDAY, September 7, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 6:03
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: 87.50
Temperature (F): 64-75
Cloud Cover: 50-100%
Wind: NW-SW @ 1-3-5 mph
Barometer: 29.91-29.93
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 23 (plus 2 recaptured)
No. of Species: 10
Capture Rate: 28.6 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.5 hours, 5:00-14:30): Marie McGee (8.0 hrs), Tom Schlack, Blanche Wicke.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 5
Least Flycatcher - 2
House Wren - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 3
Nashville Warbler - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 2
Common Yellowthroat - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
Wilson's Warbler - 1
Song Sparrow - 3 (plus 1 recaptured)
American Goldfinch - 4

Metro Beach banding station report - August 28 & September 1, 2012

Warblers increased slightly in number on August 28, and came in good numbers on September 1. But thrushes are still low in number, along with vireos and flycatchers. Good weather on both days allowed the station to be operated for the standard number of hours (6 hours after the last net is open). On Saturday, September 1, the remnants of Hurricane Isaac reached southern Michigan, giving us mostly just some cloudiness and high haze. The sky reminded me of the movie Shaft...it was an Isaac Haze :-). Younger readers may have to Google this to get the bad pun. Sorry.

Many thanks to the following volunteers who made banding on these two days possible: Terri Chapdelaine, Jacob Charlebois, Marie McGee, Joe Midgett, Tom Schlack, and Blanche Wicke.

Highlights of the 49 birds banded on Tuesday, August 28 included two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, and a surprise Red-breasted Nuthatch.


Hatch-year female Red-breasted Nuthatch













Most years we see a post-breeding dispersal of Red-breasted Nuthatches that does not often indicate whether there will be a good or poor winter for this species in southern Michigan. And any time I've banded one of these August birds, it has been a hatch-year.

The first Swainson's Thrushes of the fall were captured today, about two weeks later than the typical first stragglers arrive.

Hatch-year Swainson's Thrush

A good number of Tennessee Warblers was banded today, putting us ahead of the typical pace for this species by late August. The first Nashville Warblers of the season were also banded today.


Hatch-year male Nashville Warbler













And the first Black-throated Blue Warbler of the season was this hatch-year female, with a very small wing spot (some lack it entirely).


Hatch-year female Black-throated Blue Warbler













The two classic "confusing fall warblers" are Bay-breasted and Blackpoll, and we had one of each today. Many hatch-year Blackpolls show yellow only on the soles of the feet, making that often-cited field mark difficult to use. A fairly consistent different between the two species, seen in the photos below, is that Blackpoll tends to be yellower on the throat and breast, and bright white on the undertail coverts, while Bay-breasted tends to be more olive on the breast and buffy on the undertail coverts. Banders have another character to check, the sixth primary which is emarginated (sometimes only slightly) in Bay-breasted and not emarginated in Blackpoll.


Hatch-year Blackpoll Warbler



Hatch-year Bay-breasted Warbler

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are typically captured in September, if we catch any at all, but last fall we had two in August and today one was in the same unusual habitat, in the Field Nets. It was a hatch-year female based on the molt condition to determine the age, and the yellow wing linings to determine the sex.


Hatch-year female Rose-breasted Grosbeak













Interesting birds observed but not banded today included a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk chasing the resident Red-tail around for a while, and a Sora calling from the marsh. In the trees next to the banding station, a number of interesting songbirds were seen including a Philadelphia Vireo, and Blue-winged, Chestnut-sided, and Magnolia warblers. A few Bobolinks were heard flying overhead in the morning.

We often take some time to look at other things in the banding area when things slow down enough, and today there were several distractions including a chrysalis of a Monarch butterfly hanging from a grapevine right along the banding road.

Monarch butterfly chrysalis

Some years there are good numbers of orb-weaving spiders in the open fields, and this year appears to be one of those with several of these beautiful Banded Argiopes building webs among the vegetation.


Banded Argiope (Argiope trifasciata)













And on our last net run, I looked down into the grass along the roadside and saw a baby Northern Water Snake. So, of course, I picked it up

hatchling Northern Water Snake

He was quite feisty, and struck at the camera lens several times! So, I put him down in the road where he stood his ground for another last photo before hastily retreating into the swamp.


hatchling Northern Water Snake













Highlights of the 88 birds banded on Saturday, September 1 included the first Yellow-bellied Flycatcher of the fall. In recent years they've been scarce, but have sometimes been fairly common in the 1990s. The mainly green and yellow tones, including yellow on the throat, big-headed look, and bold yellowish eye ring are good marks to look for on this species in the field.


Hatch-year Yellow-bellied Flycatcher













An adult Red-eyed Vireo, aged by its red eye (hatch-years have brown eyes), was the first for the season and may have been a locally summering individual. Note that it is molting its body feathers so is probably not a migrant based on that.


After hatch-year Red-eyed Vireo













The first Veeries of the fall migration were banded today, but were a couple weeks later than expected.

Hatch-year Veery

The first Magnolia Warblers banded this fall included an impressive total of 7. The photo below is similar to many that get rejected for this blog as the bird is not holding still. But in this case, the raised wings allow the yellow rump to be seen, which can throw birders off who think the only warbler with a yellow rump is the Yellow-rumped Warbler!

Hatch-year Magnolia Warbler

There is no confirmed method for telling hatch-year males from females in the hand, despite some field guide illustrations suggesting that they can be told in the field. I have been working on this for many years, trying to sort through the variable plumages of Magnolia Warblers in fall, and I THINK that the ones with mostly black upper tail coverts, bold flank and back streaking, large white tail spots, and longer wings, are males, while females are smaller and much duller. Unfortunately, 80% of the hatch-years I see are in between these two extremes!

Another Black-throated Blue Warbler today was a male, aged as hatch-year mainly by skull ossification as plumage is not a reliable way to age this species.


Hatch-year male Black-throated Blue Warbler













More Bay-breasted and Blackpoll Warblers added to the interest, as well as a good number of Ovenbirds and the third Mourning Warbler of the season. The first Wilson's Warblers were represented by two hatch-years, a male and a female.


Hatch-year male Wilson's Warbler














Hatch-year female Wilson's Warbler













Interesting birds observed but not banded included a briefly seen Osprey, a calling Red-breasted Nuthatch, and Black-throated Green and Chestnut-sided warblers and a Northern Waterthrush. Several Bobolinks flew overhead in the morning, and a couple of Baltimore Orioles were calling most of the day next to the banding station. Very few Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were in the banding area today, when normally there should be quite a few, and none were banded.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
TUESDAY, August 28, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:52
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00
Hours Open: 7.00
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 87.50
Temperature (F): 64-77
Cloud Cover: 10-30%
Wind: NW @ 3-5-10 mph
Barometer: 30.08-30.10
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 49 (plus 2 recaptured)
No. of Species: 14
Capture Rate: 58.3 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.50 hours, 5:00-14:30): Jacob Charlebois, Marie McGee, Tom Schlack, Blanche Wicke.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 2
"Traill's" Flycatcher - 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 2
Tennessee Warbler - 6
Nashville Warbler - 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1
Bay-breasted Warbler - 1
Blackpoll Warbler - 1
American Redstart - 2
Song Sparrow - 6 (plus 1 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1
American Goldfinch - 22 (plus 1 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
SATURDAY, September 1, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:56
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: 87.50
Temperature (F): 64-81
Cloud Cover: 50-80-50%
Wind: NW-Calm @ 5-7-0 mph
Barometer: 30.15-30.15
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 88 (plus 6 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 20
Capture Rate: 108.4 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.0 hours, 5:00-14:00): Terri Chapdelaine, Joe Midgett, Blanche Wicke.

[Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 released unbanded]
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1
Least Flycatcher - 1
Red-eyed Vireo - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 2
Veery - 2
Swainson's Thrush - 3
Tennessee Warbler - 8
Nashville Warbler - 6
Magnolia Warbler - 7
Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1
Bay-breasted Warbler - 2
Blackpoll Warbler - 7
American Redstart - 1
Ovenbird - 5
Mourning Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 11 (plus 2 recaptured)
Wilson's Warbler - 2
Song Sparrow - 15 (plus 1 recaptured)
Northern Cardinal - 2
American Goldfinch - 10 (plus 3 recaptured)

Metro Beach banding station report - August 19 & 23, 2012

The weather cooperated this week, allowing two full days of banding, though the pace of migration was still slow with only a trickle of migrant warblers.

Thank you to the volunteers who made banding on these two days possible: Rebecca Blundell, Brandon Charlebois, Chris Charlebois, Jacob Charlebois, Mike Charlebois, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack, Joan Tisdale, and Blanche Wicke.

Highlights of the 34 birds banded on Sunday, August 19 included 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, an Empidonax flycatcher that keyed out to Alder, and a White-breasted Nuthatch which is surprisingly uncommon in the banding area.

After hatch-year female White-breasted Nuthatch

Only two migrant warblers were captured today, both of them Tennessee Warblers. One was a very green and clean (fresh plumage) hatch-year.


Hatch-year Tennessee Warbler













The other was an adult male. It was aged based on skull ossification, and sexed based on its extensive gray crown.

After hatch-year male Tennessee Warbler

Also, adult Tennessee Warblers typically show symmetrical wing (and often tail) molt as they appear to be undergoing some type of molt migration that is not yet completely understood.

After hatch-year male Tennessee Warbler
molting its 3rd, 4th, and 5th primaries. Note
the very worn outer (6th-10th) primaries that
haven't been molted yet.

At most banding stations, dragonflies get caught in the mist nets too, and Metro Beach is no exception. Today it was a Mottled Darner, which is an uncommon species and only recently documented for Macomb County, based on individuals caught in mist nets here.

Mottled Darner (Aeshna clepsydra)

Interesting birds observed but not banded included a Northern Harrier flyby, a Belted Kingfisher flyover, a calling Red-breasted Nuthatch, two Northern Waterthrushes, and what may be one of the last Yellow Warblers of the season.

Highlights of the 46 birds banded on Thursday, August 23 included 7 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, one of which was an adult male. For some reason, more than 90% of the hummingbirds banded at this station are hatch-year birds even though migration of adults continues all during August and well into September. Since they migrate earlier than females, adult males are also less frequently caught here.


After hatch-year male
Ruby-throated Hummingbird undergoing
contour feather molt.















Carolina Wrens have been resident in the park for many years, and several have been banded previously. But in the past couple years they seem to have moved their territories away from the banding area a bit, so we have caught very few. So it was nice to catch two of them today, both in the Swamp Nets and on the same net run. Both were adults in heavy molt.


After hatch-year Carolina Wren













Two more Tennessee Warblers were banded today, along with the first American Redstart of the season.


Hatch-year female American Redstart













Another first of season was this Ovenbird.

Hatch-year Ovenbird

The second Mourning Warbler of the season was followed by the first Canada Warbler of the fall. This one was sexed as male based on the presense of black feathers in the necklace, which females tend not to show.


Hatch-year male Canada Warbler













And another dragonfly hit the net today, this one a somewhat more common species, a female Black-tipped Darner.

Black-tipped Darner (Aeshna tuberculifera)

Interesting birds observed but not banded today included a Sora heard out by the Field Nets, an Olive-sided Flycatcher north of the banding road, and quite a few warblers near (but not in) the Swamp Nets including several Tennessee, a couple Chestnut-sided, Black-and-white, and Blackburnians, and a single Magnolia.

============================
Banding Data
-------------------------------------
SUNDAY, August 19, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:42
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 12:30
Hours Open: 6.75
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 86.375
Temperature (F): 57-70
Cloud Cover: 100-80%
Wind: Calm-SW @ 0-3 mph
Barometer: 29.99-30.00
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 34 (plus 7 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 9
Capture Rate: 48.6 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 8.50 hours, 5:00-13:30): Rebecca Blundell, Chris Charlebois, Jacob Charlebois, Mike Charlebois (6.5 hrs), Joan Tisdale, Blanche Wicke.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 6
Alder Flycatcher - 1
Black-capped Chickadee - 1
White-breasted Nuthatch - 1
House Wren - 2
Tennessee Warbler - 2
Common Yellowthroat - 4 (plus 2 recaptured)
Song Sparrow - 6 (plus 1 recaptured)
American Goldfinch - 11 (plus 4 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)

-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, August 23, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:47
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00
Hours Open: 7.25
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 89.625
Temperature (F): 61-81
Cloud Cover: 10-0%
Wind: Calm-ESE @ 0-7-10 mph
Barometer: 30.16-30.18
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 46 (plus 11 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 13
Capture Rate: 64.7 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.5 hours, 5:00-14:30): Brandon Charlebois (3.0 hrs), Jacob Charlebois, Dave Lancaster, Tom Schlack.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 7
Carolina Wren - 2
House Wren - 1
Gray Catbird - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 2
American Redstart - 1
Ovenbird - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Mourning Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 4 (plus 2 recaptured)
Canada Warbler - 1
Song Sparrow - 2 (plus 7 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
American Goldfinch - 22 (plus 2 recaptured)

Fall banding at Metro Beach - August 5-16, 2012

I have been behind in many things since spring, so this posting describing the season opening of the fall banding station at Metro Beach (Lake St. Clair Metropark, St. Clair Co., Michigan) covers activities over the past two weeks - 4 days of banding. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up on a weekly basis from now on.

We began the season on Sunday, August 5 with the usual later start because the main task is getting the net lanes cleared and the nets getting properly placed for the first time since spring. Despite the drought over the summer, the vegetation was thick and more than waist high, so it took quite a bit of weed whacking to get it all cleared. Also, three areas were affected by tree falls over the summer so had to be hand-sawed to clear them out of the way. The volunteers today deserve a lot of credit, as they worked very hard. Just when we finished all this, it started to rain! Ironic after so long this without any. But it only rained for about an hour, so after it stopped we got the nets located, and were able to keep them open for 3 1/2 hours and catch the first birds of the fall season. On Thursday, August 9, we arrived in the park at our usual 5 a.m. (E.S.T.) and got the nets set up quickly. But a little more than an hour after the last (of 13.5) nets were open, it started to rain! The birds from the last net run, which included some of the first migrants of the season, were banded under the shelter of my car's hatchback and we waited for a chance to open the nets back up. After 3 hours, it was clear that re-opening wasn't going to happen, so we were then hoping for the rain to lighten up a bit so we could take the nets down without too much discomfort. That didn't happen either, so we took the soaked nets down, and everyone got completely drenched. Well, we really DO need the rain! Sunday, August 12 was the first "normal" day of the season with the nets open for a full day (6 hours after the last nets are open), and no rain. On Thursday, August 16, the day started out well but increasing winds (an impending rain that never materialized) forced us to close about an hour earlier than normal. But given how few birds were caught today, we really didn't mind.

Many thanks to the banding volunteers who helped on these four days. They are listed below under the days they volunteered.

Highlights of the 7 birds banded on Sunday, August 5 included the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the fall season, a hatch-year male that was almost certainly a migrant. Another species that does breed in the banding area but is infrequently captured is the Eastern Wood-Pewee. It was very exciting to find that the one caught today was already banded, at this location in 2009. When banded, she was showing a very extensive brood patch so was determined to be a female. Males also get brood patches in flycatchers, so only those showing a wide and very vascularized patch are sexed female.

After hatch-year female Eastern Wood-Pewee

More expected were juveniles of locally breeding species, like this Common Yellowthroat which was actually the first bird captured and banded for the fall season. Characteristics of juvenile yellowthroats include a lack of yellow on the throat (!), and cinnamon wing bars.

Hatch-year Common Yellowthroat

Song Sparrows appear to have had a good nesting season and the first juvenile of the fall was captured today too. Lacking a central breast spot, they can be easily confused this time of year with juvenile Swamp Sparrows, which are also heavily streaked below (which they lose sometime in their spring molt).


Hatch-year Song Sparrow













Interesting birds observed but not banded included an American Woodcock flushed from near the Swamp Nets, a flock of 9 Eastern Kingbirds chasing a Cooper's Hawk, and a singing Red-eyed Vireo.

Highlights of the 25 birds banded on Thursday, August 9 included a very nice array of migrants on the third (and last) net run of the day. Willow Flycatcher nests in the banding area (and sometimes Alder), but they also migrate early so it is difficult to know their status in early August. The individual below was an adult that was molting, so possibly was not a migrant as they are presumed to finish their molt before departing.


After hatch-year Willow Flycatcher













The arrival of warblers breeding north of the banding area are always anticipated through the month of August, with the first big push usually occurring the last week, but typically some early migrants begin moving earlier, as they did today. It was frustrating to have to close the nets so early because of the rain, as we may have caught quite a few more. The first warbler in the net, actually getting caught just after we finished setting up the Upland Nets, was a Black-and-white Warbler.

Hatch-year male Black-and-white Warbler

In the very same net, almost in exactly the same spot, on the next net run was a species that is typically only an early migrant, a Mourning Warbler.


Hatch-year Mourning Warbler













Another migrant warbler that often turns up early, but also later, is the Northern Waterthrush.

Hatch-year Northern Waterthrush

And yet another early migrant, one which is sometimes missed entirely at this banding station, is the Blackburnian Warbler.


Hatch-year male Blackburnian Warbler













It is never certain that we'll catch any Yellow Warblers in August, which is a common nesting species in the banding area, because they seem to peak in their migration in late July. There were a few left this year, and two hatch-years were banded today (one below), and a molting adult that had been banded this spring was also recaptured.


Hatch-year Yellow Warbler













A colorful surprise was an adult male Indigo Bunting. This species is not banded every year at this station, and in fall the males molt into a drabber female-like plumage. But this bird was in fine feather!


After second-year male Indigo Bunting













And finally, I always hope to catch a few Baltimore Orioles before they depart, which is usually before mid-September. Today we were happy to have three of them.


Hatch-year female Baltimore Oriole













Interesting birds observed but not banded included an American Woodcock again, this time flushed just over one of the nets, and a singing Carolina Wren.

Highlights of the 44 birds banded on Sunday, August 12 included 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.  The big surprise was a second-year female Hermit Thrush. This species nests more than 100 miles north of the banding area, and is typically the last species to arrive in migration in mid-September (Swainson's are more expected in early August). The earliest Hermit Thrush that has ever been banded here before is September 4, a very spotty juvenile.


Second-year female Hermit Thrush













It is also very unusual to be able to age a Hermit Thrush as a second-year in the fall (this is the first one at this station), but this bird was clearly retaining some very worn juvenile inner secondary coverts, while the outer coverts were missing due to molt.


Second-year female Hermit Thrush













And never before has a Hermit Thrush been sexed at this locale due to the distance from the breeding grounds. But this bird was showing an extensive and very vascularized brood patch, typical of what it would show in mid-summer!


Second-year female Hermit Thrush













More expected was this hatch-year male Northern Cardinal, showing a dusky bill typical of juveniles, and incoming patches of red allowing his sex to be determined.


Hatch-year male Northern Cardinal













And a potentially confusing sparrow, a juvenile Swamp Sparrow. Compare with the juvenile Song Sparrow above.


Hatch-year Swamp Sparrow













Interesting birds observed but not banded included a flyover Belted Kingfisher, a Red-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, a Marsh Wren, and two Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Highlights of the 11 birds banded on Thursday, August 16 were very few. The best I can do for this day is a photo of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Hatch-year female Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Interesting birds observed but not banded included flyover Green Heron and Belted Kingfisher, and a briefly calling Great Crested Flycatcher.

============================
Banding Data
----------------------------
SUNDAY, August 5, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:27
Time Open (E.S.T.): 10:30
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 14:00
Hours Open: 3.5
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 40.25
Temperature (F): 73-86
Cloud Cover: 80-30%
Wind: SW @ 5-7-10 mph
Barometer: 29.93-29.98
Precipitation: None (rain from 8:45 - 10:00)
No. Banded: 7 (plus 2 recaptured)
No. of Species: 5
Capture Rate: 22.4 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.50 hours, 6:00-15:30): Rebecca Blundell, Stevie Kuroda, Michelle Serreyn (2.5 hrs), Joan Tisdale, Bruce Watson.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
[Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1 recaptured]
American Robin - 3
Common Yellowthroat - 2
Song Sparrow - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)

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THURSDAY, August 9, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:32
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 8:00 (rain forced early close)
Hours Open: 2.25
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 23.375
Temperature (F): 68-64
Cloud Cover: 100%
Wind: NNW-ENE @ 5-7 mph
Barometer: 29.98
Precipitation: Rain from 8:00 - 14:00+
No. Banded: 25 (plus 3 recaptured)
No. of Species: 15
Capture Rate: 119.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.0 hours, 5:00-14:00): Rebecca Blundell, Tom Schlack, Blanche Wicke.

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1
Willow Flycatcher - 2
"Traill's" Flycatcher - 2
Least Flycatcher - 1
American Robin - 1
Yellow Warbler - 2 (plus 1 recaptured)
Blackburnian Warbler - 1
Black-and-white Warbler - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Mourning Warbler - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 3 (plus 2 recaptured)
Song Sparrow - 3
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Indigo Bunting - 1
Baltimore Oriole - 3
American Goldfinch - 1

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SUNDAY, August 12, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:35
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: 84.25
Temperature (F): 64-75
Cloud Cover: 50-90-20%
Wind: WNW @ 3-5 mph
Barometer: 29.98-30.00
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 44 (plus 2 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 12
Capture Rate: 55.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.5 hours, 5:00-14:30): Rebecca Blundell, Chris Charlebois (1.0 hr), Jacob Charlebois (1.0 hr), Stevie Kuroda, Joan Tisdale, Bruce Watson.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 4
Willow Flycatcher - 1
"Traill's" Flycatcher - 2
Least Flycatcher - 1
House Wren - 4
Hermit Thrush - 1
American Robin - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Common Yellowthroat - 4
Song Sparrow - 14 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Swamp Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 3
American Goldfinch - 7 (plus 2 recaptured)

-------------------------------------
THURSDAY, August 16, 2012
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:39
Time Open (E.S.T.): 5:45
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 11:30 (wind forced early close)
Hours Open: 5.75
No. of Nets: 4.5-13.5
Net Hours: 69.375
Temperature (F): 66-79
Cloud Cover: 90-50-100%
Wind: SSE-SE @ 5-7-15 mph
Barometer: 30.00-29.93
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 11 (plus 5 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 3
Capture Rate: 24.5 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 8.0 hours, 5:00-13:00): Rebecca Blundell, Jacob Charlebois, Mike Charlebois (3.5 hrs), Marie McGee, Tom Schlack.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3
Song Sparrow - 2 (plus 3 recaptured and 1 released unbanded)
American Goldfinch - 6 (plus 2 recaptured)