Highlights of the 25 birds banded on Wednesday, April 23 included the third Northern Flicker of the spring, this one a male, as can be clearly seen by its black whisker.
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| After hatch-year male Northern Flicker |
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| After hatch-year male Northern Flicker |
The first swallow of the spring was captured today. But despite there being considerable Tree Swallow activity around the nest box near the Field Nets, the first swallow banded was a Northern Rough-winged.
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| Second-year male Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
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| Second-year male Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
Although they have been in the banding area for at least two weeks, the first Winter Wren of the spring was captured today. It could certainly be the last since very few have been banded in the first week of May here.
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| After hatch-year Winter Wren |
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| After hatch-year Winter Wren |
Not much of a highlight, but still a beautiful bird up close, was the European Starling; this one a male distinguished by the light blue at the base of its yellow bill. Normally I don't band starlings, but the previous bander here did, so to follow the protocol I band them here.
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| After hatch-year male European Starling |
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| After hatch-year male European Starling |
Interesting birds observed but not banded included a calling Pied-billed Grebe in the marsh to the north, calling Virginia Rails and Sora, an Eastern Phoebe, the lingering Louisiana Waterthrush, and a Rusty Blackbird.
Highlights of the 39 birds banded on Sunday, April 27 included the second swallow of the season, this time the expected Tree Swallow. In addition, another already banded Tree Swallow was captured, that one a male that had been banded in spring of 2013.
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| After hatch-year male Tree Swallow |
None were heard singing in the banding area today, or any day prior, so it was nice to have the season's first House Wren today as a sign that the migration was progressing...slowly.
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| After hatch-year House Wren |
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| After hatch-year House Wren |
Overwintering White-throated Sparrows are sometimes caught in early April. That did not happen this year, but they are almost always quite worn and dull. It was clear that the two caught today were the first migrants from farther south as they were in very fresh, bright plumage, one white-striped morph and one tan-striped morph. Both birds were aged second-year based on molt limits, and were sexed as male by wing chord (>74mm), so the differences seen below are due to each being a different color morph.
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| Second-year male White-throated Sparrow (Tan) |
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| Second-year male White-throated Sparrow (White) |
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| Second-year male White-throated Sparrow (White) |
And a common species that we don't catch very often was a single House Finch.
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| After hatch-year male House Finch |
And I'll end with a gratuitous portrait of the same White-throated Sparrow, to show off its bright colors.
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| Second-year male White-throated Sparrow (White) |
Interesting birds observed but not banded included a flyover Common Loon, calling Sora and Virginia Rails, a calling Common Gallinule in the marsh north of the banding area, a briefly heard calling Solitary Sandpiper, two flyover Forster's Terns, three species of warbler; Nashville, Yellow, and the still lingering Louisiana Waterthrush, and a female Rusty Blackbird that gave good views most of the day.
It is also a great relief to have an insect highlight, as insects are finally now becoming active. You know it was a long winter when you're happy to see bugs! This half-inch beetle was found out near the Field Nets, and brought back to the station to be photographed. It is a species that I've seen several times when looking for salamanders. They like to hide under logs so are not often seen. And before now they have been too fast for me to get photos. This one had to be restrained in the ziploc bag that I keep my parking permit in...and an attempt to photograph it outside the bag failed as it flew off almost immediately.
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| Red Flat Bark Beetle (Cucujus clavipes) |
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| Red Flat Bark Beetle (Cucujus clavipes) |
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Banding Data
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WEDNESDAY, April 23, 2014
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:39
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00
Hours Open: 7.00
No. of Nets: 5.0-14.0
Net Hours: 91.00
Temperature (F): 39-54
Cloud Cover: 100-20%
Wind: NW @ 12-7 mph
Barometer: 29.36 - 29.45
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 25 (plus 11 recaptured, 2 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 13
Capture Rate: 41.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 10.00 hours, 5:00-15:00): Steve Mangas, Tom Schlack (5.5 hrs), Sue Wright
Downy Woodpecker -1 (plus 1 recaptured)
Northern Flicker - 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Winter Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Hermit Thrush - 2
American Robin - 2 (plus 1 recaptured)
European Starling - 1 (plus 1 released unbanded)
Song Sparrow - 3 (plus 1 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 4 (plus 1 recaptured)
Red-winged Blackbird - 8 (plus 3 recaptured, 1 released unbanded)
[Brown-headed Cowbird - 1 recaptured]
[American Goldfinch - 3 recaptured]
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SUNDAY, April 27, 2014
Sunrise (E.S.T.): 5:33
Time Open (E.S.T.): 6:00
Time Closed (E.S.T.): 13:00
Hours Open: 7.00
No. of Nets: 5.0-14.0
Net Hours: 91.00
Temperature (F): 34-57
Cloud Cover: 50-80%
Wind: NE-SE @ 3-5 mph
Barometer: 29.51 - 29.50
Precipitation: None
No. Banded: 39 (plus 7 recaptured, 3 released unbanded)
No. of Species: 11
Capture Rate: 53.8 birds per 100 net hours
Volunteers (worked 9.5 hours, 5:00-14:30): Annie Crary, Jacob Charlebois, Kathy McDonald, Blanche Wicke
[Downy Woodpecker - 1 recaptured]
Tree Swallow - 1 (plus 1 recaptured)
House Wren - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Hermit Thrush - 3 (plus 1 recaptured)
Song Sparrow -3 (plus 1 recaptured)
Swamp Sparrow - 10 (plus 1 recaptured, 1 released unbanded)
White-throated Sparrow - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 14 (plus 1 recaptured, 2 released unbanded)
House Finch - 1
American Goldfinch - 3 (plus 1 recaptured)
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