April 13th – History in the Making

Today was a historic day (for me, anyway). It was my first “solo” banding experience. My fiance accompanied me for moral support. (Also, being over 6 feet tall, he makes opening/closing nets a breeze.) I would be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little nervous, but I tried to remember some of the important lessons Rick has taught me over the past couple of years: 1) Be careful yet efficient; 2) Be confident about my abilities and; 3) Grant entry only to those visitors bearing baked goods.

Overall, it was a relatively slow day; I only handled 26 birds. Perhaps the avian community said “she looks new, let’s give her a break”. This opinion, however, was not held by one Northern Cardinal who decided to visit me on two separate occasions this morning. Those visits included a lot of biting.

Rick was also nice enough to take care of the census and had an exciting sighting – a female Ruddy Duck which represents a new species record for the park!

Banded 10:
2 American Goldfinches
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 American Tree Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
1 Northern Cardinal

Retrapped 16:
1 American Goldfinch
6 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 Mourning Dove
2 Black-capped Chickadees
2 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Swamp Sparrow

ET’s: 42 spp.

Christine

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