Young male Blackburnian Warbler.
I’ve been banding for the past 2 days. I know, I know…..the Fall migration monitoring program doesn’t start until tomorrow, September 1st but….This was like training for the big event. You just can’t jump into it cold turkey and expect things to go well. You have to train: getting up early in the morning; opening all the nets (we now have 19 on the go and that’s without the 2 river ‘chains’ set up yet); focusing in on all the bird calls and songs so you can get an accurate count; remembering to scan the skies throughout to spot distant flocks or individuals; sustaining the pace for 6 hours. Like I said: you just can’t jump into it. But I think I’m getting back into the groove.
Young male Black-throated Green Warbler.
This was made somewhat easier by the nice variety of birds that were around; e.g., today I banded 33 of 19 species; 13 of the 33 (39%) and 8 of the 19 species (42%) were warblers – most of which are working their way down to the Tropics (hurricanes notwithstanding).
A young HY (Hatch Year) and an older AHY (After Hatch Year) male Common Yellowthroat.
August 30th, banded 27:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Traill’s Flycatcher
2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 House Wren
2 American Robins
2 Gray Catbirds
2 Red-eyed Vireos
1 Blue-winged Warbler
1 Magnolia Warbler
2 Black-throated Green Warblers
1 American Redstart
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Wilson’s Warbler
4 Chipping Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
2 American Goldfinches
August 31st, banded 33:
2 Mourning Doves
1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1 Least Flycatcher
1 Blue Jay
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
2 Gray Catbirds
4 Cedar Waxwings
2 Red-eyed Vireos
2 Blue-winged Warblers
2 Magnolia Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
2 Blackburnian Warblers
1 Black and White Warbler
2 American Redstarts
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Canada Warbler
3 Northern Cardinals
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 American Goldfinch
ET’s: 46 (30th); 49 (31st)
Rick