The title should actually read: “The End of the 2009 Banding Year…Really….Peter” so that Peter Thoem, Burlington politico, birding enthusiast, and dry-witted cynic will know that this was, in fact, the last day of banding in 2009. And what a beautiful day it was! Ginger snaps everywhere. Christie Macdonald and Nancy Furber had a bake-off to see who could make the best ginger snaps. And, really, it was too close to call. Christie’s had the edge on “snappiness” while Nancy’s had the “chewy” advantage. The bottom line is that there were lots of goodies and that, as I’ve tried to make clear over many blog inputs, makes banders (and this one in particular) very happy. And oh yeah….the weather was wonderful too: crisp cold NW wind, a light covering of snow, and blue skies – real Canadian Winter weather.
It was also weather that brought birds to the feeders…..and visitors to see the birds. Christie also brought her mom, Heather, and Caleb Scholtens made the long trip from England just to rekindle his interest in banding; now that’s dedication!
Perhaps the most interesting bird that remained unbanded was an American Robin that flew through the banding area. We caught just about everything else banding 23 new birds and retrapping 33. One of the latter was an American Goldfinch that we banded in April 2006 and hadn’t encountered since then. We also got an American Tree Sparrow with a band that isn’t one of ours – these are always exciting; you just never know where it might be from.
All in all it’s been a very good year. We finished with a banding total of 217 for this “winter” period (November 9th to December 29th) and 4,581 for the year. Not bad, eh? I’ll post the actual numbers banded for each species later.
Perhaps one of the biggest accomplishments for the banding lab was the attaraction of over 1.100 visitors for the year. People are finding it’s a good place to see and learn about birds. And it’s just a nice place to be. Thanks to everyone that contributed to making it such a successful year.
And remember: the 2010 Banding Season is just a few days away. So start practicing your baking…..

Banded 23:
1 Eastern Tufted Titmouse
1 Black-capped Chickadee
5 American Tree Sparrows
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
8 House Finches
6 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 33:
1 Mourning Dove
2 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Eastern Tufted Titmouse
2 Black-capped Chickadees
5 White-breasted Nuthatches
7 American Tree Sparrows
8 Dark-eyed Juncos
3 House Finches
5 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 17 spp.

Rick