We had had a passably good day – up around 75 birds banded – and we were working, working hard, at deleafing the nets in order to close them. What an aggravating task! Nancy had just taken a small “hit” of birds out of #6 and I was taking a couple of birds and a lot of leaves out of #6A, when we heard it: the sound of an oncoming train. Suddenly a flock of at least 2,000 European Starlings flew into the dogwoods all around us. What a rush! What a roar! They were hitting the nets and bouncing out and they were everywhere. The shrubs were covered. If we hadn’t moved and scared them back into the air they would have stripped the dogwoods of every berry they possessed within seconds. What a life: hordes descending on every patch of food they can find, trying to be the first to grab a bellyfull before it’s all gone and they have to move on to the next patch. What are the chances of one individual in that mass getting even one berry? And when they move on, how much is left for all the other species?

Starlings are neat birds. And I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed this before but, in their basic plumage, they are covered with little hearts. Maybe they should be known as “love birds”. They’re not very romantic in the hand though…grasping, squawking, smelly little suckers.

Given the wide range of excellent baked goods that come my way at the banding lab, I’ve been giving serious thought to starting up my own personal marquis brand. I would market them as “Bander’s Choice”. Although all the goodies that come my way are great, there are a few that are a cut above; e.g., Elaine’s orange muffins, Carol’s “to die for” oatmeal cookies, Christine’s home-made fruity granola, Joanne’s (no, I guess it would be Jeff’s) tuna deluxe sandwiches, Annes’s kuchens. Fabulous! But the flag-bearer of my new brand would have to be Dorothy’s Butter Tarts. They are simply the best there are. She brought in a dozen this morning for Thanksgiving (and I was giving it I can assure you!) and you could just feel the love – in those $15’s worth of pecans. So what do you think? Bander’s Choice. Has a nice ring don’t you think? And the slogan for this brand would have to be: For those that want to indulge.

Last night’s rain and the cold temperatures it brought in certainly had the Yellow-rumped Warblers (Myrtles) on the move. We banded 45 but this was just a small portion of the 150 I conservatively estimated went through the site today. If it hadn’t been so windy (which necessitated that we close some nets prematurely) we would have banded considerably more.




Banded 131:
1 Mourning Dove
2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers
2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers
3 Blue Jays
1 Black-capped Chickadee
7 Golden-crowned Kinglets
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Swainson’s Thrush
1 Hermit Thrush
12 Cedar Waxwings
21 European Starlings
45 Myrtle Warblers
1 Western Palm Warbler
4 Blackpoll Warblers
2 Chipping Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
2 Purple Finches
22 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 49 spp.
Fall Banding Total: 2,682
Year-to-date Banding Total: 5,267

Photo Gallery:

Rick