Through the generous donation of banding nets and poles to HBO, I’ve been able to set up a few nets in my neighbourhood. One is a feeder net in my backyard which backs onto a meadow area (where we get American Woodcocks, Eastern Meadowlarks and Bobolinks to mention a few) and the other nets are in a side yard of my neighbour’s, near a marsh. I’ve been delighted to see the variety of species I’ve been able to get in-spite of not being able to place the nets too near wooded areas.  There are also swallow/bluebird houses set up in both areas which allows me to catch a few of these species as they lobby for the best houses on both properties.  This morning as I opened I could hear the first Brown Thrasher of the season singing and sure enough on my first net round he had found his way into one of my nets.  The winds were still strong out of the north so 2 of my 3 nets were affected by the wind, but still a good number of birds for the day.  Hoping to see evidence of more migrants in the nets in the week to come!

Banded:

1- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 – American Goldfinches
1 – Black-capped Chickadee
5 – Tree Swallows
2 – Swamp Sparrows
1 – Slate-coloured Junco
3 – Brown-headed Cowbirds
1 – Brown Thrasher
1 – American Robin

1 – House Wren (which unfortunately pulled a Houdini and escaped before I could get a band on it!)

Recaps:

1 – American Tree Sparrow
1 – Northern Cardinal
1 – American Robin
1 – American Goldfinch
2 – Song Sparrows (both banded last spring and have returned!)
1 – Tree Sparrow
1 – Brown Headed Cowbird

Total: 26 (17 Banded (1 escapee), 8 Recaps)

The first Ruby-crowned-Kinglet for my feeder net

Tree swallows – easy to catch when they are busy defending nest boxes and not really watching where they are going!

Brown Thrasher – I often saw it in the hedgerows last spring, so I was delighted to see it back again.