Newcomer Jennifer – a keen student indeed! – with her first banded bird: Dark-eyed Junco.
Banding is an addictive activity; go a week without it and you start to get the shakes, food doesn’t taste right, and you sleep in fits and starts (but, of course, this last thing might just be old age….). When I get this antsy feeling I head for Ruthven and open a few nets (the nets by the feeders are still up).
One of 3 young blue Jays banded today.
Today, after that snow/sleet storm, the feeders were very busy…and, thus, so were the banders. We banded 57 birds and handled another 49 recaps – quite a few of the repeat Tree Sparrows and juncos were birds that we had banded in previous Winters – they have returned “home” for the Winter.
Banded 57:
3 Blue Jays
5 American Tree Sparrows
1 White-throated Sparrow
Some White-throated Sparrows are taking advantage of the mild “Winter” temperatures to stay further north.
4 Dark-eyed Juncos
10 house Finches
34 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 24 spp. (including 4 Eastern Bluebirds, 14 Cedar Waxwings, 1 Northern Flicker)
Season Results:
We banded in every month of the year (as well as intensively – i.e, daily – in the Spring and Fall). In total we banded 9,745 birds of 103 species.
2015’s Top Ten:
1/ Snow Bunting – 3,462
These Snow Bunting decoys (fashioned by Alessandra Wilcox) are waiting anxiously for “real” Winter weather to set in.
2/ American Goldfinch – 706
3/ Yellow-rumped Warbler – 580
4/ White-throated Sparrow – 493
5/ Dark-eyed Junco – 380
6/ Cedar Waxwing – 267
7/ American Tree Sparrow – 256
8/ Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 243
9/ Song Sparrow – 200
10/ Gray Catbird – 188
Thanks to all our wonderful volunteers who made it happen!!!!
Rick