A great person and a good friend…Elaine Serena.
Rain and strong winds throughout the night kept migration to a minimum. We didn’t open all the nets and even those we opened were affected by the strong westerly wind. So not a lot of birds handled today.
The perfect end to a morning of bird banding: a picnic with friends.
To take up the slack we had a celebratory picnic. And what was the occasion? Why the beauty of our longtime friend and colleague Elaine Serena. Elaine has done so much to help the banding program grow and to connect us with people throughout the area – and she does it in such an unassuming, humble way. So we felt it was about time we paid tribute to her with a great picnic lunch, lots of wine and, of course, warm camaraderie. Thanks Elaine for all you’ve done for the banding program and for just being you.
Discussing the finer points of warbler ID with Joanne Fleet.
Joanne and Carol hard at work.
We did witness another side to Elaine today though – a competitive side. Yes, Elaine has got caught up in net lane mania. She asked to have her own net lane so that she could take on lane-“owning” heavy weights like Carol Jones (4C), Nancy Furber (1A), and Ben Oldfield (9B). We cleared Elaine’s net lane today and put up the net. She’s set (and rarin’) to go.
Elaine putting the final touches on “her” net: #7E.
Banded 16:
2 Mourning Doves
3 Eastern Wood Pewees
2 Swainson’s Thrushes
1 Warbling Vireo
2 Red-eyed Vireos
1 Blackpoll Warbler
1 American Redstart
1 Ovenbird
1 Mourning Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
ET’s: 41 spp.
Rick