February 5, 2013 - 13th post and 13 banded today

I hope there are more days that I can report like this or even better.  Today was the all-time best session so far.  Yes, the Bicknell's Thrush was a rush and the Chuck-will's-widow was totally unexpected but today beat it all with high numbers, new species, and great helpers.  So much new information to process and add to what we already know.

Today we banded 13 birds with new bands, we had another recapture and we got more information on the deformed Northern Cardinal.

Today we hung the new nets and caught birds right away.  As much as I give credit to having more nets, there was also a marked increase in bird activity.  We got to practice with a Gray Catbird and this bird showed some tail molt.  (Pictures with no photo credit are from my camera though sometimes one of the other volunteers may do the actual picture taking.)

Gray Catbird

The white covering on the feather is a sheath that covers a newly forming feather.  This Gray Catbird somehow lost a few tail feathers and is growing some new ones in.  Later in the season we will see tail molt again but it will be symmetric not just a random flight feather growing in.

It is hard to remember the order in which we got the birds.  One of the next birds we banded was a White-eyed Vireo.  Nancy Price had seen one previously but here was one in our hands.

White-eyed Vireo

Notice the small hook on the bill.  The white eyes are a bit eerie.

We also recaptured the male Northern Cardinal with the deformed legs (see 11/8 and 11/15).  Previously I had updated that a veterinarian told me she suspected bird mites.  Our new volunteer, Ryan Welsh knew how to look for them and behold, they were there.  When we held the wing up to the light we could see the tiny black dots moving.  Another Northern Cardinal we caught later did not have them.

Northern Cardinal

photo by Nancy Price

We also caught our first Northern Mockingbird.  It is nice to have bigger birds to work on.  Good practice for more smaller birds later in the day.  Both the Northern Mockingbird and its close relative the Gray Catbird are quite vocal as we work on them.

Northern Mockingbird

Somewhere along the way we caught more cardinals.  One male was a biter and was hard to bag as he was  hanging on to the bag for dear life.  I will admit, this one escaped unbanded.

Northern Cardinal

Nancy Price called with the news that we caught another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  By the time we got to the net, there were two more birds - another White-eyed Vireo and a Prairie Warbler.  

Prairie Warbler

How fun to band such a little, feisty bird that is so bright and colorful.

Make sure you check out the page with a list of the birds we have seen on or from the property in 2013.  We added 7 to that list today.

What a good day.  13 newly banded birds, 1 recaptured Gray Catbird , 2 unbanded Northern Cardinals.  (1 Prairie Warbler, 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 2 White-eyed Vireos, 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers, 3 Gray Catbirds, 3 Northern Cardinals, and 1 Northern Mockingbird.)

Many thanks to my hard working volunteers!!

Next banding February 12, 2013