Wednesday, March 11, 2015

March 10, 2015

10,000 hits!!

First off I would like to thank all of the followers of this blog for their interest.  On March 9, somewhere around 1:30 we passed 10,000 hits to this blog.  We do this study for its primary purpose of determining the status and distribution of birds (what birds, when) but one of my goals is sharing and education.  THANK YOU!  Today also marks our 100th post.

We banded 2 new birds and recaptured 4 at Tuesday's session.  In studying the above mentioned status and distribution, we expected more Gray Catbirds this winter.  Obviously there was something different this year.  There were many fewer catbirds than the past 2 winters.  We did band 1 new one and recaptured one we banded in the fall.

Our other new bird was a Black-throated Blue Warbler.  Yay - migrants are beginning to move.  This was a male born last summer.  The white speckling on its throat indicated this.

Black-throated Blue Warbler
Photo by Jane Wiewora

The other recaptures were 2 color banded Painted Buntings one from last December and one from this February.  We also had a male Northern Cardinal that was born last summer and banded in September but now looks like all the other adults.

We also monitor birds on the property.  The nesting Osprey is a big draw for visitors and everyone awaits the appearance of the young.  Though Osprey are common, it is special to see its life played out in front of our eyes.

Osprey
Photo by Pete Grannis

Next banding session:  Tuesday March 17.  Nets go up at 6:15.  Visitors are welcome at any time but most birds are typically caught in the first few runs.  (Of course if there are many migrants, this could be proven wrong!)

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