This session we captured 2 new birds. We banded an Ovenbird and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. I will post photos soon. I also have a few photos from some training sessions. To come........
I am very grateful to Marko for fixing our pole storage. It sounds like a small thing but anything that makes our job easier is wonderful. THANKS MARKO!!!
I would like to thank all the volunteers who worked this spring season. It is hard to show up week after week and only get a few birds at a time. We are glad the birds are up north and nesting! Something to look forward to in the fall.
Pete may be posting new slow motion video. The one of the Red-bellied Woodpecker is spectacular! Check out his links in last week's blog entry and scroll.
Next session will be in August! Stay tuned here and we will let you know!
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
May 3, 2016 - Banding and Birds being released in slow motion
We didn't get or see a lot of birds today but there are certainly things to write about. We enjoyed meeting Wendy and Dennis from South Carolina. They participate in Painted Bunting monitoring there and we were glad to show them our regular banding sessions. Sharing butterflies was also great. I'm sure much sharing will continue.
Migrants continue to pass right over as the winds are not too favorable for them to stop. We console ourselves with knowing it is better that they fly on. The grounds are eerily silent. Today we observed 2 Blackpoll Warblers and one female Black-throated Blue Warbler. We caught and banded another warbler species - a Common Yellowthroat.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98416076@N07/26430438700/in/datetaken/
Next banding session: Tuesday, May 10. Nets go up at 6:15.
Migrants continue to pass right over as the winds are not too favorable for them to stop. We console ourselves with knowing it is better that they fly on. The grounds are eerily silent. Today we observed 2 Blackpoll Warblers and one female Black-throated Blue Warbler. We caught and banded another warbler species - a Common Yellowthroat.
Common Yellowthroat
Photo by Pete Grannis
Our visitors were about to leave when we had a very strange thing happen. A Blue Jay was in the net as was something that looked like a hummingbird. It turned out to be a very large moth, likely a Sphinx Moth. Never had that happen before! The moth was extracted and released. (Pete got the moth identified as a Fig Sphinx Moth.) The Blue Jay was a recapture. Was the Blue Jay pursuing the moth when they got caught??
Blue Jay
Photo by Pete Grannis
Fig Sphinx Moth
We also recaptured a Great Crested Flycatcher. We did a few training sessions last week and had recaptured the same bird. It was banded in the spring of 2013 and it is still coming to Possum Long. We don't often catch Great Crested Flycatchers so it is good to have this long history on this bird.
Great Crested Flycatcher
Photo by Wendy Allen
Thanks to a site discovered by Jane, Pete has been taking some slow-motion videos of birds we release. Below are the links to his Flickr page. Hope you enjoy this new photography as much as we do. Hopefully the birds from today will be on his site soon!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98416076@N07/26430438700/in/datetaken/
Next banding session: Tuesday, May 10. Nets go up at 6:15.
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