Well, we have had a great spring season and a wonderful banding experience since we first opened in the fall of 2012. Two projects, many more than outstanding helpers, great hosts, and many new friends. Oh, and the birds......
Since the beginning we have banded 3023 birds. We have banded 70 species. Now remember there is overlap for the two programs so here are the individual results:
Possum Long: Banded 56 species. Some of these were county records and some were one of a kind! We banded a total of 1076 birds. The most common species is Gray Catbird although recent numbers are lower than earlier years.
Painted Buntings Seasons 1-4: Surprise, our most common species is Painted Bunting with a grand total of 1261 (38 of these at Possum Long). We have banded 46 incidental species and the most common of those was Indigo Bunting. The incidental count is 686.
Spring was a joy with Blackpoll Warblers banded (seen prior years but first to be banded) and documenting and banding 4 Connecticut Warblers. They were new to the property and likely would have gone undetected without the banding. We banded more American Redstarts than most of the other years combined; 56 this spring alone.
Our Painted Bunting news is that another one of our banded birds has been seen on their breeding grounds. A bird we banded in Wellington, FL on March 20 was seen at a feeder in Statesboro, GA on May 29. It was banded as a young green bird so hopefully the person with the feeder will see it molt or we may refind it in Wellington and see if it is male or female. Many thanks to Nancy Price who saw the bands in a photograph posted on a site on Facebook!
