Today Bill and I went banding with Ed Rykiel on his project in Richland parks. He has a huge emphasis on education which is really in keeping with what we do and will be doing. It was great to be working with Rich again too as well as getting to know Lori better.
We set up 5 nets in WE Johnson Park. This park is special as it has excellent habitat and is known for its great variety of birds. Lisa Hill helped us scope out our location. Having Lisa so near the park means she really understands what birds are in the park and where. I always enjoyed finding migrants here.
We banded a total of 14 birds. The long desired Black-capped Chickadee was caught and banded - my #116. We banded a total of 6. Another surprise was a Lincoln's Sparrow. They are on the move from their higher elevation breeding grounds. We had expected Song Sparrows so catching a Lincoln's Sparrow first was a surprise. We eventually did get 3 Songs as well as a Bewick's Wren. During the later morning slump we did catch a White-crowned Sparrow.
Song Sparrow
The next to last net run yielded a Western Tanager. She had a receding brood patch. A beautiful bird.
Then the final bird of the morning was a shocker! (Yes, Nancy Price, I did carry it back to the banding table a little hidden behind my back!) Imagine catching a bird we had yet to see in Washington state. Please realize we lived and birded here for 22 years before our move-and-7-year-stay in Florida. It is really hard for us to add to our Washington list. The surprise bird was a Magnolia Warbler. Note its diagnostic under-tail pattern. Also note that not all warblers with yellow rumps are Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Magnolia Warbler
I can't wait to see what's next.......
We are waiting, too. Wow on the warbler.
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