November 4, 2018 - Final Florida numbers

Finally, new tallies of birds banded is done.  These numbers are up to the point that we left Florida.  The Painted Bunting Project was finished prior to our leaving.  We banded a total of 255 Painted Buntings in Season 5.  The grand total is 1616.

Incidentals (other species banded at Painted Bunting locations) were 185 for a grand total of 871 over the five seasons.

Birds banded at Possum Long since last reported was 313.  The grand total banded there is 1389.

Our Florida banding career's total is 3876.

We are grateful to have had the chance to do these studies and thank the many,many people who were involved.  You are so appreciated.

Ovenbird

November 1, 2018

On Thursday we did our first White-crowned Sparrow Project banding at McNary National Wildlife Refuge.  We need a special use permit to band there and it came through.  We had banded there in the initial White-crowned banding from 2009-2011.  Now we will hopefully track individuals banded there.

A great thing about this location is that it is accessible to the public and we will be holding public banding sessions.  At this moment we do not have the second session scheduled but it will be announced at the bottom of this (and future entries) when the date is determined.

Our first bird was exciting.  We caught a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  We cannot band raptors but it was exciting to see.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

We soon banded our first White-crowned Sparrow at this location.  We have 2 split colors so McNary will have all orange/yellow split bands.  Other locations may use this split too but if you are going to try to spot bands, you can note this split there.  The split bands are important as they designate these White-crowned Sparrows as being from our study.  No one else will use this split.  Remember that the order is important.  Colors are read and recorded this way:  upper left, lower left, upper right, lower right.  That means this bird is split, silver (federal metal band), light blue, light blue.  No other bird will get this combination.  We can track this bird and possibly see it next year with adult plumage.

White-crowned Sparrow

First one banded at McNary NWR

We also band other species but they only get a federal band.  The incidentals were a Spotted Towhee, a Song Sparrow, and a male Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (male)

We banded a total of 13 White-crowned Sparrows before weather pushed us to close.  Next session will be announced here when scheduled.  Once feeders go up at the refuge these banded birds may be more easily spotted.

October 27, 2018

Not too much new news.  Banding with Dr Ed Rykiel and team on Tuesday was a bit slow but started off with a bang.  Two Hermit Thrushes and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  Not too sure how many other birds but it was fairly quiet.

Hermit Thrush

Thought you might enjoy seeing one of the banded White-crowned Sparrows.  We have two split colors:  red/blue and yellow/orange.  This pictures shows how even with a camera it can be tough telling all 4 bands.  This one is split over silver on the left and bright blue over dark green on the right.  The blue one isn't visible.

White-crowned Sparrow (immature)

October 18 & 19, 2018

The White-crowned Sparrow Project (WCSP) is officially launched.  We have our state and federal permits and the colored bands arrived Tuesday evening so we are ready to go.

I originally worked with White-crowned Sparrow banding from 2007 until our move to Florida in 2011.  We banded almost 1400 White-crowned Sparrows at three main locations.  The color bands only indicated age and locations (all birds got a federal and 1 or 2 color bands). 

That initial study documented site-fidelity as was its intent but returns could only be counted to the largest number seen at any one time (6).  So site-fidelity was proven but percentages could not be calculated.  This new study allows us to individually mark birds so that we can observe how long an individual stays and if it returns in subsequent years as well as what percentages do come back to the same site.

Incidental captures have been included in this research project.  During the first study we banded 20 different incidental species.  It will be most interesting to see what additional species are caught as we band White-crowned Sparrows.

If you are in the Tri-Cities I hope you will hear more about this project and if you are interested in learning more, you can reach out to keepbirding2@yahoo.com

So, our initial banding day netted us 24 White-crowned Sparrows.  We also banded 7 Dark-eyed Juncos.  Six of these were the expected "Oregon" subspecies.  One was a "Slate-colored" subspecies and is not commonly seen.  This Slate-colored is a bit different than the east coast one.  In the Sibley Guide to Birds see the Rocky Mountain illustration.  We also banded two House Finches and an American Robin.

White-crowned Sparrow

first color combination

White-crowned Sparrow

first color combination

Dark-eyed Junco - slate colored

Rocky Mountain form

On the second day we were pleased to see birds banded the previous day.  We color banded 18 more White crowned Sparrows.  Incidental captures included 2 Dark-eyed Juncos, a House Finch and a Song Sparrow.  We do not have as many Song Sparrows at this site as seen in more wooded areas so it was nice to band this one.  We were very pleased to also catch a White-throated Sparrow that we had been seeing.  This species is rare on the west coast but usually at least annual, in low numbers in our area.  We banded one additional White -crowned Sparrow but did not use color bands.  It had a healed broken leg that would not have allowed the color bands to move.  It just got a federal (silver) band on its uninjured leg.

White-throated Sparrow (in yard several days prior to banding)

We will be adding 2 new locations and will keep you up to date on our progress.  

October 16, 2018

We are continuing to band with Dr Ed Rykiel and today we banded at the Amon Creek Natural Preserve.  This area is slowly being surrounded by housing and may not withstand the onslaught.  However, we did have our best day banding there and the birds were very active.  We banded the expected sparrows:  White-crowned (15) and Song (4) Sparrows.  The photos of the White-crowns will get you ready for our own upcoming project.  Mature birds (not born this past breeding season) have black and white stripes.  Immature birds' stripes are more buffy and brown.  Very easy to age until next spring when the White-crowns molt and all ages become black and white striped. 

adult White-crowned Sparrow

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

hatch-year White-crowned Sparrow

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We also caught quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers (21).  We enjoyed the challenge of trying to age and sex them.  These are the Audubon subspecies of Yellow-rumps.  The yellow throat is the obvious difference from the Myrtle Yellow-rumps we banded in Florida.  Also note the lack of eye stripe that Myrtle has.

Audubon's race of Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Always a pleasure to catch and band are the kinglets.  They are so small it is amazing to hold them.  We caught 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets.  The first one was female and lacks the hidden ruby feathers.  The second one was a male with a brilliantly colored crown.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We also banded an American Robin, an American Goldfinch, and 2 House Finches.  We will continue to band with Dr Rykiel but the good news is that by the end of today our color bands should arrive and we will start banding on October 18.  Let's see what we learn.

October 2, 2018 another new species banded

We hope we are making progress toward our new banding project.  We now have our federal permit updated to WA state and our new project.  The proposal has also been submitted for our state permit.  The state agency has a maximum 60 days to review the application so it might be a while until we can start our banding.

In the meantime we are still working with Dr Ed Rykiel on his project.  We go out to local parks on most Tuesdays and today was no exception.  His project color bands four species; White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows, House Finches, and Dark-eyed Juncos.  They are only banded with one color that indicates the location banded.  We have typically been catching the two sparrow species and a few more regulars.  The juncos aren't back yet and the House Finches are more typically caught later at feeders.

Today we banded 14 birds.  Most were the expected Song and White-crowned Sparrows.  We also caught a Bewick's Wren.  There were three other really fun birds:  Almost first off we caught an Orange-crowned Warbler.  This one was quite yellow, typical of a western sub-species.

Orange-crowned Warbler
Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Then we caught two Golden-crowned Kinglets.  Usually this species is very high in coniferous trees.  We have seen them low in shrubs during migration before so maybe they were moving.  This is #117 if you are following my banding life list.  Both birds were male and showed off their golden crown with the hidden red stripe.  It doesn't entirely show in this photo but you can see a hint of red.

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Later we caught a Golden-crowned Sparrow.  Both "golden" birds were new for Bill.

Golden-crowned Sparrow
Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Not a bad day of banding.

September 4, 2018 - WA first!

Ah, what a relief it is to feel caught up for now.  If you've been reading all along, there have been some update posts and some newer posts.  But this is finally in real time as of today.  If you are new to this blog, welcome.  There's a lot to read but we hope it is of interest and value to you.

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.......

August 26, 2018 - west of the Cascade Mountains

Fresh off the plane from Arizona, we went to Edmonds, WA to observe a banding class conducted by the Puget Sound Bird Observatory.  I had taken a course through this organization a year before I moved to Florida (2010).  We banded in the Cascade Mountains and I have fond memories of this experience.  I was very pleased to be able to reach out to Christine Southwick and she graciously let us come to observe and/or help.

The class was specifically run on weekends so working folks could attend.  The small class size was perfect to accommodate us.  Students were Jen, Zack, Mariko, and Karissa.  Instructors Chris, Cynthia, and Elaine were great to work with.  We went on net runs, assisted in data taking, and whatever was needed.  Our first run had three American Robins and more.  It got hard to keep track of birds going in different directions (to different students and instructors).  It was clear that we were also students (does one ever stop learning? - I hope not).  It had been a while since we did evaluations of breeding birds and new hatch year birds as most of our banding was with winter birds.  It had also been a while since we looked at western species.  And thirdly, I had never worked west of the Cascades.

American Robin

Net runs also yielded Spotted Towhee (I banded a HY SPTO), Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Song Sparrows, and more.

Things got quiet for a while and we were just taking down nets when one net had 8 or 9 birds!  Wow - four or five were Bushtits as well as an Orange-crowned Warbler, and a already banded Chestnut-backed Chickadee.  I think there was also a wren or Song Sparrow too.  Oh, how I had wanted to band a chickadee (all were recaptures) but of course I settled for a Bushtit which was a new species for me to band.  (#115).  I must remember, patience is a virtue.

Bushtit (female)

The Bushtit was so incredibly small.  I had banded other small birds (gnatcatcher and kinglet) but this beat all!  5 grams!  I love her glaring eyes!  The male Bushtit has dark eyes.  This bird had a receding brood patch - was the whole family in the net?  As it turns out the answer is no, there was another post-breeding female.

What a tremendous opportunity.  I hope to encourage others to take classes offered by Puget Sound Bird Observatory and/or to support their work.  They are home-based in Puget Sound but work for all we believe in, in Washington, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond.  We hope to participate again.  

August 18, 2018 Visiting Hummingbird banding

Welcome to our new look and new focus.  We have a new location, new projects coming, and a new header!  We will share any and all of our exploits, on our projects or the ones we visit, to learn more through banding and the birds in-hand.

On August 18, while birding in SE Arizona, we headed to Sierra Vista to attend hummingbird banding at the San Pedro House.  My permit does not allow me to band hummingbirds.  This takes special training and permits.  I really wanted to learn holding techniques and just to see another aspect of bird banding.

The banding was sponsored by Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (SABO).  The permitted bander is Tom Wood and banding that day, was Sheri Williamson, author of "Hummingbirds of North America" in the Peterson Field Guides series.  Tom and Sheri are directors of SABO.  Studying and banding hummingbirds for years, they have amassed a wealth of knowledge about these jewels.

They banded over 30 Black-chinned Hummingbirds that evening.  Their local males had left but there were still migrating males, females, and young birds to see.  They take down all of the usual feeders and place a net enclosure around one remaining one.  When a bird is there the outside edge drops to catch the birds.

The birds are transported to the banding table in mesh containers and wait there until the birds can be processed.

Hummingbird bands are made in 5 sizes - extra small to extra large - by hand by the banders.  Sheets of thin metal with imprinted numbers are cut, filed, sized, and shaped.  The tools are much like the ones we have pictured on the blog for our work but smaller.  

Hummingbird banding tools and bands

The whole process is actually much like small bird banding but with adjustments.  Holds are along the body, securing the wings.  Birds are evaluated for fat, parasites, sex, molt, color, weight, and more.  

Applying the band

Checking for fat and overall condition

Of course some methods had to be adjusted.  The hummingbirds were wrapped in a gauze/net material and clipped to a scale to be weighed.  Each bird was no more than the weight of a penny (the old copper kind!).  

Weighing a hummingbird

The whole process is open to the public and there were a lot of folks there.  The first 30 people were asked if they wanted to release birds.  There was much enthusiasm for that.  Birds were offered nectar during the banding process if it appeared they were tired or even if they were over-active and needed calming.  They were also fed prior to release.  The volunteers made all the work look easy and a lot of education was done.  An excellent experience!

My sincere thanks to Sheri for answering all of my questions and for the work she does.  I also thank Tom Wood and all of the volunteers for this opportunity and for the work they do.

Summer 2018 (May 31) - posted 9/2/18

On May 31, Dr Jamie Rotenburg (bander in NC who does the summer version of our banding) received a band report from a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources colleague who is at Botany Bay State Park on Edisto Island.  It is a male.  The colors are CKSW  (lime green over split on the left, silver over white on the right). It is one of our birds!!

CKSW was banded at PB 27 on January 23, 2016 and ironically Jamie was there at the time!!  He had come for a  3 day visit to give some talks on the results of his research and he attended this banding session with us.  The host at PB 27 had one of Jamie's summer banded Painted Buntings and had hosted him one other time way before we ever started banding in FL in winter.

How strange can this all be??

CKSW at time of banding 1/12/16

resighted on its breeding grounds in SC

Summer 2018 (June 16, 2018) - Posted 9/2/18

Let me start off with apologies to Wendy Allen who contacted me on June 22, 2018.  It has taken me this long to catch up and I am truly sorry.  The information is still interesting and worth knowing.  Though we saw so many color variations in Painted Buntings with our FL winter work, this is something we never saw.

One June 16, there was a group of observers at the Baruch Marine Lab in Georgetown, SC that served as a PABU banding site 2007-2012.  They observed this banded Painted Bunting:

"Goldie" a very yellow Painted Bunting

Photo by Wendy Allen

As you might be able to see it is missing a color band above the SC split red/white.  After much searching of records by John Gerwin (NC Museum of Natural Sciences) and Wendy (and/or her folks there) it was determined that the missing band was black and had been applied below the split.  The bird was second-year when it was banded on 6/6/12 and was still green prior to the fall molt when it would acquire its male colors.  It was banded at this site.

Even more interesting was that this bird had been resighted and photographed on July 5, 2014 and was a typically colored male.

We can only wonder why it lost the red coloring in the between time.  Originally I suspected something genetic but that does not seem to be the case.

Wendy and the observers at this site also had another long-term visitor at their feeders.  YESE was banded on 7/15/09 as a second year bird.  It is still being seen, so it has survived 10 years.  It has been observed every year since it was banded.  Keep up the good work.  I can only hope I continue to get reports from FL hosts.

Summer 2018 - posted September 1, 2018

This photograph of a strange looking Painted Bunting showed up on a Painted Bunting Facebook site.  The person who posted referenced the location as near Seminole county, FL.  She and others wondered if the bird was injured by banding.  It had a yellow band on its right leg and a silver (federal) band on its left.  I knew immediately it was not one of our banded birds (or if it was it had lost 2 bands - unlikely).  I contacted other researchers involved with Painted Buntings and was told that the Smithsonian had used silver/yellow on birds that were outfitted with geolocators.

This bird had some strange feather growth over its geolocator but in every way it was feeding well and carrying on like the other birds at this feeder.  A geolocator is read when a bird returns to its banding site and is recaptured.  It has data that indicates where the bird has been.  Everyone was real excited to know one of the birds had been seen at an overwintering location. Hopefully it returned to where it was banded.  The feather "bustle" may indicate which bird this is even if it can't be recaptured. 

At times so little data gets back to a bander. We were very fortunate this year to have captured previously banded birds and to have one of ours seen in South Carolina.  More in another posts (hopefully soon).  It has been amazing how many resightings have been on social media.

Summer 2018 - Posted September 1, 2018

So buntings are back and it might be time to consider a caged feeder.  They are featured in many posts and have so very successful for encouraging Painted Buntings.  So what will you do with one over the next summer? 

Marko was always our innovator.  He adapted his caged feeder into a butterfly rearing cage.  If you choose to do this be aware it is a tad bit of work as they keep eating the host plants and then they make their mess!  Moisture is needed but not too much.

Marko made cover screens to keep the caterpillars in and birds and lizards out.   I'm sure he will remove these now that buntings are back.

Host plant for Black Swallowtails

Black Swallowtail caterpillars

Great idea Marko, hope others try this!

Eddie is famous! Posted August 31, 2018

In an effort to catch up here's a post for those of you who attended our bandings and maybe met Eddie.  Eddie is our practice bird that we use to introduce people to holding a bird properly.  We see how they do and then they get to help release one of the birds we banded.

We were surprised to have the Institute for Bird Populations use a photo of Eddie from our blog in their April newsletter.  The IBP coordinates a banding effort called MAPS.  MAPS stands for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship.  This program monitors breeding birds across the US and Canada.  MAPS was one of my early banding experiences. 

Many thanks to Nancy Price who found this newsletter online!

Eddie was once again helping folks feel comfortable holding a bird.  He (and Bill and I) visited a class of new banders last week.  More on that in another post after some more catch-up..........

More catch-up - Posted 8/31/2018

Almost two years ago we heard from Ben Oldfield in Ontario about a Painted Bunting that was banded there on 9/12/16 and outfitted with a  MOTUS tag (more info here http://motus.org)  MOTUS is a collaborative automated radio telemetry array used to track small animals.  Long  Point Bird Observatory banded the hatch year Painted Bunting and added the MOTUS tag as part of their program to track vagrant birds.   

We heard from Ben in June (in the midst of our move!) and he sent this map of the route of the bunting.  Maybe it belonged to the western population of Painteds as it was headed southwest.

Summer 2018 - posted August 15, 2018

Dear blog followers,

It has been a while since a post and I hope you are all still following.  Soon I will do at least EIGHT more posts with banding/sighting reports that have happened over the late spring and summer of 2018.  After I get data entry finished there will also be a summary report.  We banded 355 Painted Buntings in Season 5 for a grand total of 1616.  Of course there were incidental birds too. 

Painted Bunting (male) at Fort DeSoto

Photo by Nancy LaFramboise

Until then let's start with more recent news.  Painted Buntings are back!  The PB host in Kissimmee reported a bird molting from green to male on August 5.  It is banded and contributes a lot of info for our project.  The site in Jupiter also has a returning bunting.  Keep an eye out!  Likely there will be more reports soon.  Prior to our study these August reports were pretty much not heard about.  With the advent of eBird and our hosts, we now know this is completely normal.  It likely was always true, just unnoticed.

banded Painted Buntings at DuPuis Wildlife and Environmental Area

Photo by Nancy LaFramboise

Many of you now know that we will not be banding Painted Buntings any longer.  There are still sites on the east coast that do though.  The study can actually continue if you will still report band sightings.    I STILL WANT SIGHTINGS!!  They can be sent to keepbirding2@yahoo.com     Also, if you see banded Painted Buntings on any other media, please send the link.  Some of those eight catch-up entries will report some interesting findings from Facebook and other sightings.

banded Painted Bunting at DuPuis Wildlife and Environmental Area

Photo by Nancy LaFramboise

We have moved to Washington state.  We will continue banding but not Painted Buntings.  So, here is my request:  I'd like to continue the blog but I need to know what you would be interested in reading.  We will be traveling more and I could add bird reports.  I am still trying to learn butterflies and could add a few.  Or I can just continue a banding blog with our western projects.  Your opinion is important to me.  Please sent an email with your input on what you'd like to read.  (keepbirding2@yahoo.com) 

April 24, 29 and May 1, 7, and 8, 2018

To say we have been busy is an understatement.  We have had 5 sessions since our last report.  Migration is such a great time to be birding and banding.  Winds and rain are a key to having many of the migrants stop for refueling, otherwise they pass right over.  There are always a few who just run out of fuel and they too will feed in places like Possum Long.  We got a few times when conditions were good so we set up when that happened as well as our scheduled Tuesdays. 

We banded a total of 77 birds in these last 5 sessions.  Only one was quite notable but more on that later.  The other 76 were typical and expected Caribbean migrants.  It's always a pleasure to see these migrants and to learn what we can about them.

The warblers we banded were 1 Northern Parula, 12 American Redstarts, 24 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 10 Common Yellowthroats, 6 Black-and-white Warblers, 14 Ovenbirds, and 4 Northern Waterthrushes, (and 1 more).    We also banded 3 Gray Catbirds and 2 Northern Cardinals.

Black-and-white Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Common Yellowthroat

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Northern Waterthrush

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Ovenbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

The bird of note was a Connecticut Warbler.  Seeing this bird in the wild is very challenging.  They are very secretive as they pass through.  Typically winds from the west are required to drop these birds in our area.  West winds were not very strong or long but we decided to band on a Monday, May 7, because of them.  Exactly one year ago from then was the first time we ever banded this species.  Many people never see this bird.  It was never noted on the property without it being caught for banding.

Connecticut Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We may be banding on Tuesday May 15 or any day that weather may drop birds.  Nets would go up at 6:30.  If there are no other sessions, we will do a total update on numbers once the data are compiled. 

April 16 and 17, 2018

With weather looking to change on Sunday, we decided to band on Monday as well as our usual Tuesday.  On April 16 it wasn't as birdy as we expected.  We banded 2 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 1 Ovenbird, and 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Ovenbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We did see a few migrants including a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  Unfortunately the property lost a lot of flowers during the hurricane so fruit is in short supply.  Birds stayed very high.  It was fun to see a banded Great Crested Flycatcher that returned.  We haven't banded one this spring so we know it has returned for this breeding season.

The weather held true for Tuesday and we did get a few more birds.  Maybe more exciting was what was on the property.  Glad to see these birds that only stay a short time but frustrating to have four species that would have been new to band.  We banded a Northern Parula, an Ovenbird, a Gray Catbird, 3 Black-throated Blue Warblers, and the two highlights:  a Cape May Warbler and our third ever Wood Thrush.

Wood Thrush

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Cape May Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Black-throated Blue Blue warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Though warblers were still present, the migrants seemed to be represented by larger birds.  Seen were Blue and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Summer Tanagers, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, and a late Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  What will come next week?

After Monday's session we made an afternoon visit to PB 3.  The host is not far from Possum Long and we were seeing a good interchange of birds.  It is this location that first showed that Painted Buntings can feed at least 1/2 mile away from where they were banded.  We have seen this at two other locations since.  The host reported a bird with bands that did not seem to match anything we had banded.  Though we did not catch that one we banded 2 new Painted Buntings.  Our Season 5 has ended unless we catch another one at Possum Long.  We banded 355 this season which ties our high of Season 4.

Next scheduled banding at Possum Long will be on April 24.  Nets go up at 6:30.