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.

March 5, 2016 - Young Audubon Program features banding this month

We started the day on the usual schedule of setting nets up at 6:30 am.  The participants were scheduled from 10 to noon.  Though we only banded one new Gray Catbird with the recaptures and an exciting visitor it was an amazing day.

Gray Catbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

So the day was saved with the recaptures we had.  Some of the birds caught today were first caught in 2013.  Some were already 2 years old.  Learning the longevity of these birds is one of the pieces of information we wish to learn.  The birds we re-caught today are migrants so this tells us how important the property is to them.  They depend on finding food and shelter on their journey.  They have mapped where to stop.  These birds somehow know that they can refuel there. Imagine how upset you'd be if you were almost out of gas in the car and the only gas station for miles around, where you had planned to stop, is now gone.  

We recaptured 2 Gray Catbirds - one from just last week and one from February, 2013.  We recaptured 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers - one from last November (2015) and one from December, 2013.  Another recapture was a Northern Parula originally banded in October, 2013.  It was already an adult when we banded it so it had been born in the summer of 2011 and is now at least 5 years old.

Northern Parula - male

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

I thought we were almost done when Bill said that he and several folks had seen a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the property.  That is exciting news in itself.  Much more frequently the bigger counterpart, a Cooper's Hawk, is seen.  Sharp-shins are much more rare.  It is time for these birds to be making their way north.  

Next thing I heard Bill yell that we had a bird in the net.  I ran to help and found this........look what we caught!

Nancy LaFramboise with a Sharp-shinned Hawk

Photo by Nancy Price

My permit does not allow me to band hawks so we could only look and appreciate this wonderful bird.  I had banded one before when I was training so no disappointment at all.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Photo by Nancy Price

Sharp-shinned Hawk - close-up (cropped)

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

For a large (for us) bird and a hunting bird, this one was very calm in our hold.  It did not lash out when it was in the net or in hand.  As I released the bird one talon snagged my finger for momentary pain but no lasting injury. I am thankful for that.

Next session is the regularly scheduled Tuesday session.  March 8.  Nets go up at 6:30 am.