Banders & Birders, Having three permitted banders this year, instead of one, continued to pay dividends this weekend, as three days were covered. It was a very good banding weekend, with the captures clearly dominated by kinglets, but with some interesting surprises and highlights. A total of 185 new birds of 16 species was banded over the three days, plus 16 recaptures.
On Saturday, we were graced by the presence of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, who were having a meeting and workshop at our site. The light intermittent rain of the morning gave way to non-rainy conditions, but still cloudy. It was enough to increase our capture rate dramatically, though it was mostly kinglets. We were happy to provide discussions and demonstrations to the FON group of various passerines, though a prearranged tour of the banding facility was curtailed as it began raining kinglets just before their arrival! The 4 Orange-crowned Warblers captured today not only exceeded any previous day, but exceeded the previous record season! Our 2003 season total now stands at a record of seven. The second Blue-headed Vireo of the season was a nice demonstration bird, and somewhat late. An American Woodcock was flushed from the area, but eluded capture. On Sunday, capture rates were much lower, as the intermittent light rain plagued us off and on all day. Of the 15 recaptures today, 11 were from yesterday, 3 were from earlier this season (August - October), and one was an adult male Northern Cardinal that was banded in November 2001 as a hatch-year male. The Gray Catbird banded today was quite late. Two Carolina Wrens were recaptured in the same net less than a foot from each other. Both were banded this year, one in August and one in October, as hatch-year birds. An interesting side-by-side comparison possibly showing that one is male and the other female will be posted on the photo highlights page in the next day or two. On Monday, it was clear that a new batch of birds had come in, as only a single bird was recaptured from the weekend. Again, as with Saturday, it was raining kinglets, and a new one-day record was set for Golden-crowned with 51 (previous record was 48 on 8-Oct-2001). Although one was present in the banding area last week, our first Fox Sparrow of the season was banded today, along with the first American Tree Sparrow and White-crowned Sparrow of the season. This latter bird was also only the third ever banded at the station (we don't know why we don't catch more, as they can be fairly common elsewhere in the park). Only a single Whte-throated Sparrow was caught today, keeping our numbers very low so far for the season. Our setup is 50 meters square, and sits about 50 meters from Lake Erie. The good numbers of White-throated Sparrows noted so far this fall seem to prefer the area between our nets and the lake! Potter traps set in the area have thus far not been effective. Another Blue-headed Vireo today was the latest we've ever had. Again, an American Woodcock was flushed from the area, but was not captured. Photo highlights of this weekend are posted on the HBMO website (www.hbmo.org). Once again, Jason Sodergren has improved the way these photo pages function, and now the newest photos are on the first pages, and there are headers separating each day's highlights. Banding Results: Saturday, October 25, 2003 7.50 hours from 07:00 - 14:30; 90.00 Net Hours. Intermittent light rain in morning delayed opening, and caused intermittent net closures. Temperature was 10-13 Celsius. Sky was overcast with intermittent light rain in morning. Wind was SW-W at 2-5 km/hr. 75 birds of 7 species. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 (contining our record season, bringing total to 11) Blue Jay - 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 27 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 35 (one short of record) Hermit Thrush - 6 Blue-headed Vireo - 1 (late) Orange-crowned Warbler - 4 (record day, exceeding previous record season!) Banders: Allen Chartier, Bob Hall-Brooks, Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless Sunday, October 26, 2003 8.25 hours from 06:45 - 15:30 E.S.T.; 102.00 Net Hours. Intermittent light rain all day delayed opening, and caused intermittent net closures in morning. Temperature was 9-13 Celsius. Sky was overcast with intermittent light rain all day. Wind was WNW-SW at 2-5 km/hr. 27 birds of 6 species, plus 15 recaptures. (Carolina Wren - 2 recaptures) Brown Creeper - 1 (only second of season) Golden-crowned Kinglet - 9 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 7 (plus 4 recaptures) Hermit Thrush - 6 (plus 4 recaptures) Gray Catbird - 1 (very late) (Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 recapture) (Northern Cardinal - 2 recaptures, one banded as a Local in August, one banded as hatch-year male in November 2001) White-throated Sparrow - 3 Banders: Allen Chartier, Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless, Bob Hall-Brooks Monday, October 27, 2003 8.00 hours from 06:30 - 14:30 E.S.T.; 96.00 Net Hours. Temperature was 6-12 Celsius. Sky overcast. Wind was W at 2-7 km/hr. 83 birds of 12 species, plus 1 recapture. Brown Creeper - 1 Winter Wren - 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 51 (record) Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 15 (plus 1 recapture) Hermit Thrush - 4 Blue-headed Vireo - 1 (record late) Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler - 5 American Tree Sparrow - 1 (first of season) Fox Sparrow - 1 (first of season) White-throated Sparrow - 1 White-crowned Sparrow - 1 (first of season, and third ever for station) Dark-eyed Junco - 1 Banders: Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) is an organization devoted to monitoring migration at the Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Essex Co., Ontario, administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority. In addition to a hawk-watch/passerine count that has been in operation since 1974, HBMO operates three banding stations, two for raptors (since 1987) and one for passerines and hummingbirds (since 1997). The Holiday Beach Conservation Area was designated an Important Bird Area by Conservation International in 2000. Lat: 42-01'54.1" Long: 083-02'41.6" Website: www.hbmo.org Allen Chartier [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1442 West River Park Drive Inkster, MI 48141 Website: http://www.amazilia.net Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet/index.htm "Allen Chartier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
