The First Weekend of Fall Bird Banding at SpruceHaven and a Visit by Wild Birds Unlimited, Kitchener, ON

   
24 August 2019

     There is always a sense of excitement and anticipation when we start afresh with our bird banding activities and this year was no exception. I met Kevin, dark and early, and we were soon afterwards joined by Ross, and set up five nets.
     It was cool when we started (8° C) and few birds were moving around. At that temperature nor were the mosquitoes fortunately!  
     We retraced our steps from the final net and in the very first one retrieved a juvenile Grey Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis). A Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilocus colubris) had also been ensnared, but since we do not have a permit to band hummingbirds it was released right away.
     This young Grey Catbird was acquiring new feathers as can be clearly seen below.

     A couple more rounds of the nets yielded nothing, but the day was warming and insects were starting to rise out of the grass, and our next circuit was more productive.
     A Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), which undergoes at least partial moult before leaving the breeding grounds, was also showing evidence of moult in the tail feathers.

     It is relatively infrequently that we trap Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) so we considered ourselves exceptionally fortunate to capture two juveniles of this species.

     A Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla) is somewhat more predictable, however.

     Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is the most common new world sparrow in our area, so the only surprise was that we caught but one.

     House Wrens (Troglodytes aedon) have had a prolific breeding season this year, with several successful nests at SpruceHaven, and this young bird will soon be making its first migratory journey.

All birds banded 24 August: House Wren (1), Grey Catbird (1), Field Sparrow (2), Song Sparrow (1), Nashville Warbler (1), Common Yellowthroat (4)  Total: 10 individuals of 6 species.

25 August 2019

     It was our great pleasure to host a group of people under the aegis of Wild Birds Unlimited (wbukitchenerwaterloo@gmail.com) who were interested in all that goes on at Sprucehaven. It was a small but enthusiastic group, and it was my great pleasure to try to impart some of the magic of SpruceHaven to them. I was especially delighted to see children present.

     I do not have all the names of the people above but I will give the ones I know and I would be happy to add the the others if people would contact me. Along the back row, working from the left, unknown, Sharon Dillon-Martin, Tammy ?, Cathy Hale (Owner, Wild Birds Unlimited). In front are Darwin (great name!) and his sister, Joy. Tammy is their mom and is to be congratulated for bringing out her children to enjoy the wonders of nature.
     Kevin was unable to band with us this morning, but Ross came out to help and Heather was happy to make her first appearance of the season. Judy and Lorraine came out later.
     It was with a good deal of pleasure that we caught our first empidonax flycatcher, the morphology and biometrics of which narrowed it down to Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus).

      It was while processing this bird that a fly in the family Hippoboscidae, an obligate parasite of birds and mammals, dropped out of the feathers. (Picture courtesy of Ross Dickson)

    
     These flies are commonly referred to as flat flies and can compress their body and easily insert themselves into the feather tract of their avian host, being able to move sideways to sidle through the feathers. At least we did the bird the service of removing this bothersome intruder!
      A Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) is a resident species, and this individual that flew into our mist net was banded along with the migrants.

     The highlight of our banding session was a Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia), a species we do not often capture, and in fact a species infrequently encountered in the field.

     A young male Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) let Heather know that he was not at all sanguine about being handled.

     It is not so bad when they seize your whole finger as above, but if they clamp down on the skin between your thumb and forefinger it is painful!
     A Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) was our first capture of the season.

     Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina) breed locally so it is quite possible that this juvenile bird may have been born right at SpruceHaven. 

     Our final bird banded was a juvenile male American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), a resident species. I expect we will trap a few more goldfinches before the season is done.

     It was a great weekend of banding, aided in no small measure by good weather, and the wonderful fellowship of bird enthusiasts, and a visit from Cathy and friends. 
     Ross will be back at it on Tuesday!

All birds banded 25 August: Least Flycatcher (1), Warbling Vireo (2), Black-capped Chickadee (1), Grey Catbird (1), American Goldfinch (1), Chipping Sparrow (1), Song Sparrow (9), Mourning Warbler (1), Common Yellowthroat (1), Rose-breasted Grosbeak (1). Total: 19 individuals of 10 species.

SpruceHaven 26 May 2019

     Spring banding came to an end today, and it was not especially auspicious. The previous day had seen vicious storms with heavy rain, very strong winds and hail - perhaps that had something to do with it, but there seemed to be very little movement of birds.
     Several old friends visited, however, including the first visit of the season by Nicole, sister of one of our star biologists, Daina, with whom you are all familiar.
     Right before our eyes, Nicole is morphing into a young woman!

     Our first catch of the day was a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventri), a particularly well marked individual, identifiable in the net even before removal, and this is a member of a group of birds which at times can be problematic to identify in the field.

     But back to Nicole, the luminary of the day; here she is with her big sister, Daina.

     I have absolutely no doubt that there is no finer big sister on the planet!
     Nicole was happy to release a female Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) that found its way into our nets.

     A Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) had a tick attached to it, too near its eye for us to attempt to remove it. Hopefully the bird will ultimately be able to shed this parasite. 
     Ross Dickson was able to take this remarkable closeup with his smart phone.

     Our short session of spring banding has come to an end, and even at that we lost a few days due to inclement weather, but we will look forward to resuming in mid August to cover the protracted passage of southbound migrants.

All birds banded 26 May: Grey Catbird (2), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (1), Traill's Flycatcher (2), American Goldfinch (1), Common Yellowthroat (2), American Redstart (1), Baltimore Oriole (1). Total: 10 individuals of 7 species.

Bird Banding and Annual Visit of Waterloo Region Nature Kids and Teens to SpruceHaven

04/05 May 2019

04 May 2019

     It was a little cloudy, and a tad cool, but our first weekend of banding for the spring of 2019 occurred, along with the annual visit of WRN Kids (and this year for the first time WRN Teens) to view the goings on and, in the case of the teens, provide some practical help with tree planting.

     Earlier in the year the barn was repainted and refurbished in several important ways, and looked quite splendid.

     Daina and Heather, reliable as always, were there early and between the two of them handled all the banding and recording.

     Ross Dickson and Kevin Grundy are the sages in our crew, both veteran licenced banders with more years of experience between them than I can count!

     Before the main group of WRN people arrived we had already started to trap Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica) and were very excited indeed to handle birds that had been banded and/or radio tagged over the past two years and have returned to the same barn. Before the morning was over we re-caught other species too.
     

     Complete details of the re-traps are as follows:

Band No.                  Species              Date Banded   Status when banded
272176107                Barn Swallow      31 July 2018     Adult         
263197017                Barn Swallow      06 May 2018     Adult male
272176102                Barn Swallow      31 July 2018     Adult     
259188169                Barn Swallow      28 May 2017     Adult female
76235390                  American Robin   13 May 2017     Adult male
137277410                American Robin   05 May 2018     Adult male
86112871                  Northern Cardinal 26 Aug 2017    After hatch year male

     Bird enthusiasts young and old arrived, all fascinated by what was going on.

     Marg Paré, the stalwart organizer of all things related to WRN Kids and Teens was there to help out in every way possible.

       It is always a great pleasure for me to work with Marg and I will look forward to many other occasions.  
     A Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoniceus) is extremely common at this time of year and I am always a little surprised we don't trap more of them. Everyone enjoyed seeing this male up close.

     A House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a very small bird, but feisty nonetheless.

     Do you get the feeling that there is keen interest in what we are doing?

     The capture of a Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza gerogiana) was, I believe, the first sighting of this species for the year, for all of us.

     There is always a bit of a discussion about what is the "bird of the day" and this is entirely subjective, of course, unless some rarity that clearly outranks all others is captured. For me, this position was occupied today by an Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapila), an enchanting little warbler.

     Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is exceedingly common and no doubt this capture represents the first of many for the year. In fact we trapped three today.

     Heather and I had been hearing the repeated couplets that mark a Brown Thrasher's (Toxostoma rufum) song, so we were not entirely surprised when a bird found its way into our nets.

     This Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) had been trapped in 2017, and was perhaps wondering how he fell for it a second time. Given half a chance he would have sliced a little flesh from a finger as pay back!

     Sandy came to visit and was interested to hear what we had banded and was elated to hear of the swallows returning to their natal barn.

     She was in time to see this American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) fitted with its band.

     Grey Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) is a common summer resident at SpruceHaven and we were not surprised to catch the first of what will probably be many captures of this species before the season is out.

     Over the past few weeks Franc Gorenc and Jim Huffman have been hard at work building a blind to be used for concealed observation of the birds on the pond, and for photography. I think they have done a fine job.

     I will look forward to summer, when lily pads cover the surface of the water, and Green Herons (Butorides virescens) daintily pick their way across them. 
     When the nets were furled and there were no more birds to be banded it was a good time to explain our Barn Swallow operation to all present. As you may see, everyone was keenly interested.

     Well, perhaps some would prefer to play in the mud!

     One Barn Swallow was content to watch from on high, but no doubt this mud will be become an important component of Barn Swallow nests still to be constructed.

     I earnestly hope that this message on the back of the shirt of one of the kids is a prophecy. Our generation has certainly screwed it up and we are leaving them a daunting task.

     Kevin, Ross and I reviewed the day's activity and created our summaries.

     Not only do Dave, Sandy and Jamie permit us to use their property to band birds and do Barn Swallow research (among many, many other things), Sandy provides potted native plants for all the children to take home. 

     How does one measure kindness like this? How does one pay adequate tribute to this generosity of spirit? I only know that the gratitude that I feel is boundless, and I suspect that many others feel the same way.
     Following the bird banding segment of the morning the Waterloo Region Nature Teens assisted Sandy in the planting of native trees, principally Northern (Eastern) White Cedar (Thuja ocidentalis), a great experience for them, and material help for Sandy. They also removed winter tree wraps.

     In fact, by the time they finished, they had planted thirty-one trees, and with a little time to spare went along the highway adjacent to the south field and picked up garbage. Bravo for these kids!
     In the first picture above, at the right is Jenn McPhee, a member of Waterloo Region Nature, and a seasoned botanist, who took the young kids on a botanical expedition in the woodlot. We were very happy to have Jenn take part in our activities today.

All birds banded 04 May: House Wren (1), Grey Catbird (1), Brown Thrasher (1), Barn Swallow (3), Song Sparrow (3), Swamp Sparrow (1), Ovenbird (1), American Goldfinch (2), Red-winged Blackbird (2).  Total: 15 individual of nine species.

05 May 2019

     The fog was as thick as pea soup when I left home before 06h:00 and it was a slow drive to SpruceHaven. Visibility was a little better when I arrived and Kevin had already unfurled all the nets.
     Following on our retraps from yesterday, the following birds banded in prior years at SpruceHaven were captured.

Band No.                  Species              Date Banded   Status when banded
258187936                Song Sparrow     20 Aug 2016     Adult
258187820                Song Sparrow     28 Aug 2016     Adult
137277427                Red-winged        27 May 2018     Adult male
                                 Blackbird

     Rebecca Seiling and her daughter, Eden, have been faithful and regular visitors to observe our banding operation. Eden, twelve years old, is passionate about nature, and would like to get involved with some hands-on activity. I will be sure to take her along with me when we start to monitor our Barn Swallows and provide an outlet for her enthusiasm and get her started in a meaningful way. She is very keen, and I have little doubt that we have a naturalist in the making.

         There seemed to be a bit of a movement of kinglets this morning, and we banded three Ruby-crowned Kinglets ( Regulus calendula), all females, leading us to speculate that the males have perhaps already moved north to stake out territories.

     No sooner did we start to muse about Golden-crowned Kinglets (Regulus satrapa) not being far behind when a male of this species appeared in our net.

        A male American Yellow Warbler ( Setophaga aestiva) was our first capture of the spring for this species.

     The only other new capture for this season was a male Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula); quite a contrast between this species and a kinglet!

    We have made a great start to our spring banding and it was good for the crew to all be back together again. Same time next week folks!

All species banded 05 May: Golden-crowned Kinglet (1), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3), Yellow Warbler (1), Red-winged Blackbird (7), Common Grackle (1).
Total: 13 individuals of 5 species.