TBBS April 12-19 2009

Activities: April 12-18, 2009

This week I am not sure which is more exciting: the beginning of the week with the catching of a Swainson's Warbler and male Painted Bunting, or the end of the week with the catching of a Cooper's Hawk!!!! Either way, things are looking up thanks to the rains coming in Monday night and into Tuesday creating a fallout at Tomoka State Park. The only thing a little baffling is not catching a Prairie Warbler when there are so many around.

A special thanks go to park visitors Gail and Bob Jennings from PA, who come by every day to see what I am catching. Today I forgot my camera and they were willing to lend me their digital just in case something good came along. And did it ever. Thanks to them I was able to document my dilemma and solutions to banding a Cooper's Hawk by myself!

Although the overall numbers remain low for the spring migration, the number of species has increased and I have now passed the total number of birds banded for 2007-08 with quite a few weeks yet to go. The sample kits also arrived just in time for the Avian Flu and Stable Isotope studies, the final time.

This week brought in lots of visitors, adults and children, to the banding station from all over the US and a few local folks as well: NH, NY, WI, PA, CN, NM. Many pitched in and helped move poles, tighten nets. And as always, I could not do any of it without the support of the park staff and banding aids Denise, Bill and Paula. And you would not see any of this on the website without the great work Paula Wehr does putting all these photos on the HRA web. Thank you all.

Enjoy the photos. They tell you what the week was like.

Week 5: April 12-18, 2009

Species	New	Recapture
Common Yellowthroat	2
Gray Catbird	10	3
Northern Cardinal	1	3
Carolina Wren		1
Swainson's Warbler	1
Ovenbird	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1
Black-throated Blue Warbler	3
Painted Bunting	1
Black and White Warbler	1
Worm-eating Warbler	1
House Wren	1
Cooper's Hawk	1
Totals	24	7

Click the link to see banding statistics for Spring 2009


Swainson's Warbler with straight forehead to bill feature	Probably the most stunning bird one will find in Florida, the male Painted Bunting

Only the second Ovenbird this season	A sleepy (and slightly out of focus) female Common Yellowthroat

The back of a Black-throated Blue Warbler showing the unique dark to black feathers seen on these birds of the montane areas of GA to WV is sometimes referred to as "Appalachian" BTBW	A bit better angle and look at the Black-throated Blue Warbler male

A female Black-throated Blue Warbler considered dimorphic, the male one color and female another. Notice the "pocket", the white on the wing, seen on both sexes of this bird. A great field mark for identification.	A fledgling Blue-gray Gnatcatcher carefully attended to by the parents even while caught in the net. And they were right there for the release.

Common Yellowthroat female	Black and White Warbler female

Worm-eating Warbler	House Wren, singing daily in the park

Avian pox of a Gray Catbird. Note healthy foot on left of photo	Meret and Bill taking the data on a bird. Photo courtesy of Gail and Bob Jennings, whose camera I used for the upcoming series.

By covering the eyes of a Cooper's Hawk, the bird remains much more subdued. The eyes are one of the main sensors, and when blocked, they "blank out" and grow very quiet	Looking at the underside of the hawk and finding the white under tail coverts, I knew I was dealing with an accipiter. Having banded a Sharp-shinned Hawk recently, I knew this bird was much larger, suggesting Cooper's over Sharp-Shinned

The eye color was mostly yellow with a hint of orange (not so obvious in the photo), suggesting a younger bird	As I attempted to control the feet which can grip like a vise, the silly thing grabbed its own wing --- better thee than me, I say

Finally I got the poor thing stuffed up into a Pringle's can, using the suggestion of Scott Wiedensahl and Susan Craig on how to contain a hawk without injury to either the bird or handler. It worked really well!	My next problem was how to get a large band opened and on the leg

Well, in order to do those things, I just had to set the can and bird aside in my banding box for just a quick moment	A photo of the belly streaking and after that the bird was out of there. I was relieved we were both in good shape.