Doesn't it feel
wonderful to have some warmer weather finally?
The birds seem to be glad as well!
Banding has
gotten off to a smashing season of some of the
biggest surprises I could ever have imagined.
There aren't any true migrants just yet, more
the overwintering birds of the park. A few
local residents have been recaptured and a few
local new ones banded. The real story is in the
migrant recaptures!
Staying put in
one place for 6 springs is paying off in data.
You may recall I mentioned that I was surprised
that I haven't banded a Blue-headed Vireo (BHVI)
in a long time. Well, all that changed when
back-to-back days I have captured two BHVI that
were wearing bands. And they were MY bands!
And even more astounding is that one of them was
the very first BHVI I had ever banded at this
park on March 16, 2005, 5 years later caught on
March 23!!! The other BHVI was the LAST one I
banded before this dry spell of no BHVI. But,
it doesn't stop. I have captured 2 banded
Myrtle Warblers (MYWA) that were both banded in
2007. One was an adult at that time making her
at least 4 years old, maybe more. The other was
a Second Year (SY) putting her at 3 1/2 years.
This is just astounding information for
longevity as well as site fidelity because all
were caught in nets very close to their original
banding sites. Only one of the MYWA was
actually caught a total of three times, the
others were all only banded then recaptured one
more time, last week. AND, I have captured 3
Gray Catbirds (GRCA) that were banded this past
fall. This is what makes banding important and
exciting.
Black and White
Warblers (BAWW), Northern Parulas (NOPA),
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (BGGN), Myrtle Warblers (MYWA),
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (YBSA), Cedar Waxwings
(CEDW) are all hanging out. Many Purple Martins
(PUMA) have been flying north daily. We are
pretty sure we heard a Whip-poor-Will and a
Yellow Warbler (YEWA) calling on Thursday AM.
And all the local males are high on testosterone
doing displays and calls to attract their
females. So, even on the days we catch only one
bird, there is a lot of activity in the trees
and the skies making it never boring at TBBS.
The schedule
for March is posted on the website and will
continue Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday until
after April 14 when I will band Sunday through
Friday through May 14. Then I will need to
ready for a driving trip to Kansas and Texas and
by then it will be pretty hot for banding
anyway.
BIRDS FOR THE WEEK
OF
March
15-25, 2010
VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME
