Warbler Week

Blackpoll Warblers arrived on Monday this week and I was able to get a picture of both a male and female. Male blackpolls (top photo) are one of those species that look extremely different in spring and fall. He is beautifully adorned with an extensive black cap and black streaking on its breast in spring but after molting resembles his female counterpart in fall (dull-colored second year female in bottom photo).

Here is a comparison photo of two older adult male/female blackpolls posing nicely for their picture in spring.

Sometimes I’m lucky and capture two birds of the same sex and species but different ages so I can do a side-by-side comparison. Below are two male Yellow Warblers caught on Tuesday. The bird on the left is a second year male (born last year) and the more brilliantly colored male on the right is an older bird.

Additional warbler species captured this week were Black-throated Green Warblers, one of our smaller warblers. There were quite a few around on Monday as I could hear males singing their distinctive songs, “trees, trees, murmuring trees,” or “zee-zee-zee-zoo-zee!!!”

Monday and Saturday were the two best days of the week for numbers and diversity. I banded 4 Ruby-throated hummingbirds on Monday, quite a few considering we typically only get 1 or 2  in the nets for the whole spring season. Two groups of school children had the opportunity to see one of them up close. I had a nice male showing off his gorgeous red gorget.

Flycatchers can pose a challenge for bird banders. There are quite a few varieties that resemble each other. We take numerous measurements, comparing different flight feathers including length and shape, leg color, and body plumage color before we make our determination. Monday I was delighted to capture this Traill’s Flycatcher.

In reviewing these photographs I’m noticing while the birds are lovely, my manicure habits leave something to be desired! Oh well, as an “outdoorsy” type of gal, unfortunately my nails are the last thing I think of, so I must apologize. Focus on the birds please!

We have a table set up on the island where we spend the morning processing birds we capture. On Monday I returned to the table after a net run and my banding dog, Gracie, became quite agitated and barked at something in a tree. When I looked up I saw a Turkey Vulture quite close to us. It’s not often one is able to get close to these birds and the few times I have I’m always amazed at how really big they are! Its massive wings were evident when it took off. I thought it was odd to be there, but didn’t think too much about it again until the next day. Ooo-eeee, what a smell!! I’m thinking dead deer. Actually I’m hoping dead deer and not something more sinister. The vegetation is so thick that it was impossible to look for the source. It was not a pleasant day trying to process the birds on Tuesday, but I did see two vultures circling overhead .Wednesday was a rainy day with no banding. By the time I returned on Thursday the smell had disappeared. The scavengers thankfully did their job!

Speaking of Gracie, you can learn more about her duties on my website: www.wingisland.org/volunteer.htm. Gracie’s been banding with me since she was a pup. Her favorite bird is, take a guess, catbird! She really has no interest in other birds. Here she is intently watching bander Gretchen Putonen weighing a catbird.

The highlight of the week has to be a bird I’ve been waiting a long time to band. This primarily southern warbler showed up in the nets on Saturday. I was so thankful I had Gretchen with me to share this special bird. A KENTUCKY WARBLER!!

Thanks very much to Gretchen Putonen and Judith Bruce for helping with banding this week. The following birds were seen, heard, and/or captured from 17-23 May. Numbers reflect captured birds only:

Total birds: 195    Total captured species: 18   Birds/100 net-hours: 25

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Brant

Canada Goose

American Black Duck

Mallard

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

Northern Bobwhite

Black-bellied Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

Willet

Ruddy Turnstone

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Common Tern

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird- 4

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Yellow-shafted Flicker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Traill's Flycatcher-1

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Blue Jay- 1

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 10

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren- 2

American Robin

Gray Catbird- 54

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Yellow Warbler- 6

Magnolia Warbler- 7

Black-throated Green Warbler- 2

Pine Warbler

Prairie Warbler- 5

Blackpoll Warbler- 3

Black-and-white Warbler

American Redstart

Kentucky Warbler- 1

Common Yellowthroat- 53

Canada Warbler- 1

Northern Cardinal- 4

Eastern Towhee

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow- 1

Song Sparrow- 10

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Baltimore Oriole

American Goldfinch- 30

House Sparrow

Banding Demonstration

I enjoyed 4 days of banding this week. On Monday 40 delightful people from the Nauset Newcomers Walking Group joined me for a banding demonstration.

Many were thrilled to be able to hold and release birds they could see up close. The highlight of the morning was a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the last bird of the morning. When I asked if someone would like to release the bird, Barbara Murphy stepped forward and could barely contain her excitement. I'm always thrilled to see that enthusiasm!

The bird stayed on her hand for a few minutes before flying off.  

The rest of the week proved to be uneventful. Wing Island is not the best migrant trap in spring!! However it is always nice to capture a beautiful warbler, and this Yellow Warbler fits the bill. They breed in our area and are a welcome sight in the nets. This bird was born last year and aged/sexed as a second year male.

Winds were from the NW and quite blustery all week, not a good combination for banding birds. On Saturday we captured numerous Common Yellowthroats among other species. Interestingly, I noticed a distinct difference between the coloration on two male yellowthroats. One had the typical yellow color to the throat that we usually see, but the other one had a orange cast to its throat.

I've only noticed this in the past few years as Tartarian Honeysuckles have made their presence on the island. This plant generally has pink or red flowers and birds who eat the fruit often have a more orange coloration to their typically yellow feathers. I've seen this in Praire Warblers, the tips of tail feathers of Cedar Waxwings, and Baltimore Oriole feathers take on a reddish tone.

I heard Magnolia Warblers singing on the island both Saturday and Sunday but we only captured a few of them. They breed in Western Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Canada and are just passing through our area, but they are one heck of a beautiful bird!!

We had 26 returns of birds banded in previous years, the oldest being a Gray Catbird and an American Goldfinch both at least 6 years old.

Many thanks to Carolyn Kennedy and Judith Bruce who helped at the banding demonstration on Monday. Thanks also to Gretchen Putonen who helped both days on the weekend, Roger Mongold on Saturday, and Carolyn on Sunday. The following birds were seen, heard, and/or captured from 10-16 May. Numbers reflect captured birds only:

Total birds: 116     Total captured species: 17  Birds/100 net-hours: 21

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Brant

Canada Goose

Osprey

Greater Yellowlegs

Willet

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Mourning Dove

Black-billed Cuckoo- on musuem property on other side of road

Ruby-throated Hummingbird- 2

Belted Kingfisher

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Yellow-shafted Woodpecker- 1

Eastern Wood Peewee

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Blue Jay- 2

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 10

Tufted Titmouse- 2

Carolina Wren

American Robin

Gray Catbird- 37

Cedar Waxwing

European Starling

Yellow Warbler- 2

Magnolia Warbler- 3

Pine Warbler

Prairie Warbler- 3

Common Yellowthroat- 33

Scarlet Tanager

Northern Cardinal- 1

Eastern Towhee- 1

Song Sparrow-9

White-throated Sparrow- 1

Red-winged Blackbird- 1

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Grackle- 1

Baltimore Oriole

American Goldfinch- 7

House Sparrow

May Days

I was only able to get out  3 days this week, due to wind and rain. Tuesday proved to be a good day with little to no wind coming from the south. In spring, south winds bring in the migrants and in fall we tend to favor northwest winds. Banding on Wing Island keeps me close to nature. I have to be cognizant of the high tides, the direction of the wind, strength of the wind, and any impending storms that might pass over us. As I’m trudging out on the board walk, I get to experience the day coming alive.

I handled 46 birds of 15 species on Tuesday, a good day. Surprisingly, I captured a Common Yellowthroat that we banded last fall as a young male. In fall, as young birds are molting into what we refer to as their first pre-basic plumage, they replace all their body feathers and start to take on characteristics of the adult. Male Common Yellowthroats will often present with a partial black facial mask such as the one pictured below. You can see the black feathers under the eye and a hint of a black mask.

By spring they should look like this:

Just goes to show, birds can always fool you. The bird pictured in the first photograph turned out to be an older adult female with male characteristics. Her facial pattern was only one-sided and the left side of her face showed no evidence of black feathers at all. Occasionally as females age they take on some male characteristics, maybe due to a drop in hormone levels? (sound familiar ladies???) . So I’ll have to change the banding records for this one.

I was delighted to capture 2 male Tree Swallows out in the meadow. Numerous nest boxes are being maintained by the Cape Cod Bird Club, with all but one occupied by Tree Swallows. Male plumage is a beautiful iridescent blue, although some females can be exceptionally bright. These were males however, ready for breeding.

I had a crazy encounter with a Tree Swallow today. I was in the meadow to check out what we refer to as the “bluff” nets and walking by one of the nest boxes I noticed a bird on the ground. I almost stepped on him! It was a Tree Swallow almost trying to look as flat as can be with wings spread out and hugging the ground. At first I thought it was dead, but as I got a closer look he took off. I can only speculate that another male attacked him and he was recuperating or he was trying to 'hide" and when the male on top of the box flew off he would fly up and reclaim it- who knows. Always something to ponder in the bird world!

I caught a Gray Catbird that we banded 6 years ago as a hatch-year bird and haven’t seen him since. I can’t believe he’s escaped capture all these years.

Wed and Thursday were rather quiet days with few birds captured. The winds were just blowing too hard. The birds tend to see the nets when they blow. On still days they tend to be invisible. For those of you who have never seen a mist net this is what it looks like:

On Wednesday as I made my way through the woods between nets I flushed an American Woodcock apparently sitting on a nest. They are impressive birds with extremely long beaks great for plunging into the soil in search of food. Their large eyes are strategically placed on either side of their head. Although I didn’t capture one today I have done so in the past.

Pretty cool bird!!!

As soon as I flushed the bird today she dropped on the path feigning a broken wing and ran along it quite a distance, I'm sure until she felt I was far enough from her nest before flying off.

Thanks very much to Tom Burgess this week for helping with the birds. The following birds were seen, heard, and/or captured from 4-7 May. Numbers reflect captured birds only:

Total birds: 58    Total species captured: 15     Birds/100 net-hours: 20

Great Blue Heron

Snowy Egret

Brant

Canada Goose

Mallard

Osprey

Black-bellied Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

Willet

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Mourning Dove

Belted Kingfisher

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker- 1

Yellow-shafted Woodpecker

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Tree Swallow- 2

Barn Swallow

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 6

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren- 3

House Wren- 1

American Robin

Gray Catbird- 18

European Starling

Blue-headed Vireo

Yellow Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Pine Warbler

Prairie Warbler- 5

Common Yellowthroat- 4

Northern Cardinal- 3

Eastern Towhee- 4

Song Sparrow- 2

Swamp Sparrow- 1

White-throated Sparrow- 1

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

Baltimore Oriole

House Finch- 1

American Goldfinch- 6

House Sparrow

 

Wind Woes

Wed 28 April and Fri 30 April

It was almost pointless to open nets on Wednesday as the wind howled over much of the island. We had a few nets that weren't blowing too hard but we ended up closing early with only 5 birds captured. Friday wasn't as bad (12 birds)  and we had a couple of interesting captures. One was a recaptured cardinal exhibiting leucistic feathers around her eyes. She was at least 7 years old and we've captured her almost every year since 2004 with normal plumage.

The other interesting bird was a female Golden-crowned Kinglet with a growth that had totally obliterated her right eye. It almost resembled what we see on birds legs sometimes called 'scaly leg'.

              Our first yellow-rump warblers (Myrtles) came through on Friday too- all older adult males.

Saturday 1 May & Sunday 2 May

Wow, what a difference a day makes. Wind direction turned south on Saturday and was as calm as can be. We captured 55 birds with numerous migrants. Some of our regular breeders returned; Gray Catbirds, Prairie Warblers, and Common Yellowthroats. Sparrows included White-throats, Swamps, and  a Savannah (pictured above).

Our most interested bird of the day was quite unexpected. I was walking through the meadow towards our nets out on the bluff and I spotted a rather large bird on the ground. I needed my binoculars to see it. I was shocked to see a Northern Gannet! It must have been blown in by the high winds the previous days and somehow injured its wing. I was able to capture it and a volunteer from the museum took it to a bird rehabilitator.

A nice male Black-and-white Warbler and male Nashville Warbler (pictured below) also delighted us.

On Sunday we were treated to a White-eyed Vireo. This bird was aged as a second year because of the molt limit present in the primary flight feathers. According to Pyle, WEVI's typically have an eccentric molt  sequence during their first prebasic molt. This bird replaced its outer primaries 5-9 and retained the inner 1-4, although difficult to see in the photo below.

Many thanks to the volunteers who helped the past four days- Judith Bruce, Mo Correll, and Gretchen Putonen. The following birds were seen, heard, or captured from 28 Apr - 2 May. Numbers reflect captured birds only:

Total captured birds: 101    Total species: 22           Birds/100 net-hrs: 22

Common Loon

Great Blue Heron

Brant

Canada Goose

American Black Duck

Mallard

Osprey

Red-tailed Hawk

Greater Yellowlegs

Willet

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Mourning Dove

Belted Kingfisher

Yellow-shafted Flicker- 1

Eastern Phoebe

Tree Swallow

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 14

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren- 1

Golden-crowned Kinglet- 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet- 2

Hermit Thrush-2

American Robin

Gray Catbird- 4

European Starling

White-eyed Vireo- 1

Nashville Warbler- 1

Yellow Warbler- 1

Myrtle Warbler- 5

Pine Warbler- 1

Prairie Warbler- 1

Black-and-white Warbler- 1

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Cardinal- 4

Eastern Towhee- 8

Chipping Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow- 1

Song Sparrow- 12

Swamp Sparrow- 7

White-throated Sparrow- 6

Red-winged Blackbird- 1

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Finch

American Goldfinch- 26

House Sparrow

Spring on Cape Cod

Friday, 23 April - Sunday 25 April 2010

It's always great to get back to banding again after the winter's hiatus. We had a fairly good show of birds for our first week of banding this spring season with a total of 63 birds in all. It was a foggy start on Friday with a few quick sprinkles and quite windy the following two days. Wind is always an issue in spring on Cape Cod. We recaptured a few old friends, a 9 year old Blue Jay, a cardinal and chickadee both 8 years old, a Song Sparrow and American Goldfinch 7 years old and a Northern Cardinal who is at least 6 years old. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet was happily singing all around the banding table each day, but we didn't capture him. A Prairie Warbler showed up on the 24th, but he also eluded us! It is always nice to get thrushes and we recaptured a Hermit Thrush on Sunday, banded last year as a hatch-year bird.

Total captured birds: 63 Total captured species: 11

Many thanks to those who helped this week: Judith Bruce, Kate Iaquinto, Carolyn Kennedy, and Gretchen Putonen. Below is a list of birds seen, heard or banded. Numbers indicated captured birds:

Common Loon

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Canada Goose

American Black Duck

Mallard

Osprey

Northern Harrier

Black-bellied Plover

Greater Yellowlegs

American Woodcock

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Mourning Dove

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Yellow-shafted Flicker- 1

Eastern Phoebe

Tree Swallow

Blue Jay- 1

American Crow

Fish Crow

Black-capped Chickadee- 21

Tufted Titmouse- 2

Carolina Wren- 3

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Hermit Thrush- 1

European Starling

Pine Warbler- 3

Prairie Warbler

Northern Cardinal- 5

Eastern Towhee- 1

Song Sparrow- 10

White-throated Sparrow

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Goldfinch- 15

House Sparrow