BSBO Members Trip to the Banding Station brought smiles

BSBO Members had the opportunity to visit the Navarre banding station today. They were impressed by the diversity of birds we were able to show them. They got to see 12 species of warbler in the hand including a male Connecticut Warbler! Research Director Mark Shieldcastle expounded on the latest research findings and talked about how this spring's migration was playing out. Mark and Ken Keffer, Education Director showed examples of the species that were captured this morning. The Connecticut Warbler was a great grande finale!
Special opportunities like this are one of the great benefits of being an Observatory member!

One of the pretty birds of the day was this female Chipe De Pecho Castana. We caught one yesterday that was sharper looking than this one but this one is not bad looking. One hundred sixty-eight new birds today with 40 recaptures. Some of the birds from yesterday did not move on. Twenty-two species of warbler were seen or heard on site. Not a bad number of species for this time of the month.

Top 7 species:

Magnolia Warbler (MAWA)- 29

Traill's Flycatcher (TRFL)- 16

Swainson's Thrush (SWTH)- 15

Gray Catbird (GRCA)- 12

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (YBFL)-11

Wilson's Warbler (WIWA)- 11

Common Yellowthroat (COYE)- 11

Another week of good migrants to come so challenge yourself to identifying the females of the warbler species. Hint is to look for tail patterns in some and shadow of the field marks you see on the males. Have a good day!