Second day out = three new species for the spring!

Another bluebird day for early spring! Eastern Phoebe, Fox Sparrow, and the first Hermit Thrushes graced us with their presence. Eastern Phoebe and Fox Sparrows were present yesterday but never came in for a closer look or to be adorned with research jewelry (AKA a band). I learned something new today. Did you know that the tongue on a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker has a serrated tip? The tongue on a Northern Flicker is smooth and sticky for eating ants. This makes total sense to me. However, a bird that eats sap most of the time needs a serrated tongue? Apparently it does. Here is the proof or it is an anomaly. The male sapsucker yesterday did not give me the opportunity see if his tongue was serrated or not.

The top four species were:
Golden-crowned Kinglet- 9
Brown Creeper – 7
Dark-eyed Junco- 4
Fox Sparrow-3

Total number of birds for today during 3.8 hours of netting was 30 new birds and 3 recaptures (2 Golden-crowned Kinglets banded yesterday and a Northern Cardinal).

Look at this:
Did you ever think to look at the wing on a Brown Creeper (bird on the right)? Notice the wing bar-stripe on its wing. There is a wing bar window-stripe on the Hermit Thrush too. It is more visible on the underside. If you happen to be driving at dusk or dawn and a thrush-size bird flies in front of your headlights and you see a flash of a light-colored window in the wing, it was a Catharus thrush. (Just a bit of trivia for you.)

Another neat thing I noticed today had to do with two different looking species of sparrow(Melospiza and Passerella). BUT can you see something in common?
I see a series of breast feathers that come together to form a spot on both birds. That was my observation for the day!

Song Sparrow and Fox Sparrow

As I have said many times before, you never know what nature may surprise you with! Enjoy!

Good Day! And that is no April Fool's Joke!

A warm day with winds out of the south gets the blood pumping for spring migration! The net lanes are cleared and nets set to greet the first day of April. Everyone has probably heard signs of spring with Fox Sparrows, Brown Thrashers, Song Sparrows, and Northern Cardinals singing.

Mark and I, with the help of our Education Director, Ken Keffer, caught these early spring short-distant migrants: Golden-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Brown Thrasher, Dark-eyed Junco, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Resident species captured included Northern Cardinal and Black-capped Chickadee.
What do you think of this handsome guy?! Such a brilliant red throat! Females only sport a red head. Can you see the yellow on its belly? That is about all the yellow you're going to see on this bird. It is not often observed with the bird often drilling on a tree for sap.

Take a look at the largest and the smallest wrens you normally see east of the Mississippi River.
Their tail lengths and eye stripes are something to notice as well. Hmmmm... One is a resident species and the other is here for the winter. Here are a beautiful Winter Wren and a Carolina Wren.

Spring migration will really kick in in several weeks but it is great to start now and see the whole progression of birds coming north. Get outside and enjoy the season!

2009 Highlights

I thought before the close of 2009, I would summarize some of the highlights of the year. If this blog has made you a better birdwatcher, or ornithologist, or increased your appreciation of birds, then I have accomplished what I have set out to do. Many thanks to you the readers and commenters, be you anonymous or otherwise.

Here are my highlights and of course there are many but I will keep them brief.

How about this bird?!!!:

You can't deny that seeing a Chuck-will's-widow in the hand
is not a GREAT bird!

How else would you know that it had this cool modified toe
for sleeking its whiskers?!

My best experiences are with sharing the information we learn about these magnificent songbirds with the visitors of all ages. It is a great feeling to see the "light bulb" come on when they realize the amazing things these small creatures must deal with in a year, or to see a big smile from a teenager who has never seen a Blackburnian Warbler!

Many thanks go out to the vast and varied volunteers I have the priviledge to work with. With this great team working together, we can continue to learn more about these birds and hopefully help to improve their habitats.


Another highlight of the year was the half a millionth bird banded under Mark Shieldcastle's banding permit during the fall migration monitoring project for the Observatory. What an accomplishment for Mark. What a year! This Blackpoll Warbler made more than the data records, it marked a milestone.

Let us celebrate the year with a few of my bird friends!

Wishing you all the very best in 2010! Happy Holidays!