Highlight of the day: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Easterly winds today as they were yesterday appeared to have pushed the non-resident birds off the beach ridge. It was another day to stretch the legs and get ready for the day to day monitoring of migratory songbirds. I think I am ready.

Top four species:

Fox Sparrow -5

Red-winged Blackbird -4

Brown Creeper -2

Hermit Thrush -2

Northern Cardinal -2

Total birds captured in 3.5 hours were 21 new banded and three recaptures (One Dark-eyed Junco from Monday). They soon will be leaving.... I have not seen an American Tree Sparrow lately.

Highlight of the day was this male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (note his black eyebrow or supercilium--females lack the black eyebrow).

Isn't he handsome?!

Note his white outer tail coverts! They're very noticeable when they are flitting around.

The winds are to turn to the southwest so be on the look out for some of those early warblers. Follow the latest in birding information for the Lake Erie Marsh Region by going to www.bsbo.org/birding/ and click on Kenn Kaufman's Crane Creek/ Magee Birding box on the left side. Enjoy!

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!