Banders & Birders, This report will be a bit longer than the others, partly due to the fact that three days were covered, but also due to some interesting occurences, some avian, some entomological, and not all due to Hurricane Isabel. It was a very successful Hawk Festival weekend, and we look forward to another successful, but final, festival day next Saturday September 27.
A total of 138 new birds of 29 species was banded, plus 6 recaptures over the three days covered this weekend. Stalwart bander Carl Pascoe and able assistant Rachel Powless opened the station on Friday, Sept. 19 in the hopes that the hurricane might blow something interesting into our nets. They opened the station late due to morning rain, and stayed open for 6.50 hours. The day saw our first Empidonax flycatchers since August 31, and our first Philadelphia Vireo of the season among the 13 new birds and 1 recapture. Saturday, Sept. 20 was a much nicer day, with 53 new birds handled and 2 recaptures. Hightlights included decent catches of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (10), Swainson's Thrushes (11), and Gray Catbirds (4 - a lot for us, possibly a record). Good warbler diversity returned after a dismal 10 days of easterly winds, and we banded our 2nd ever Scarlet Tanager for the station. A vireo captured today, and also recaptured on Sunday, initially appeared to be a Philadelphia, but certain measurements were too large, and the possibility that the bird might be a runt Red-eyed was considered, and the idea that it might actually be a Red-eyed X Philadelphia hybrid is being investigated. Many measurements were taken, and retaken, along with numerous photos. I hope to post photos, description, and measurements to a website in the near future. Sunday, Sept. 21 was also a beautiful day, unlike what one would expect for a good movement of birds, but nonetheless we managed to band 72 new birds today plus 3 recaptures. As previously stated, we got a second chance to puzzle over our "mystery vireo" and remeasure and take better photos. Two Eastern Wood-Pewees and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher were a bit of a surprise, and we caught our second Sharp-shinned Hawk at this station for the season. Our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season was banded, right on schedule, as well as our first Blue-headed Vireo of the season. A typical Philadelphia Vireo (and three Red-eyed and one Warbling) were also captured today, but did not allow direct comparison with our mystery bird, but did confirm its differences to us. Good numbers of Magnolia and Nashville Warblers were banded today as well as somewhat late Ovenbirds and Northern Waterthrushes. The three Black-throated Green Warblers banded today may be a record for us. Insect highlights this weekend were particularly notable. On Saturday, after being involved in tagging Monarch Butterflies for only three weeks, we had our first capture of someone else's tagged Monarch! We're still working on finding out where and when it was tagged, but we do know it was tagged as part of a program headed by famed Monarch researcher Lincoln P. Brower at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. The poor condition of this butterfly, and the possibility that it was recently tagged on the central Atlantic Coast of the U.S. suggests this may have been a result of Hurricane Isabel. From our vantagepoint, we observed perhaps 100 migrating Monarchs each day. On Sunday, a Carolina Saddlebags dragonfly was seen over the banding station. Earlier in August, I was pretty sure I'd seen one, and after a conversation with Paul Pratt, discovered that he'd seen them in the area in late summer, and they may have bred. So, though this is a rarity, it is not a result of the hurricane. Otherwise, dragonfly activity remained rather low, with the only interesting species noted being a Swamp Darner that has been present in our small station area all season. Photo highlights of this weekend have been posted on the HBMO website (www.hbmo.org). Banding results: Friday, September 19, 2003 6.50 hours from 09:00 - 15:30 E.S.T., 78.00 Net Hours (Russell Trap not operated). Temperature was 20-25 Celsius, sky was overcast with occasional light rain, wind was N-SE. 13 birds of 7 species plus 1 recapture. "Traill's" Flycatcher - 1 (late) Least Flycatcher - 1 Swainson's Thrus - 2 Philadelphia Vireo - 1 (first of season) Magnolia Warbler - 3 Blackpoll Warbler - 3 Wilson's Warbler - 2 [Northern Cardinal - 1 recapture] Banders: Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless Saturday, September 20, 2003 9.50 hours from 04:45 - 14:15 E.S.T., 118.75 Net Hours. Temperature was 13-24 Celsius, sky was mostly clear, wind was W and light. 53 birds of 15 species, plus 2 recaptures. Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 10 Gray-cheeked Thrush - 3 Swainson's Thrush - 11 Gray Catbird - 4 (possible record) Philadelphia Vireo - 1 Red-eyed Vireo - 2 Tennessee Warbler - 1 Nashville Warbler - 1 Chestnut-sided Warbler - 4 Magnolia Warbler - 4 (plus 1 recapture) Black-throated Blue Warbler - 4 Blackpoll Warbler - 1 American Redstart - 2 Wilson's Warbler - 4 Scarlet Tanager - 1 (second ever for station) [Northern Cardinal - 1 recapture] An unknown number of Monarch butterflies was tagged. Banders: Allen Chartier, Bob Hall-Brooks, Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless, Cindy Cartwright, Daniel Webb Sunday, September 21, 2003 9.25 hours from 04:45 - 14:00 E.S.T., 115.63 Net Hours. Temperature was 13-24 Celsius, sky was clear to mostly clear, wind was NE-ESE and light to moderate. 72 birds of xx species, plus 3 recaptures. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2 (second of season) Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 3 (record season, total to date 123) Eastern Wood-Pewee - 2 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1 Blue Jay - 2 (37,000+ counted from hawk tower!) Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 (first of season) Veery - 1 (late, adds to records season, total to date 9) Gray-cheeked Thrush - 2 (plus 1 recapture) Swainson's Thrush - 3 Gray Catbird - 1 Blue-headed Vireo - 1 (first of season) Warbling Vireo - 1 Philadelphia Vireo - 1 (plus recapture of "mystery" vireo) Red-eyed Vireo - 3 Nashville Warbler - 12 Chestnut-sided Warbler - 1 Magnolia Warbler - 16 (plus 1 recapture) Cape May Warbler - 1 (second of season) Black-throated Blue Warbler - 1 Black-throated Green Warbler - 3 (very good number, possible record) Blackpoll Warbler - 6 American Redstart - 1 Ovenbird - 2 Northern Waterthrush - 2 Wilson's Warbler - 4 An unknown number of Monarch butterflies was tagged. Banders: Allen Chartier, Carl Pascoe, Cindy Cartwright Assistants: Rachel Powless, Bob Hall-Brooks, Rudy Mulder Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) is an organization devoted to monitoring migration at the Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Essex Co., Ontario, administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority. In addition to a hawk-watch/passerine count that has been in operation since 1974, HBMO operates three banding stations, two for raptors (since 1987) and one for passerines and hummingbirds (since 1997). The Holiday Beach Conservation Area was designated an Important Bird Area by Conservation International in 2000. Lat: 42-01'54.1" Long: 083-02'41.6" Website: www.hbmo.org Allen Chartier [EMAIL PROTECTED] 1442 West River Park Drive Inkster, MI 48141 Website: http://www.amazilia.net Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet/index.htm "Allen Chartier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Visit http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm for information on leaving and joining the list. As well as general information and content guidelines.
