Banders & Birders, The most exciting bird of the weekend has to be the subadult Purple Gallinule found near the base of the Hawk Tower on Friday, September 26, and verified from photos and additional observations on Saturday. Unfortunately, the bird tested the patience of everyone who showed up Sunday morning after hearing about the bird on the hotlines, and it apparently never showed. This is a first record for Holiday Beach, and one of few records for Ontario.
Numbers of birds banded this weekend dropped again from last week's good numbers, with a total of 52 new birds banded of 23 species plux 3 recaptures. Though numbers were lower, species diversity remains good and there were a number of interesting highlights. On Saturday, a total of 5 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds was banded, and a rather late Yellow-bellied Flycatcher was also banded. We recaptured the Brown Thrasher we banded on September 13. When banded, the bird had an obvious tumor on its bill and swellings in the facial region, all possibly due to avian pox. When recaptured today, the tumor was gone and the swelling had gone down noticeably. On Sunday, we banded our first Orange-crowned Warbler of the season, and yet another late Yellow-bellied Flycatcher along with an equally late Eastern Wood-Pewee. The Downy Woodpecker captured today was the first of the season, where we should have banded at least 2-3 by now. The excellent Blue Jay migration noted at the tower (60,000+) brought us 7 birds. Single Ovenbirds and Northern Waterthrush were late. The juvenile male Rose-breasted Grosbeak today was the fourth of the season, which ties our season record. Oddly, White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos have yet to make an appearance. Insect highlights included a good movement of Monarch butterflies on Saturday (~500) and Sunday (~200), with about a dozen tagged over the weekend. Dragonfly numbers remain low, with Green Darner and Black Saddlebags being the only species noted. Photo highlights of this weekend will be posted on the HBMO website (www.hbmo.org). Banding Results Saturday, September 27, 2003 10.00 hours from 04:45 - 14:45 E.S.T., 125.00 Net Hours. Temperature was 16-21 Celsius, sky was overcast to clear, wind was SW at 10-15 km/hr. 23 birds of 10 species plus 1 recapture. Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 5 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1 Blue Jay - 5 Swainson's Thrush - 1 [Brown Thrasher - 1 recapture] Warbling Vireo - 1 Philadelphia Vireo - 1 Red-eyed Vireo - 4 Nashville Warbler - 2 Magnolia Warbler - 2 Ovenbird - 1 Banders: Allen Chartier, Bob Hall-Brooks, Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless Sunday, September 28, 2003 7.00 hours from 05:00 - 12:00 E.S.T., 86.00 Net Hours (Russell Trap only open 4 hours). Temperature was 11-13 Celsius, sky was mostly cloudy to overcast, with light rain at end of day, wind was W-WSW at 7-10 km/hr. 29 birds of 19 species, plus 2 recaptures. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 (third of season) Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1 (plus 1 recapture) Downy Woodpecker - 1 (first of season) Eastern Wood-Pewee - 1 (late) Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 1 (late) Blue Jay - 7 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1 American Robin - 1 (first of season) Gray Catbird - 1 [Red-eyed Vireo - 1 recapture] Orange-crowned Warbler - 1 (first of season) Nashville Warbler - 3 Magnolia Warbler - 2 Black-throated Blue Warbler - 2 Blackpoll Warbler - 1 Ovenbird - 1 (late) Northern Waterthrush - 1 (late) Common Yellowthroat - 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 1 (fourth of season - ties record) Banders: Allen Chartier, Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless, Bob Hall-Brooks 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.
