Banders & Birders, We brought our 2003 fall banding season to a close this weekend, closing early on Sunday November 23 due to wind and a lack of birds. Although we went out with a whimper, with only 10 birds banded in two days, there were definitely highlights both days. On Saturday, we caught a White-throated Sparrow that had originally been banded on November 2, 2003 which was only our second returning migrant in our 7-year history (the first was only three weeks ago!). There will be a photo on the HBMO website of the bird being held by the person who originally banded it, who also took it out of the net this year. The Winter Wrens banded on Saturday (and the lingering bird banded on November 8) was probably a record late for the station. Sunday's highlight was the only bird we caught! It was the season's second Tufted Titmouse, and only the 8th ever banded at the station. This is a very rare bird in Canada, and it was satisfying to see this was an immature (HY) bird, indicating that after recent steep declines there has been successful breeding.
A summary of the fall season (August - November) will follow. Photo highlights are posted on the HBMO website (www.hbmo.org). Banding Results: Saturday, November 22, 2003 8.00 hours from 06:45 - 14:45 E.S.T.; 103.00 Net Hours (1 additional net was set up on the beach for 7 hours). Temperature was 5-13 Celsius. Sky was overcast. Wind was NNW-SW at 1-3 km/hr. 9 birds of 4 species, plus 3 recaptures. Winter Wren - 2 (plus 1 recapture) American Tree Sparrow - 4 Song Sparrow - 2 White-throated Sparrow - 1 (plus 2 recaptures, 1 banded 8 Nov 2003, and 1 orginally banded 2 Nov 2002). Banders: Allen Chartier, Carl Pascoe, Bob Hall-Brooks Assistants: Rachel Powless Sunday, November 23, 2003 4.00 hours from 06:45 - 10:45 E.S.T.; 52.00 Net Hours (1 additional net was set up on the beach for 4 hours). Temperature was 10-13 Celsius. Sky was overcast to partly cloudy. Wind was SE at 10-15 km/hr. Closed early due to wind and lack of birds. 1 bird of 1 species. Tufted Titmouse - 1 (second for season, 8th for station) 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.
