This past winter the 7th major Black-c. Chickadee irruption in the past 50+ years of banding occurred at my Adirondack camp at Jenny Lake near Corinth in northern Saratoga Co. at an elevation of 1250 ft. The irruption started slowly in Nov, appeared to falter in Dec, then kicked into high gear in mid-Jan as follows.Date BCCH Banded/Total BCCH Captures Including Previous Bandings12/21/20 3/71/1/21 9/41/12/21 37/401/19/21 41/602/4/21 46/642/11/21 29/732/18/21 17/532/26/21 26/703/7/21 20/573/13/21 10/373/23/21 4/12These captures were made using 3 mist nets, one at each of three sunflower seed feeders over a span of 2.5-3.5 hrs.Here's how these results rank compared to six past major irruptions.Year No. Banded/Returns From Prev. Yrs Total Captures80-81 320/68 38881/82 153/108 26190/91 268/71 33999/00 165/95 26008/09 281/66 34714/15 285/64 34920/21 238/25 263The years referred to here begin Jul 1 (the month newly fledged young appear) running to Jun 30 of the following year.Two aspects of this year's irruption make it unique from others in the past. Its timing was different. Most irruptions begin in Oct/Nov, peak in Dec/Jan usually declining thereafter as birds return to breeding areas. This irruption was barely in progress in Dec/early Jan, began ramping up in mid-Jan, peaked in Feb into early Mar, declining thereafter. Sunflower seed consumption had a similar pattern. It averaged 100-200 g/day in Nov/Dec, skyrocketed upward in Jan to a peak of 1850 g/day (4 lbs/day) by 2/4/21. It ran 1300-1850 g/day from mid-Jan to mid-Mar when a total of 114.5 kg (252 lbs) was consumed.Secondly, its age composition was different. It consisted mostly of immature birds hatched in 2020 and relatively very few adult returns. In the summary of the seven largest irruptions noted above, the 25 returns noted this year is far below the range of 64-108 for the other six years. Among the 238 birds banded so far this year, 87% were immatures and 13% adults. For the total sample of all 263 captures, that ratio is 80% immature/20% adult.There was also a Red-br Nuthatch irruption most of which passed by Jenny Lake going south, only to increase in Mar as birds began returning north. Bandings were as follows.Jul-Dec 17Jan-mid-Feb 5Late-Feb 8Mar 24 with a max of 12 on 3/7/21, total so far: 54.A Tufted Titmouse irruption of sorts began in mid-Nov with 5 banded in Nov, 2 in Dec, 5 in Jan, 3 in Feb and 2 in Mar for a total of 17. Bob Yunick Jenny Lake and Schenectady, NY
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