Banders & Birders, What started out as a good movement of birds on Saturday, petered out to a slow crawl on Sunday. But, highlights included five season firsts on Saturday, and one bird that was only the second ever banded at the passerine station. A total of 98 new birds of 17 species was banded this weekend, plus 4 recaptures. First of season birds banded on Saturday included a beautiful adult male Cooper's Hawk, which was also only the second ever banded at the passerine station. Also, the first Tufted Titmouse (7th ever), Winter Wrens (3), Hermit Thrush, and Northern Parula (late, also 4th ever) were banded. We saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird near our trap, but could not catch it on Saturday, and on Sunday we banded our 100th Magnolia Warbler of the season (3rd highest season total). Saturday saw a very good movement of kinglets, with 17 Golden-crowned and 33 Ruby-crowned (2nd highest ever). Peak movements of Ruby-crowned Kinglets seem to be concentrated between October 7-15 in each of the past 7 years. White-throated Sparrows still are quite scarce in the banding area. Sunday's two Sharp-shinned Hawks brough our season total to a record 10. Nashville Warblers continued to trickle through, and the 4 banded this weekend brought our season's total to 63, our second highest ever.
Another highlight that is also loosely banding-related included the sighting on Sunday of a Demoiselle Crane apparently migrating high over Holiday Beach. Able assistant Rachel Powless called out during a net run that she heard a Sandhill Crane calling overhead. I located the bird soaring about 1000 feet up with gulls and a Sharp-shinned Hawk and radioed its position to hawk counters on the tower. In binoculars it was clear that it was not a Sandhill Crane, but it took further examination through the scope by Paul Pratt and Tom Hince to determine that it was actually a Demoiselle Crane. Demoiselle Crane is the smallest species of crane in the world, and breeds across Asia from the Black Sea east to southeastern Siberia. It is also considered to be the commonest species of crane, as it nests in drier steppe habitats and is not as dependent on wetlands as other cranes. The possibility of a Demoiselle Crane reaching North America on its own is extremely remote, but not impossible. More likely, though, is that it escaped from captivity since the species is commonly kept in zoos. In fact, in May 2003, a Demoiselle Crane DID escape from a facility in Aylmer as reported by Ross Snider, and one was reported soon after near Chatham. Unfortunately, the bird's great altitude prevented us from determining whether or not it even HAD a band, much less what the number might have been! An exciting find nonetheless. One Monarch butterfly was tagged on Sunday, with some migration noted. Question Mark butterflies continue to be fairly common. Single Green Darners and Black Saddlebags were in the area as well. Photo highlights of this weekend will be posted on the HBMO website (www.hbmo.org). Note that the site has been rearranged with photos now in date order rather than alphabetical by species. Thanks Jason! Banding Results: Saturday, October 11, 2003 11.75 hours from 05:15 - 17:00 E.S.T., 144.50 Net Hours (Russell Trap only operated for 7 hours). A non-standard effort day, as Carl & Rachel wanted to try to stay open till dusk, before trying for owls in the evening. Temperature was 14-24 Celsius. Sky was clear. Wind was NE-SE at 2-5 km/hr. 79 birds of 17 species, plus 1 recapture. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1 Cooper's Hawk - 2 (first of season, 2nd ever for station) Blue Jay - 6 Tufted Titmouse - 1 (first of season, 7th ever) Carolina Wren - 1 Winter Wren - 3 (first of season) Golden-crowned Kinglet - 17 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 33 (second highest ever) Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1 [Swainson's Thrush - 1 recapture] Hermit Thrush - 1 (first of season) Red-eyed Vireo - 2 Nashville Warbler - 2 Northern Parula - 1 (first of season, late, 4th ever) Magnolia Warbler - 2 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler - 4 Northern Cardinal - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 2 Banders: Allen Chartier, Bob Hall-Brooks, Carl Pascoe Assistants: Rachel Powless Sunday, October 12, 2003 9.25 hours from 05:15 - 14:30 E.S.T., 111.00 Net Hours (Russell Trap not opened today, no hummingbirds seen). Temperature was 17-23 Celsius. Sky was partly cloudy to clear. Wind was SW-W at 2-10 km/hr. 19 birds of 7 species, plus 3 recaptures. Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2 (record season total of 10) Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 (plus 3 recaptures) Nashville Warbler - 2 (season total of 63, second highest ever) Magnolia Warbler - 1 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler - 10 Northern Cardinal - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 1 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.
