J trap put to use first day of spring banding april 10th

after second year red winged blackbird  actually because of when it was banded we can call it after sixth year!

It has always amazed me that the first red-winged blackbird of the season that we get at the marsh is always banded. They must really love corn because they always know where to find it.  Today history repeated itself and a red winged blackbird with band # 1212-67813 was caught in the j trap with an unbanded bird . My guess is the veteran coaxed the other male blackbird into the net. It turns out that the banded bird was originally captured in the marsh  May 14th 2013 revealing that it is a true migration warrior.  With all the hype around Canada's 150th birthday a common theme i cannot help thinking about is how different the migration is for birds now versus then. When one considers all of the perils birds face now calling them migration warriors unfortunately is an image that easily comes to mind when one considers the gauntlet of highways, wind turbines, skyscrapers with light and window issues for birds not to mention industrial wasteland.  The real point I am trying to make here is the respect I have for a bird that we band at the marsh that can make the migration south and return. This red-winged blackbird has made the trip 4 time s making it a true migration warrior!

Dark eyed junco first bird in the j trap

Today Chris Sukha put the final touches on the J trap by installing the j shaped funnels that the birds use as their portal to enter the trap after being able to access food unhindered through the door. The very first bird we caught in the j trap was this dark eyed junco. So for those who are making a list of 2017 marsh trivia you can add that bit to your list. This bird was joined by many american tree sparrows. Chris and I were giddy to see how effective the trap is and the ease effectiveness of the collection box. Banding birds at the marsh has been helped along a great deal thanks to Sylvain and Rachelle Plante, trap builders extraordinaire!

Chris has a lot of respect or the beak of an evening grosbeak but he really should keep his eyes open!!

While we were using the trap we also had three feeder nets up allowing us to capture and band some evening grosbeaks. We are getting close to 200 banded this  year.

two of my favourite banding companions 

For those of you hoping to join us banding please be patient public banding begins  May 1st.  As you can see there is still snow on the ground and as we say goodbye to snow too much traffic on the soft ground would have a negative impact on the grounds and trails so we will let you know when we are open. Despite that research has begun and I will be including updates as the season progresses. Perhaps at some point down the raod with some investment in our tails and other improvements we could open to the public earlier . As always we appreciate all donations  and memberships that allow us to have greater access to the public to see what we are doing at the marsh. I appreciate any and all feedback and ideas on how we can move forward. Needless to say i cannot wait to show people how great the new j trap is, only 18 sleeps !!!!

Bird is the word!