Thursday 14 September 2017

most memorable migration ever marsh passes 10,000 banded plateau for the first time ever

piliated  woodpecker


So I have been incredibly lucky to have surrounded myself with the most incredible group of banders and people who love the marsh. From the folks behind the scenes who try to convince people to donate to the marsh and arrange fund raiser like the golf tournament and marsh social to the front runners who are rising like zombies before the sign rises and now that we are banding owls  who resign themselves to a semi zombie state for the next month. I really do consider myself very lucky. The other luck I have is to see folks flocking to the marsh to see the birds that we are all so interested in seeing thrive.
     By nature of our zombie state the blog will be very inconsistent in terms of timing and content  but we will be making the effort to get it out when we can and to try and capture for a moment in time the excitement we are experiencing at the marsh.  What follows is a photo blitz of some of the birds we have been getting at the marsh the last few days.  i thought it fitting that our 10,000 bird was a white throated sparrow  symbolic of the year with its sweet Canada Canada !!!

10,000 bird  white throated sparrow
 Like us while we are proud of the accomplishments we have made banding so many birds  but we also recognize
 the accomplishment is only due to where we band the beautiful boreal forest and the people we can attract to the marsh. I celebrate both!!!!
best banding crew ever 



Miron's helping with monarch butterfly and turtle habitat

Joanne with a blue headed vireo


Nicole came back for owls 



golfers supporting  marsh



joanne with her first banded brown thrasher


sarah and the piliated share a moment 


Friday 8 September 2017

first white crowned sparrow of the autumn

immature white crowned sparrow  last year the first was banded sept 20th



08.09.2017
Yesterday there was so much rain that we were confined to the dorm all day, so it was a relief to get back to the fresh marsh air and see what birds had moved in while we were away. The first net round produced a decent number of white-throated sparrows, so we decided that today was the day to set the J-trap and see which other seed-eating species were moving through the area.  

this sparrow speaks with a lisp! Lincoln sparrow   banders short form is lisp 

 On my first few weeks at the marsh in April and May I saw the spectacle of the spring American tree sparrow migration, with clouds of the birds filling the J-trap and weighing down the feeder nets. These birds will use the marsh as a stopover site, using the corn we provide at the feeders to fatten up and continue their journey north to their breeding grounds. Considering we banded 1259 in just one season in one tiny area of Ontario, the sheer scale of migration across Canada is unimaginable. This was then followed by a wave of white-crowned sparrows of almost equal magnitude.
And it isn’t just numbers of sparrows that are impressive in Canada, but also the diversity. Back in England, the only sparrow I see regularly is everybody’s favourite:  the house sparrow. That looks pretty lame compared to the 13 species I’ve seen at the marsh so far, including clay-coloured, field, fox and even Nelson’s sharp tailed sparrows.
The high hopes for the J-trap today might have been a bit premature as we had just 1 whitethroat in the first couple of checks. However in the last check we were surprised to find the first white-crowned sparrow of the fall (almost 2 weeks earlier than last year), a sign of things to come as all of these birds begin to make their return journey south.
A record breaking bird for the day was winter wren number 4 for 2017, exactly one week after the last one.
 
record setting winter wren
Totals: 68 birds, 17 species
Eastern white crowned sparrow 1
White-throated sparrow 10
Lincoln’s sparrow 3
Swamp sparrow 2
Red eyed vireo 2
Nashville warbler 16
Tennessee warbler 3
Magnolia warbler 1
Chestnut sided warbler 1
Western palm warbler 6
Common yellowthroat 7
Wilson’s warbler 1
Black capped chickadee 5
Ruby crowned kinglet 3
Veery 1
Swainson’s thrush 5

Winter wren 1

Joanne Hamilton with winter wren


News from the banding front for the first time ever the marsh is poised to pass a milestone. We are 110 birds  from the 10,000 mark for the year. I wonder what the 10,000 bird will be  stay tuned for exciting news regarding this exciting  moment for banders and the marsh community.


Nicole  the writer of this blog and international banding sensation with the wren she extracted in the back corner 

Wednesday 6 September 2017

From the city by Joanne Hamilton

Joanne Hamilton writer bander extractor 



From the City
Oh sweet Canada Canada Canada. The charming song of the White-Throated Sparrow pierces the air, drowning out the panting of my dog Tigi. We’re on a walk in a managed forest, an old pine plantation that’s been left to develop into mixed woods. A pond was built here to act a water reserve for fires, now it houses spring peepers. Everything was managed at some point, it still is, the forest has been torn down, replanted, earth moved and soil taken.
But it’s still habitat, an oasis nestled in between towns and cities. Ten minutes west and the town of Newmarket sprawls out with a labyrinth of roads, malls, cars, and people. To the east farms stretch out into Uxbridge, remnants of a life that’s disappearing under the wave of housing developments.
And here in these woods migrants sing and chirp all around us. They flit high up in the trees as they make their way northwards to breed. In only a few weeks their beautiful song will disappear. At the time I had no idea I myself would be leaving these woods to head north, to the Hillardton Marsh.
Spring turned into summer and a date to arrive was set. I was excited and nerve-wracked. I had spent my whole life living in cities. Newmarket, Guelph, and Toronto. Suburbia and the monoliths of glass and steel were what I was most familiar with. I had only ever travelled as far north as Algonquin Park having only scraped the edge of the boreal forests. 
As summer progressed my nerves got worse as the date for my departure approached. What would it be like? Would they like me? Would I be able to extract as well as I needed to? What if I couldn’t handle the bugs? I was plagued with self-doubt and wondering if I should just stay put. I knew very little about the marsh and had only spoken on the phone with Bruce and handful of times. His e-mails gave me cold comfort, often scatter-brained and occasionally indecipherable, I honestly wondered what I had gotten myself in to. Glenn and Theresa reassured me that going up was a good decision and that I would be fine. Glenn remined me to go for the birds if for nothing else. 
So I did.

Brown creeper

And there are lots of birds at the marsh. Cranes, sparrows, warblers, flycatchers, and ducks. I’ve seen so many new species here since I arrived, not only of birds but of frogs too. The city can be quiet at times, devoid of much birdlife and there are hardly any frogs. Spring peepers and leopard frogs if I am lucky. But here, mink, green, bullfrog, and wood frogs!

wood frog photo by Joanne Hamilton

And White-Throats. Here I was on their breeding grounds, hearing their song in the morning as part of the dawn chorus. Alongside them were many other beautiful warblers, sparrows, and flycatchers. All breeding. It was fascinating to watch as the hatch-year birds grew and parents finished moulting. In a blink of an eye a tidal wave of birds heading south descended on the marsh, and all the babies disappeared.

photo by Joanne Hamilton

I think about all these young birds heading towards the south, towards cities. Towers of glass and steel will cover the horizon and a glow of light will block out the stars. The road network will become a maze as they leave the North. The dawn chorus will have more than just birds and frogs. Sirens, traffic, planes, and thousands of people working will join them. All of them getting ready for the up-coming winter, for a change of season, a new part of their life.



Hairy Woodpecker

Banding Totals for September 6, 2017
Banded Total: 118            Number of Species: 23

Hairy Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Alder Flycatcher 1
White-throated Sparrow 18
Slate-coloured Junco 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 12
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Red-eyed Vireo 7
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Nashville Warbler 12
Tennessee Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 5
Myrtle Warbler 2

young golden crowned kinglet

Western-palm Warbler 10
Ovenbird 2
Northern Waterthrush 1
Mourning Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 15
Wilson’s Warbler 3
American Redstart 4
Grey Catbird 1
Brown Creeper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Veery 2
Swainson’s Thrush 7

American Robin 1 


female yellow rumped warbler

Tuesday 5 September 2017

Fall rolls in....... By Chris Sukha

Chrsi Sukha with a kingfisher we caught last week

Today's blog is by Chris Sukha. Chris is our bander in charge and has been with us for years. I would have to ask Chris how many. He resides in Field Ontario and his banding resume includes banding in Northern  British Columbia and the Yukon as well as Thunder cape and Long point Bird observatories. We are lucky to have his expertise guiding us and helping to train the next generation of banders. This is Chris' first full Autumn with us and  I am  glad he has been here to witness our record season. We may well be talking about the autumn of 2017 for years to come. So here is my good friend Chris Sukha with today's blog. 


FALL ROLLS IN…
Ah, September! September is time of change, a season of transition. Leaves slowly start changing from deep green to yellows, oranges and red, the air gets a certain chill in the early hours of the morning, and flocks of Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes start to visit local hay fields. Birds that were before only migrating short distances are now undertaking their southbound adventures in earnest, needing to get south before cold settles in.

black throated green warbler


Today the first thing I noticed was a lack of Hummingbirds at the Marsh today. We don’t always catch them in the nets, but we had been seeing or hearing them whirr around almost non-stop since early August. Today, none. To be sure, there will likely be a few yet to come through, but many will already be in the Middle states by now, on their way to winter grounds in South America.

a leucistic  canada goose  Leucism is an abnormal colouration in feathers created by a genetic condition  that prevents colouration of many of the feathers 

And numbers of Canada Geese have been steadily building, along with the bugling of Sandhill Cranes. Ducks are flying around more now as well, and many more sparrows seem to be moving about, calling in the thickets. Many more Swamp Sparrows, affectionately called “swampies” by us banders, will be showing up in the nets soon! Almost 1-third of all Swamp Sparrows banded in Ontario per year are banded at our very own Hilliardton Marsh! Lincoln’s Sparrow, lovely little brown jobbies that breed at the Marsh and northward have started showing up as well, another sure sign of change in the air.

a normal Canada and "Casper the friendly goose"

On the one hand, it’s always sad to see summer leave us. On the other band, uh, I mean hand, the arrival of September signals the migration of many cool species at the Marsh, including my personal favorite, owls. Gotta love those cute little Saw-whet Owls!!! And the graceful Long-eared Owls, and those mysterious, feisty Boreal Owls! As we say goodbye to one set of Marsh species, another set moves in.


Sarah Bonnett showing off the blue from yesterday


Numbers drop in early September, as this season of transition comes upon us, but we know that many more exciting days of migration are ahead of us as the month goes on, and we stand poised for the waves of sparrows to hit by day, and migrating owls by night. Stay tuned!!!




Here are today’s totals;  Sept 5th 2017
Alder Flycatcher 1
Least Flycatcher 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln’s Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Philadelphia Vireo 3
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 4
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Myrtle Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Mourning Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 15
Wilson’s Warbler 3
American Redstart 1
Gray Catbird 1
Swainson’s Thrush 1
Veery 2

for a total of 62 birds, of 24 species,
Chris Sukha.

 
volunteer Rick Caldwell with a Northern Parula


Monday 4 September 2017

Week 5 of Fall Banding by Sarah Bonnett

We have just completed our fifth week of Fall Migration Banding at HMREC and it’s strange, seems like some of the birds have started to move away? Only an average of 86 birds banded each day (for the 6 days we were banding, Sunday was a rain day). Down from the previous three weeks, which all averaged over 100 birds per day!
However, we were all about exciting birds this week! Especially September 1st, which you can read about in Nicole’s guest blog. Winter Wren (now officially tied with previous records in 1999 & 2007), Belted Kingfisher, and Wilson’s Snipe!
The weeks top spot goes again to the Red-eyed Vireo with 99 banded, followed by 58 Common Yellowthroat, and 29 Wilson’s Warbler!
The highlight for me this week? The Wilson’s Snipe was probably my favourite, I’m bias though because I banded it. The way Chris and Nicole presented it to me was the best part of the story though: Murph and I had just returned from the river and those two quiet troublemakers had suspicious grins on their faces and said “Sarah, we think YOU should do some banding.” I see the bag wiggle and realize it’s not a little tiny bird, and at first I thought they had a woodpecker for me (it’s no secret in the banding lab I love birds that do silly awesome things such has smash their heads face first into trees). It was better. The build up of taking it out of the bag and realizing what they had saved for me was worth Chris and Nicole’s sneaky grins!
Other highlights this week, another Sharp-shinned Hawk (bringing the year total to 6) and every new one banded is a new marsh record! So we welcome our little carnivore friends finding themselves caught in the mistnets with their angry faces. Ovenbirds were a bit of a sneak this week, taking the record without our knowledge! 49 banded in 2017 now, previous record of 47 in 2016!
I have included a table of all of the birds banded for each week, the fall total, and the 2017 totals so far, it’s interesting to compare certain birds and see what we don’t get a lot of in the Spring vs what we are getting now (look at those Flycatcher and Vireo totals!!!) It’s also good to highlight that even though Song, Lincoln’s, and Swamp Sparrow numbers are already more than half for the year, we definitely are waiting on everything else to show up later (or maybe they only like us in the Spring?)
Table: Birds banded per week in the fall, with the Fall total and 2017 totals!
Common Name
WEEK 1 TOTAL
WEEK 2 TOTAL
WEEK 3 TOTAL
Week 4 TOTAL
Week 5 TOTAL
FALL TOTAL
2017 Year Total
Pied-billed Grebe
0
0
0
2
0
2
2
American Bittern
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
Virginia Rail
0
1
2
0
0
3
3
Sora
0
0
2
0
0
2
2
Wilson's Snipe
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
Mourning Dove
2
1
0
0
0
3
6
Sharp-shinned Hawk
0
1
2
0
1
4
6
American Kestrel
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
Belted Kingfisher
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
Hairy Woodpecker
0
2
0
0
0
2
3
Downy Woodpecker
2
3
0
1
0
6
25
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
Yellow-shafted Flicker
0
1
1
0
0
2
4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
3
9
12
17
7
48
66
Eastern Kingbird
0
2
0
0
0
2
9
Eastern Phoebe
1
5
2
1
0
9
9
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
3
6
3
1
1
14
20
Alder Flycatcher
37
95
71
40
22
265
390
Least Flycatcher
17
33
32
22
13
117
187
Blue Jay
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
European Starling
0
0
0
0
0
0
7
Bobolink
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
Brown-headed Cowbird
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
Yellow-headed Blackbird
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Red-winged Blackbird
0
0
0
0
0
0
318
Baltimore Oriole
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
Rusty Blackbird
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
Common Grackle
6
0
2
0
0
8
93
Evening Grosbeak
0
0
0
0
0
0
200
Purple Finch
8
9
5
4
1
27
78
Hoary Redpoll
0
0
0
0
0
0
49
Common Redpoll
0
0
0
0
0
0
401
American Goldfinch
10
5
5
5
1
26
565
Pine Siskin
0
0
0
0
0
0
59
Savannah Sparrow
0
0
1
0
1
2
15
Nelson's Sparrow
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
White-crowned Sparrow
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Eastern White-crowned Sparrow
0
0
0
0
0
0
290
Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
White-throated Sparrow
37
20
13
18
25
113
243
American Tree Sparrow
0
0
0
0
0
0
1259
Chipping Sparrow
0
0
0
1
0
1
6
Clay-colored Sparrow
0
0
0
1
0
1
1
Field Sparrow
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
Slate-colored Junco
0
1
0
0
0
1
124
Song Sparrow
21
21
12
11
13
78
102
Lincoln's Sparrow
0
0
1
1
4
6
24
Swamp Sparrow
45
30
24
11
21
131
203
Fox Sparrow
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
5
5
3
7
13
33
36
Indigo Bunting
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Tree Swallow
0
0
0
0
0
0
316
Cedar Waxwing
9
29
3
18
3
62
91
Northern Shrike
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Red-eyed Vireo
17
25
54
142
99
337
381
Philadelphia Vireo
8
14
16
30
21
89
112
Blue-headed Vireo
0
0
2
1
1
4
6
Black-and-white Warbler
6
14
8
12
3
43
64
Nashville Warbler
30
56
48
74
25
233
414
Orange-crowned Warbler
0
0
0
0
0
0
39
Tennessee Warbler
10
20
21
41
5
97
127
Northern Parula
2
1
2
0
4
9
32
Cape May Warbler
1
8
6
2
1
18
59
Yellow Warbler
30
19
13
18
11
91
226
Black-throated Blue Warbler
1
0
0
7
1
9
16
Myrtle Warbler
1
2
0
3
1
7
219
Magnolia Warbler
6
8
28
53
22
117
243
Chestnut-sided Warbler
18
35
39
43
13
148
255
Bay-breasted Warbler
0
2
1
1
2
6
12
Blackpoll Warbler
0
1
0
1
0
2
29
Blackburnian Warbler
0
0
5
2
0
7
14
Black-throated Green Warbler
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
Pine Warbler
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Western Palm Warbler
0
0
0
0
4
4
96
Ovenbird
7
10
9
8
13
47
49
Northern Waterthrush
2
4
2
3
4
15
31
Connecticut Warbler
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Mourning Warbler
6
20
27
25
11
89
103
Common Yellowthroat
27
14
35
51
58
185
381
Wilson's Warbler
2
9
9
30
29
79
372
Canada Warbler
0
10
12
2
2
26
35
American Redstart
48
111
94
60
25
338
568
Gray Catbird
5
3
0
1
0
9
22
Brown Thrasher
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
Winter Wren
0
1
0
0
1
2
3
Brown Creeper
0
0
1
0
0
1
2
Red-breasted Nuthatch
1
1
0
1
0
3
12
Black-capped Chickadee
4
5
1
3
5
18
51
Golden-crowned Kinglet
3
6
2
0
0
11
16
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3
6
3
3
0
15
105
Veery
21
14
23
22
17
97
149
Gray-cheeked Thrush
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
Swainson's Thrush
12
17
13
9
13
64
92
Hermit Thrush
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
American Robin
4
2
0
0
0
6
35
Eastern Bluebird
0
0
0
0
0
0
13
Daily Total
481
718
671
811
520
3201
9642
# Species
41
50
46
47
43
68
96
Updating our records list always proves surprising to me, as of today, we have 36 new records at the Marsh! Including 3 new species this year (American Bittern, Indigo Bunting, and Connecticut Warbler), so naturally keeping track of who’s setting new highs is getting easier since I can just pretend everything is! Below is a chart of our record setters this year for all of those we are interested to see. 2017 is not letting us down, that’s for sure.
Common Name
Number Banded 2017
Previous Record
Year of Previous
American Bittern
1
-
-
Sharp-shinned Hawk
6
4
2015, 2016
Downy Woodpecker
25
23
2007
Eastern Kingbird
9
6
2007
Eastern Phoebe
9
3
2015
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
20
11
2016
Alder Flycatcher
390
280
2015
Least Flycatcher
187
145
2016
European Starling
7
6
2007
Red-winged Blackbird
318
292
2011
Evening Grosbeak
200
37
2011
American Goldfinch
565
532
2016
American Tree Sparrow
1259
659
2016
Indigo Bunting
1
-
-
Tree Swallows
316
29
2008
Red-eyed Vireo
381
215
2016
Philadelphia Vireo
112
73
2016
Black-and-white Warbler
64
36
2016
Nashville Warbler
414
273
2015
Tennessee Warbler
127
80
2015
Northern Parula
32
12
2015
Cape May Warbler
59
18
2016
Yellow Warbler
226
201
2004
Black-throated Blue Warbler
16
11
2015
Magnolia Warbler
243
161
2015
Chestnut-sided Warbler
255
172
2015
Blackburnian Warbler
14
10
2015
Ovenbird
49
47
2016
Northern Waterthrush
31
29
2007
Bay-breasted Warbler
12
7
2015
Connecticut Warbler
1
-
-
Canada Warbler
35
34
2015
American Redstart
568
447
2015
Veery
149
128
2015
Swainson’s Thrush
92
73
2015
Eastern Bluebird
13
9
2013
Sarah Bonnett