2018 warms up with pine grosbeaks to begin the "Year of the Bird""

Sadly frosty conditions forced us to cancel cbc4kids

Sadly we said goodbye to 2017 and our hopes of running the cbc4kids  with the enduring cold snap. Saying hello to 2018  we were able to get out for an a couple of hours of impromptu banding at the marsh today. We were able to band 16 pine grosbeak  which was an excellent way to begin the new year.

A pair of male pine grosbeaks near the launching pad  feeder

Last year we  did not band any pine grosbeaks in what I think of the winter of 2017  and only managed to band our first pine grosbeak a couple of weeks ago which while technically was in 2017 it feels like the winter of 2018. Catching the December pine grosbeaks  did allow us to reach 100 species banded in one year at the marsh which may be a goal that may elude us for a long time to come.

Kristen right and Clayton left might very well be holding the first pine grosbeaks banded in North America this year 

Kristen with a chickadee always a favourite at the feeder this bird proved to have been banded 2 years ago 

So we are off to a nice start at the marsh and we have lots of pine grosbeaks and a handful of evening grosbeaks coming to black oil seed on a regular basis. So far common redpolls have been flying over  and can be found at a few feeders  in the area and often on the secondary roads eating gravel.  Banding at the marsh this time of year is difficult to schedule due to the cold and the availability of volunteers. By the time march rolls around we will be hopefully able to host some visiting times for folks to come out and enjoy seeing winter finches. Other than that we will send emails to members to alert them to times we know we will be out this winter.

     Thanks to Kristen and Clayton for helping to get us started, stay tuned for more developments at the marsh it promises to be a very exciting year for the marsh. Happy bird year to all!!!!