stats taking stock of spring and fall number at the marsh

Piliated  #4

Banding  at the marsh there are still surprises as some birds just do not want to migrate. Today I banded a late white throated sparrow and a white crowned sparrow. There are at least two white throats as yesterday I caught one that was already banded and today's bird received a brand new fish and wildlife band.  The other species of note was banding 9 more common redpolls taking our  fall number to 100 banded.Which compared to the  number we banded last winter is not a lot but I believe we only banded 30 all last January so we are quite ahead of not only November but what we see in early winters.

This white crown sparrow looks happy in the snow 

Taking a quick glance of our overall totals for Hilliardton marsh researchers our numbers are great. For the second year in a row we were able to band 100 species. This is the fourth fall we have been able to run our fall protocol which has made a substantial difference. The first two years though we plateaued at 92 and 90 species so last year when we managed 100 we thought it might take us awhile to reach that threshold again and yet here we are again. For the entire area though we banded 107 species which really is something.

White throated sparrow

So we had several new species this year that we have never banded before we caught an exciting 4 Broad winged hawks, a LeConte sparrow, and a white winged crossbill, and American Pipit and a bohemian waxwing  which bring the marsh to 157 species overall. As you can imagine it gets harder to band a new species  the more we have banded  so to get five  new species this year was quite incredible.

Other highlights of the year  included the following birds which we do not often catch I have put the overall number  for all years combined  in parenthesis so you can see why I feel they were highlights. The order is as I remembered them: Solitary Sandpiper(2) Sora (13) Virginia Rail ( 10  ) Olive sided Flycatcher (4 ) Eastern Wood Peewee (2)  Scarlet tanager (2) Nelson sharp Tailed Sparrow ( 7  ) Belted Kingfisher  (4) Boreal chickadee (65, we banded 11 this fall  ) Piliated woodpecker  ( 4)

1 of the 11 we boreal chickadees we banded  this year have to at the french name is better
"brown headed chickadee" 

To help put things in perspective I have added the top 20 for the spring and fall and at a glance one can see how different the seasons are with only 9 species being in both top 20's

Spring Top 20

Species	Grand Total
Myrtle Warbler	378
American Redstart	287
Red-Winged Blackbird	285
Wilson’s Warbler	269
American Goldfinch	192
American Tree Sparrow	157
Yellow Warbler	146
Common Yellowthroat	139
Alder Flycatcher	122
Western Palm Warbler	85
Chestnut-sided Warbler	82
Common Grackle	75
Eastern white-crowned Sparrow	66
Least Flycatcher	64
Magnolia Warbler	58
Swamp Sparrow	56
White-throated Sparrow	55
Veery	52
Cedar Waxwing	40
Black and white Warbler	93

Fall top 20

Species	Number of birds banded
Pine Siskin	1592
northern sawwhet owl	361
Alder Flycatcher	324
White-Throated Sparrow	313
Purple Finch	284
Common Yellow throat	261
Red -eyed Vireo	255
Swamp Sparrow	229
American Redstart	228
Nashville Warbler	211
Eastern White Crowned Sparrow	165
Least Flycatcher	156
Swainson's Thrush	115
Tennessee Warbler	110
Ruby Crowned Kinglet	106
Wilson's Warbler	99
Yellow rumped Warbler	95
Common Redpoll	91
Veery	90
Black Capped Chickadee	86

Clearly there is a lot more  to write about but there is only so much one can take in at a time and my hope is that people will find this of interest. I hope to get all of our data from our start back in 1996 on our website and will blog about that when it comes to pass. That will allow  a chance for perspective and those with an interest will be able to see how it all fits together. In addition Nick Alioto wrote a summary of both the spring and fall banding seasons  and we would most certainly like to get folks access to the hard work he did summarizing our seasons . The other purpose of getting this info on the blog is that it makes our numbers accessible to any with an interest in research and for those future researchers who are thinking of being here for a spring or fall banding season. The boreal beckons to you all.

Redpolls are back!!!

Reflections of an empty banding station.

Mo Sarah and Nick withthe results our last trip to J trap

Well the researchers are gone  and I find myself alone at the marsh and afraid to put too many nets up for fear of catching too many birds.  We had such a phenomenal fall banding season thanks to the passion and energy of our crew of researchers. So thanks so much to  Nick Alioto, Mohammed Fahmy, Bronwyn Robinson and Sarah Biesemier  Needless to say that without them we could never have had the season that we did .

Bronwyn Robinson

My plan in the coming weeks is to  for lack of a better word deconstruct the banding season and go over the many highlights we experienced. The main highlight for me  was how great everyone got along. My main job each banding season is to get the word out that we are looking for researchers and to try and communicate that we need people that can get along and basically play well with others.  I think for the most part anyone who is willing to travel for a boreal banding adventure and live in close quarters with strangers is  going to get along. So almost by default we attract people who are tolerant and share a common passion for birds.

Mo Fahmy

Regardless this season was amazing and in no time we were like a small family and Joanne and I emerged as marsh Mom and Dad  and sometimes like parents we had to shake our heads at some of the things they did. Like the time they tried to turn a fly swatter into a boomerang...... do not ask!!!! Well maybe ask if you see me  I cannot describe it here.  I will always remember this crew with incredible fondness and thank them for  a great job they have all become part of marsh history and lore  and we are  very proud of them all and miss them already.

NIck Alioto

Now ,however, I find myself at the marsh alone without the buoyancy and exuberance of youth. Amigo and I pick days that are not too windy or too cold  and go about the joy of banding pine grosbeaks and carrying on our attempt to colour band  chickadees. Sometimes I just have to pinch myself  to realize that I truly am living the dream of being able to band in the boreal forest whenever time permits. Soon I will be starting the task of lining up the next crew to settle into the  task of spring banding  and I will once again attempt to twist their arms into writing blogs so you will get to know them. For now though I am waiting on Canada post to deliver more  colour bands so I can carry on with the great work that the crew started.  The colour banding and the winter birds we document will no doubt weave their way into a future blog. For now I miss the laughter, and the excitement of seeing the joy in their eyes as they were able to band species which inspired them to travel to the boreal. Afterall, it is the birds that initially united us, and in the end it is the birds that provided our purpose, and yet it is always hard to say goodbye to marsh family.

Sarah Biesemier