Well it has been a very long time . The blog kind of disappeared when i started doing a podcast which you can find if you look for boreal bruce's bird banding blog but I thought rather than updating on facebook or instagram that a moment back to the blog would be fitting. I really do not know what is the best way to communicate what is happening at the marsh but I kind of know that instagram is limited to a certain number of letters and folks on facebook do not like lengthy posts so here I am poised to get back to the blog for at least a moment.
We had an interesting 2020 and managed to band spring and fall which also included owl banding. We were in lock step with the health unit and our team with all of the covid restrictions still managed to band almost 10,000 birds representing 97 species. It would be impossible to update the entire banding season and i feel guilty as i was somehow hoping to get the podcast going again to update everyone but perhaps moving forward it will be back to the blog if anyone has an interest in plowing through grammar and dithering. The plus is for those who have listened to the podcast you do not have to hear me say um.
So lets get to it. We are lucky to have winter finches after last winter a complete absence due to so much food in the north but we are enjoying a fresh start to the new year and after only 4 days of banding have managed the following totals
5 black capped chickadees
20 common redpolls
12 evening grosbeaks
1 hairy woodpecker
5 hoary redpolls
9 pine grosbeaks
Not a bad start to the new year especially while we are in lock down and cannot have volunteers out to help us which leads me to a new development .
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| Our marsh intern Doug Manner aka "Dog with a u" aka Jethro |
I would like to introduce any marsh followers to Doug Manners who is our intern. We are very fortunate to have Doug helping us. DOug was hired back in October and will be with us to the end of the banding season in the spring . Doug was our crew leader the summer of 2019 and we are very happy to have him. SO it is basically Doug and I for the winter finch banding season and we shall see how we can do. We are hoping for a good grosbeak season and so far we have not been disappointed .
In the fall we were very excited to hire Joanne hamilton and chris Sukha to help with the deign of our trail system and on Chris's part to design some art work that people will enjoy with their kids on the trails. Joanne did an amazing job and once we have the french translation all done we will be looking to get our trail signage up in the spring . We are very appreciative of funding from RBC to make all of this possible and I have to say people will be very impressed with the expertise that Joanne Hamilton brought to the project. if the name Joanne Hamilton sounds familiar she volunteered at the marsh back in 2017 and had some time to volunteers this fall and I was so excited that she could take on the job of coordinating out trail design and signage project.
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| Joanne Hamilton facilitating decisions by youth about the trail |
Ebird winners
It is always an exciting time of th year to announce last years MurphEbird winners the pun makes sense when you realize my last name is Murphy. Moving on, this year the prize goes to Mike Werner a multi year winner and the junior award goes for the 3rd year in a row to Kristen Morrow who continues to impress with the number of checklists and her continued passion for birding despite moving on from her formative days bat the 'School of flock" at kerns public school. Honourable mention must go to her siblings Rebecca and 8 year old Nelson who are also ebirding and very much want to get ahead of her . Congratulations to Mike and Kristen very happy to see your enjoyment of ebird and your passion for birding
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| The morrow Clan Nelson (left) Rebecca (middle) and Kristen the ebird champ with blue school of flock hat |
Covid 19
Recently with increased cases our area is now in lock down and the marsh is once again closed to visitors which means volunteers as well. We are hoping to carry on banding as we can and will keep feeders filled. Doug is going to be working on a lot of data and will also be working on our snow shoe trails just in case we have the opportunity to welcome limited numbers of people back to the marsh.
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| North end shed |
Doug has also initiated a banding project we have not tried since 2007. The north end of the marsh is a very unique and I feel very special place. It is so remote that in 2004 we decided to build a cabin to allow us to access banding possibilities and potentially programming down the road. From his time as crew leader and from taking on the north end for owl banding Doug has been intrigued by the possibility of banding boreal chickadees and Canada jays. The north end is intact boreal forest and has the potential for both of these species. Getting to the north end requires a great deal of effort as it is 3 km from our banding shed and requires access this time of year by snow machine or an hour snowshoe. So far Doug has banded 8 black capped chickadees and 2 red breasted nuthatches. Of great interest to me is that all of the chickadees captured were unbanded suggesting that the flock at the north end of the marsh is separate from the south which in itself is really exciting. Always something to learn. So far despite setting out lots of feeders there have been no redpolls or grosbeaks attracted to the seed which is also very interesting. We will keep you updated. The last time we had a concentrated banding effort in the winter in the north end was in 2007 so Doug's initiative is valued and will be of great interest moving forward. I think banding 3 kilometers apart will keep the health unit happy. I should not make a glib remark like that I am very thankful for all the health unit is doing and I certainly appreciate all their efforts to keep us all safe .
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| Doug and Marie Eve couples do not have to be a condor wing span apart |
Here the update ends more information to come Covid is allowing me some time to get blogging again and I already have something planned a few days from now . All the best stay safe thanks for indulging me and let me know if you are following the blog and whether it is worthwhile to continue after such a long absence. Bird is the word!!
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