Presque Isle State Park Bird Banding

Spring is Back!

After several days of rain and snow, today was warm and calm. A couple of Common Loons yodeled in the bay as I was setting up the nets around 6:30 AM, and around 7 AM I saw one of them flying over the peninsula, heading north. Yesterday I counted four loons in the bay, but by mid-morning today I couldn't find a single one. Red-breasted Merganser numbers were also down.

The clear skies and calm conditions brought in new birds, including several migrants. I retrieved 13 birds on my first net run of the morning, one more than I've banded on any one day to date. By 2 PM, we'd captured 23 birds, including two recaptures. 

Among the highlights were three Western Palm Warblers, one possible Yellow Palm Warbler, three Downy Woodpeckers, two Brown Creepers, an Eastern Towhee and a recaptured Tufted Titmouse. I didn't photograph any of the early birds, as I wanted to process them as quickly as possible, so the following photos were all of birds caught later in the day.

Hermit Thrushes are still moving through. They always seem embarrassed about being photographed.

 A Western Palm Warbler showing the pale belly, contrasting nicely with the throat and undertail.

The white tail spots are very noticeable in flight.

The yellowish undertail is a nice field mark.

As is the chestnut crown in spring.

I was really surprised to catch three Downy Woodpeckers simultaneously in the same net. These birds have been hanging out in the snags above the picnic tables, so I was hoping they'd get caught one of these days.

Here's one of the females, she doesn't have any red on the back of her head.

Based on the black and relatively unworn tail feathers, I decided that she was at least two years old.

 They're very cute, but feisty.

The second female was also very vocal.

Her tail feathers looked duller and more worn, so I think she's a 2nd year bird (SY)

The male just wanted to get away, so I had a hard time photographing him.

I'm intrigued that these three birds have been spending so much time together. Some woodpeckers are communal breeders, in that there's one pair that actually breeds, while one or more younger birds help raise the young. I don't think this has been documented for Downy Woodpeckers, so it'll be interesting to see what these three do this breeding season.

I've been using paper bags to hold the birds before processing them. This puts each bird in a clean container, minimizing the risk of spreading disease, but I may have to find a sturdier brand. The two females almost succeeded in escaping. The male hardly tried at all.

Other migrants included two Brown Creepers. They're tiny and seem dull-looking at a distance, but have a gorgeous plumage when seen up close.

They use their tails as a support when climbing up trees, so they become very frayed.

This Palm Warbler was much brighter than the other three, so I think it may be belong to the eastern subspecies.

 The last bird of the day was this Tufted Titmouse. She was a recapture and had a active brood patch (a patch of unfeathered skin on her breast that she uses to incubate her eggs). This is another eastern species that I've never banded before, so I really enjoyed the opportunity to take a close-up of her. She even raised her crest for me.