Migration Heats Up

How many nets are enough?

This morning at Niagara Boat Launch I began setting nets at 6:15, and had 11 up by 7 AM. I then began checking them and soon realized that I needed to close the nets in order to process the 30 birds I'd picked out of the nets. Unfortunately, I didn't make that decision until I was pulling birds out of the seventh net. By the time I got back to the first six nets there were another 20 birds in them. Oh Boy! They did provide Gerry McWilliams' birding class the opportunity to observe a mixed flock of stationary warblers in net 3.

With 50 birds in the bags, I set to work and with the help of several drafted "volunteers" (Thank you Chris, Faith, Ed Jr.  and Ed jr.), we were able to weather this self-inflicted storm. 

The weather looked threatening around noon, but held off after dropping a few sprinkles. I opened the nets again at 12:30 and was able to band another 20 birds.

Let's take a look

As we continue into May, more females and younger males pass through. Up until now, I've only banded male Magnolia Warblers this spring, so she really stood out. She's much more muted in her coloration than the males.

Female Magnolia Warbler

Just look at the difference between her and a male.

New in the nets was this Canada Warbler. They're one of our later migrants, so now we know that we're in the thick of migration.

Look at the size of his eyes. You'd think he's nocturnal. They're HUGE!

Another new bird in the net was this Great-crested Flycatcher. It wasn't happy about being photographed, so snapped and raised its crest. Thank you.

Here are some more female warblers. See if you can identify them before looking at the captions.

Yellow Warbler

American Redstart

Nashville Warbler

And finally, a better photograph of a Lincoln's Sparrow. They're slippery characters, two of them were able to escape before I had collected all the data I wanted from them.

We banded about 70 birds today, with 18 Yellow Warblers the most common species. Tomorrow I'll be at Erie Bluffs. For those of you attending the weekend's birding festival at Presque Isle (link here), I'll be banding at Niagara on Saturday and at Fry's Landing on Sunday.  See you there.