Second Week of Spring Banding 2017 Summary

Our second week of bird banding this spring is still continuing along rather slowly but, we did have some interesting catches that made up for the otherwise slow mornings. The weather has been typical for here; it went from 90F on Thursday afternoon to the low 40s that evening and then, this weekend, we had scattered thunderstorms and high winds that prevented us from safely banding. Haha but like they say: "if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes." 

One of our highlights this past week was definitely this Grasshopper Sparrow as it is a species that prefers open grasslands and prairies and not the woods in which we caught it.

Another unexpected bird was this Red-eyed Vireo, as we usually don't start catching them until around the third week of May!

This male Red-breasted Nuthatch (below) was a treat as he is only the second one that Audubon PA has ever caught here in the park. Plus, they make just as wonderfully cute noises in the hand as they do at your feeder. :)

Black-and-White Warblers returned to the area this past week and we were fortunate enough to catch this handsome adult male: 

This Savannah Sparrow pictured below was caught the same day as the aforementioned Grasshopper Sparrow & it is only the seventh ever caught by Audubon PA here in the park & the first since 2011. 

And last but certainly not least, the Yellow Warblers have started to return to the park. They were our top species last spring with 324 newly banded individuals; I wonder how many we'll band this year?

Second Week Totals By Species:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet: 9

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher: 1

Brown Creeper: 1

Nashville Warbler: 3

Black-and-White Warbler: 1

Blue-winged Warbler: 1

Least Flycatcher: 1

House Wren: 3

Myrtle Warbler: 6

Western Palm Warbler: 15

Black-capped Chickadee: 2

Yellow Warbler: 1

Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1

Swamp Sparrow: 2

Savannah Sparrow: 1

Grasshopper Sparrow: 1

Red-eyed Vireo: 1

White-throated Sparrow: 30

Tufted Titmouse: 1

Hermit Thrush: 4

Song Sparrow: 4

Northern Cardinal: 2

Eastern Towhee: 1

Gray Catbird: 2

American Robin: 4

Brown Thrasher: 2

Yellow-shafted Flicker: 1

Blue Jay: 4