Communications Team

American Woodcocks at Songbird Banding, A Visit from American Birding Association and A New High for Saw-whet Owls Banded at Rushton!

November 5, 2012 By Communications Team

American Woodcock. Photo by Justin Thompson.

Sandy set us back drastically last week with net lanes filled with water and debris, but public songbird migration banding will resume tomorrow, Tuesday (11/6), the last day for the 2012 songbird banding season. We will open at 5:45am.

The remainder of the fall catch was great with a couple of 80-bird days! White-throated Sparrows began dominating the bounty in late October along with thrushes including Hermit, Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked. Dark-eyed Juncos have joyfully entered the limelight, and flocks of Pine Siskins are around but not in the nets. In the last few weeks of migration, we also banded many Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Myrtle Warblers (or butter-butts), Palm Warblers and leftover Black-throated Blue Warblers along with exciting birds like Lincoln’s Sparrow, Field Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, our first Blackpoll Warbler of the season, a Savannah Sparrow, a Saw-whet Owl (during the day!) and an exceptionally magnificent WOODCOCK!! We often flush American Woodcocks from the hedgerows in the pre-dawn moments, but we’ve never captured one until now. There’s never a dull moment at the Rushton banding station.

Saw-whet Owl in daylight. Photo by Justin Thompson.

Golden-crowned Kinglet, Photo by Justin Thompson.

White-crowned Sparrow. Photo by Heather Kostick.

Northern Cardinal. Photo by Justin Thompson.

On Friday after Sandy, we braved the frigid air to band over 50 birds of 16 species including a handsome Fox Sparrow (always the last of the winter sparrows to show up) and ANOTHER AMERICAN WOODCOCK. This bird was aged as an adult male as evidenced by the shorter bill length and stubbier wing in addition to a narrower p10 in relation to the female. P10 is the tenth and outermost primary flight feather, which is stiff and narrow in male woodcocks to give their flight the nice twittering sound that gets the lady woodcocks excited during their elaborate aerial courtship displays! Just as fabulous to see up close was the prehensile bill tip that these birds use to feel and grasp their food (earthworms) while probing in the mud. With big beady eyes to see in the dark and precisely camouflaged leaf-like coloring this bird is a spectacular, crepuscular and cryptic beauty!

American Woodcock. Photo by Heather Kostick — American Woodcock camoflage coloring. Photo by Heather Kostick

Aging the American Woodcock. Photo by Justin Thompson.

Measuring exposed culmen to sex the American Woodcock. Photo by Justin Thompson.

We have had a great songbird season with beautiful birds, wonderful volunteers (thank you all!), delighted visitors of all ages and bright young school groups. Here are some pictures and a link to a wonderful little article in the Abington Friends School blog about the 2nd graders’ “magical” field trip to Rushton Woods Preserve on October 18th to learn about our birds, woods and farm. To our great happiness, the teachers and kids reported, “it was the best field trip ever!”

Child with Chickadee. Photo by Blake Goll.

Abington Friends student with bird before release. — Abington Friends student with Field Sparrow before release.

Abington Friends watching Todd Alleger and Doris McGovern banding a White-throated Sparrow — Abington Friends students watching Todd Alleger and Doris McGovern banding a White-throated Sparrow

Abington Friends student releasing White-throated Sparrow

Abington Friends students planting garlic and picking carrots for lunch!

Abington Friends student drawing of their field trip to Rushton.

Abington Friends student drawing of herself releasing a bird at the banding station.

American Birding Association Visits Rushton Owls on a Record Breaking Night!

On the last Saturday of October, we were thrilled to welcome to Rushton Adrian Binn’s and Deb Beer’s distinguished guests, Jeffrey and Liz Gordon, the passionate President and “First Lady” of the American Birding Association (ABA). The ABA is a nationally recognized non-profit whose mission is to inspire all people to enjoy and protect wild birds through birding and consequently habitat conservation. Check out the ABA website to learn more about this great organization’s mission.

Liz and Jeffrey Gordon, President of ABA, with Saw-whet Owls at Rushton. Photo by Adrian Binns.

On that special Saturday, October 27th, around 11:30 pm your fabulous Rushton banding crew, accompanied by the American Birding Association, elatedly banded our 92nd new Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) of 2012, surpassing the 2010 season record of 89 new NSWOs! At that time in 2010 we had only just begun banding on October 28th after we got this brand new owl banding station up and running. Even if we had been banding the entire month of October in 2010, we still would not have seen the numbers we are seeing this year because 2010 was a more typical fall born from food scarcity in the north with migration of adults and young peaking around October 31st. This year the peak has occurred much earlier than usual with an influx of fat babies spilling south ahead of their elders after a northern summer of luxury and abundance. While the young owls have been flooding through Rushton for all of October, the adults have only just arrived in very small numbers.

Rushton Banding Crew and volunteers with American Birding Association. Photo by Adrian Binns. — Rushton Banding Crew and volunteers with American Birding Association and the 92nd owl of 2012. Photo by Adrian Binns.

In addition to these 92 “New” Saw-whet Owls never before banded (now 120 as of last night, November 4) , we also catch owls from other banding stations, Foreign Recaptures, like the young owl banded in Ellenville, NY that ended up at Rushton this fall after flying 130 miles south in a week or so. In addition, we catch some of our own banded owls, Retraps. Retraps can linger for days or weeks at Rushton, eating the tasty voles and mice that thrive in the farm’s pesticide-free environment (Thank you, Farmer Fred!). We also catch local Eastern Screech Owls. Counting Screeches, Retraps and Foreign Recoveries, we caught more than 20 additional owls so far this year.

One of our owls banded at Rushton on November 1, 2011, was caught on the north shore of Lake Ontario in Canada on October 16th this year. That bird is over three years old and obviously taking its time traveling back south to Rushton this fall!

Eastern Screech Owl. Photo by Mimi Davis.

Northern Saw-whet Owl. Photo by Mimi Davis.

As for the Northern Saw-whet Owl public banding schedule, we are banding most nights with Thursday, Friday and Saturday being public. Please reference the last blog entry , which has all the information you need to know about visiting Saw-whet Owl banding, and email Lisa Kiziuk ( lkr@wctrust.org) to make a reservation.

Doris McGovern, Rushton’s Master Bird Bander, spelled out our mission beautifully:

“Our goal is to contribute data to the continent wide Saw-whet Owl banding network. We report owl data to the USGS where it becomes part of a national data base for researchers. We currently mentor college grads who need research skills, such as bird banding. We share our knowledge of owl biology with school groups, home schoolers, scouts, CSA members, local bird clubs and interested adults.”
“We want you to be proud of all that your WCT owl banding team does while you are comfy in your soft, warm bed and we are shivering in a cold, drafty barn with our fingers bleeding from the sharp talons of those cute little Saw-whets you love so much. Are you drinking hot cocoa? We love hot anything,” tweets Doris McGovern.

Doris McGovern showing Saw-whet Owl to the PA Young Birders. Photo by Adrian Binns.

PA Young Birders and Owls

The PA Young Birder (PAYB) Owl Night on October 19th was a hit! Over 60 people (including 35 children) enjoyed the night through an owl’s point-of-view and learned about the science behind bird banding. Eight Northern Saw-whet Owls bravely presented themselves to the crowd for banding and photographing and “oohing and awing”. Other highlights of the night included creating masterful owl art with Adrian Binns, telescopic moon gazing with Deb Beer, and enchanting (albeit muddy) night hikes with me, Blake Goll.

PA Young Birders with Saw-whet Owl and Doris McGovern. Photo by Adrian Binns

Measuring the owl's wing. Photo by Adrian Binns. — Measuring the owl’s wing. Photo by Adrian Binns.

PA Young Birders creating owl art. Photo by Adrian Binns.

Barn Owl drawing by a PA Young Birder. Photo by Adrian Binns

PA Young Birder releasing a Saw-whet Owl.

The next PAYB event is “Owl Night for Teens,” this Friday November 9th, 7-9pm. All kids, 13 and over, are invited to learn about Saw-whet Owl banding and hopefully see some of these little woodland elves. Other activities may include exploring the farm garden, star gazing and night hikes. Please RSVP to me, Blake Goll (bhg@wctrust.org).

Saw-whet Owl banding. Photo by Adrian Binns.

Stephen Kress of “Project Puffin” To Speak at Delaware Valley ornithological club (dVOC) Banquet November 15

Dr. Stephen Kress is the director of the National Audubon Society’s “Project Puffin”, which re-established nesting Atlantic Puffin colonies on islands off the Maine coast. He will speak in Philadelphia on Nov 15 about “Restoring endangered seabirds: lessons learned from puffins and terns.” I have heard this inspiring man speak about his work at Hog Island in Maine, and I can tell you that he is an exceptional presenter who will make you want to move mountains. Please click here for more information about Stephen Kress, to learn why seabirds are threatened worldwide and to register for the DVOC annual banquet.

Knowledge gained from this successful program is being used worldwide in seabird conservation. Here is sneak preview that will give you an idea of how good this lecture will be: http://www.youtube.com/watch

Enjoy the waning days of fall!

Songbird Banding Continues Full Speed Ahead and Owl Banding Off to a Roaring, Record-Shattering Start

October 17, 2012 By Communications Team

White-throated Sparrow. Photo by Mimi Davis.

Well, I have lots to report from the field, so I’ll start with last week, which was an exciting one for Rushton banding station! On Monday (Columbus Day) we netted 73 songbirds of 17 species including lots of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, our first Hermit Thrush of the season, Swamp Sparrow, Magnolia Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, our first Hairy Woodpecker of the season, and bushels of robins and White-throated Sparrows. All this was accomplished with 3 less nets than the usual 12, as we were slightly understaffed and strive to avoid getting more birds than we can safely process. Woodcock, Eastern Phoebe and Cedar Waxwings were also in the area, but not netted.

We got rained out last Tuesday (10/9), but on Wednesday (10/10) we managed to band safely through the fog, mist and spitting rain, opening and closing nets as needed because we were so well staffed. We netted 68 birds of 21 species, an exceptional day for Rushton. Our first migrant Sharp-shinned Hawk of the fall stopped by along with two House Finch, a species we rarely see.

Adult female Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo by Blake Goll.

The rest of that Wednesday’s catch was similar to Monday with the addition of a couple of beautiful Yellow Palm Warblers, a Gray-cheeked Thrush, and a rather late Black-and-white Warbler that we first banded over two weeks ago. She was a young female hatched this year who seemed confused about the whole migration thing; she had no fat stored aka no fuel for her imminent journey. In fact, she actually lost a gram in those two weeks! A recap like this gives us a glimpse into stopover ecology of these migrant songbirds. Perhaps it’s normal for a hatching year Black-and-white to stay put for two or more weeks before migrating or continuing migration? Or maybe she’s struggling. After all, more than half of baby birds do not make it through their first year of life…

Black-and-white Warbler. Photo by Justin Thompson.

Child with Swamp Sparrow. Photo by Blake Goll.

Another 17 species last Thursday (10/11) included two Sharp-shinned Hawks (adult and juvenile females), our first Winter Wren, another Palm Warbler, our 26th Swainson’s Thrush and more Gray-cheeked Thrush. Magnolia Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, and Black-throated Blue Warbler, along with Yellow Palm and Myrtle warblers continued landing in the nets. Ruby-crowned Kinglets filled the trees and we caught our share.

Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo by Blake Goll.

Doris showing chickadee to delighted school group. Photo by Blake Goll. — Doris McGovern showing chickadee to delighted school group. Photo by Blake GollCarolina Chickadee before release. Photo by Blake Goll.

Carolina Chickadee. Photo by Blake Goll. — Doris McGovern showing chickadee to delighted school group. Photo by Blake GollCarolina Chickadee before release. Photo by Blake Goll.

This brings our day banding total for last week to 178 birds. It’s sparrow time at Rushton but still no sign of Lincoln’s Sparrow or Fox Sparrow. Fall banding is nearing the end, but it’s not over until the “Fox Sparrow sings!”

Yesterday, we banded our first regal White-crowned Sparrow and the first stunning Golden-crowned Kinglet of the season. We also recaptured our little lady Black-and-white Warbler, so she’s been at Rushton for 3 weeks now! She seems slightly healthier this week and put on a gram as if maybe she is now thinking about getting ready to migrate.

Male Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Justin Thompson.

PUBlic Songbird banding continues every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Rushton….

…when it’s not raining for the next couple of weeks until all we’re getting is sparrows and juncos. This Thursday, we have a group of thirty 2nd graders from Abington Friends coming from 9:30-12:30pm, so you may not want to come then. Otherwise, no reservation is needed for songbird banding, unless you’re bringing a large group. Hours are 6:30am-11am.

The PA Young Birder event, “Owls and Their Night World” is FULL for this Friday October 19th at Rushton Woods Preserve and Farm. Stay tuned for cancellation due to rain; the rain date will be Friday October 26, same time and place. If the event is cancelled for this Friday, we will start from scratch accepting RSVPs for the rain date.

Children will get a chance to observe and learn about the science of owl banding, explore the natural world at night, view the stars and planets through a telescope borrowed from Heinz National Wildlife Refuge and exercise their creativity making owl art under the guidance of an owl artist.

Please understand that this event was capped at 30 children on a first-come first-serve basis, in order for us to ensure that our small staff can safely manage the crowd in the dark while operating saw-whet owl nets and keeping the wild birds safe with minimal stress. This limit also ensures that the children get the most our of their experience.

Of course, if you did not make it into this event you are still welcome to observe owl banding on any of the other nights we are open! Please see below for more info. Additionally, there will be another Young Birder Owl Night for Teens on November 9. We are not accepting reservations for Nov 9 at this time, but will let you know when we do.

Please remember that these events are free, but donations are greatly appreciated as we are a nonprofit, and it takes a substantial amount of money and effort to keep our banding station running between equipment costs, staff time, education materials, programs etc…. If you’d like to donate, please bring cash or check and look for the donation box with the handsome, hand-carved Saw-whet owl on it! If you’d like to be recognized for your donations, mail checks for the Bird Conservation Program to the Willistown Conservation Trust (www.wctrust.org).

Saw-whet Owl next to donation box (with mouse!). Photo by Justin Thompson.

Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Program at Rushton

Starting officially this fall on October 25, the public is invited to the Rushton Woods Banding Station for a rendez vous under the stars to observe first-hand the techniques and uses of bird banding and to learn about the biology of Northern Saw-whet Owls, arguably the cutest owls in the world. We will open from October 25 until November 21 with Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings available, but we can accept visitors on a RESERVATION BASIS ONLY. Many people wish to visit our station with the hope of seeing these enchanting owls up-close, but our space is extremely limited.

The monitoring of Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO) is a nocturnal activity whereby this small owl species is caught using a system of loudspeakers (playing their calls) surrounded by mist nets in which the owls become entangled. The data collected from this process gives scientists information about the cyclical nature of the migratory cycles of these species and their reproductive success.

This year is a shaping up to be banner year so far with banders north and south of us reporting the earliest-on-record peak of Saw-whet migration. Normally, the peak occurs around Halloween, but many stations reported record numbers last week. This season, the tireless Rushton banding crew has already banded 41 new Saw-whets and recaptured 1 foreign Saw-whet in just 6 nights from 10/10-10/16 (plus 3 new Eastern Screech Owls). The floodgates (and our hands) really burst open last night with 17 feisty young owls in our nets and many more devils left in the woods (and 34 bloody holes in our hands from 17 pairs of needle-sharp talons!). This blows the Chester County one-night record we set last year out of the water, which was 12. Our current total of 42 NSWO in 6 nights is more than the total number caught in 2011 after 23 nights of effort (a mere 34 owls)! If we stay on fire like this we will far exceed our best year, which was 2010 (91 owls).

Eastern Screech Owl. Photo by Justin Thompson

This morning we discovered that the foreign recapture we got last night, a hatching year female (born this year), was originally banded in Ellenville, NY on 10/08/2012. Our calculations show that this young owl flew about 125 miles in about a week’s time to arrive at the Rushton “late-night Wendy’s takeout” yesterday evening.

In addition to these voracious “woodland elves” last night, we caught (alongside an outraged owl) a very dead field mouse in the net that weighed 19.1g. After banding the owl, we offered his mouse in a “to-go bag”, but the owl refused to take his meal with him even though he seemed quite hungry. Perhaps he’s germa-phobic and didn’t like us getting our grubby paws on his “burger”. I don’t blame him.

Saw-whet Owl holding tight to his dinner! Photo by Blake Goll.

Saw-whet Owl with dead mouse. Photo by Justin Thompson.

The experts are saying this is not a cyclical “irruption year” due to the lack of mice and voles in the north but rather a bumper crop of Saw-whet babies spilling south due to a bumper crop of voles this summer in the north. Hence, we’ve only banded hatching year owls visiting the Rushton all-you-can-eat mouse buffet so far.

“Between migration banding in the morning for songbirds and at night for owls, we are burning the bander at both ends,” says Doris McGovern, Rushton’s federally licensed bird bander. “Oh well, it’s owl in a night’s work!” she says, still witty even though sleep deprived.

Please reserve an evening by e-mailing Lisa Kiziuk at lkr@wctrust.org as soon as possible and note that banding is weather dependent as rain or high winds will cause the station to close. See available dates below.

The station is located in the farm shed at Rushton Woods Preserve and Farm and the GPS address to use is 1050 Delchester Road, Malvern, PA 19355. Here’s a link to a map : http://wctrust.org/?page_id=58 (Rushton is on the corner of Goshen and Delchester Roads, with the entrance on Delchester). Please note that parking is at a premium and you may be asked to park in the field lot.

You will want to come when there is little or no moonlight and we can’t band if it will rain. Based on my moon chart the best times will be between October 17 and 20 and between November 8 and 19. There are a few spaces left for this Thursday October 18th. Otherwise, choose any Thurs, Fri, or Sat starting October 25 until Thanksgiving with the exception of the following dates:

CLOSED Days Not Open to Public Include:

November 9, 10,11, 15, and 17

Hope to see you at owl banding, but please remember to RSVP to Lisa first!

Thanks,

~Blake

Saw-whet Owl on branch. Photo by John Fedak.

Rushton Still Riddled with Warblers and Open for Birdness Monday!

October 5, 2012 By Communications Team

Left to right (Nashville, Tennessee, and Magnolia warblers). Photo by Ed Goll.

This week we waited out a string of rainy mornings, finally opened nets on Thursday, got rained out after two hours, but made up for everything today; this was a private banding day reserved for my class that I designed and am teaching for Widener’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Ten avid students over 50 years old, who have attended four in-class sessions (at the Exton campus) about birds, bird banding, bird song/ID and bird conservation, attended today’s banding session and were thrilled with what they saw and learned.

Widener OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) class visiting banding station. — Widener OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute) class visiting Rushton banding station. Here the students photograph a White-throated sparrow before release under Doris McGovern’s guidance.

Below is Doris McGovern’s (our federally licensed master bander) synopsis of the past two banding days:

“77 birds this week of 18 species. Fewer Gray Catbirds came through. It’s a new group of fatter, older catbirds replacing the young birds in heavy molt we have been banding for weeks. White-throated Sparrows have joined catbirds as our “bread and butter” catch. The balance will shift from catbird to sparrow until catbirds disappear around 10/20 and sparrows take over until their numbers dwindle in November (when only the over-wintering population is remaining).

Our warblers: 2 Nashville, 2nd Tennessee, 7 Magnolia, 10 Black-throated Blue, 1 Myrtle. (Nashville and Tennessee warblers must associate with each other during migration because we caught them together in the same net, like last week’s scenario).

Female Nashville warbler. Photo by Blake Goll.

Other birds: 1st Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season, 2 White-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting, Swainson’s and Gray-cheeked Thrush.

Female Ruby-crowned kinglet. Photo by Blake Goll. — Female Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Photo by Blake Goll.

Thrush call notes in the pre-dawn sky were plentiful, but they didn’t stop at Rushton in any number, aside from robins. Great-horned Owls are horny, calling even in daylight as they establish pair-bonds. A Sharpie (Sharp-shinned Hawk) hunts our hedgerows. No woodcock this week.

On a sad note, today we laid to rest our Weigh Cup, 2007-2012, in a shallow grave in the shadow of the banding station near the House Wren nest boxes. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to http://wctrust.org/?page_id=1016

Grave marker for our Weigh Cup ( a plastic blue cup that was taped to our scale for weighing birds). The new higher-end plastic "Weigh Cup" is clear and more stable but will never take the place of the dilapidated beloved blue one. — Grave marker for our “Weigh Cup” ( a plastic blue cup that was taped to our scale for weighing birds). The new higher-end plastic “Weigh Cup” is clear and more stable but will never take the place of the dilapidated, beloved blue one. (Keep in mind all bird banders are a little off-center).

Rushton’s banding team did a super job this week. Blake’s Widener Birding class was awed by the beauty of our birds. It wasn’t a typical week, but it was a good one. Lisa, our other principal bander, returns tomorrow and next week looks great on the Weather Channel. Stay tuned.”

Widener student holding banded American robin. We called her the bird-whisperer because every bird she went to release amazingly just sat unrestrained in her hand for a few minutes! Photo by Blake Goll. — Widener student holding banded American Robin. We called her the bird-whisperer because every bird she went to release amazingly just sat ,unrestrained, in her hand for a few minutes! Photo by Blake Goll.

Widener student/ bird whisperer with Gray-cheeked thrush. Photo by Blake Goll. — Widener student/ bird whisperer with Gray-cheeked Thrush. Photo by Blake Goll.

Widener student/ bird whisperer with Magnolia warbler. Photo by Blake Goll. — Widener student/ bird whisperer with Magnolia warbler. What is her secret?? Photo by Blake Goll.

Widener student with Tufted titmouse. Perhaps another bird whisperer? Photo by Blake Goll. — Widener student with Tufted Titmouse. Perhaps another bird whisperer? Photo by Blake Goll.

Blogster Blake here again. Next week does indeed look spectacular for birds. A cold front moves in this weekend hopefully bringing a last wave of migrants with it, so Monday will be great banding.

Male Nashville warbler. Photo by Blake Goll.

We are open to the public on Monday, Columbus Day, (6:15am-11am) so please come on out and enjoy the day off in nature with your family, friends and kids to witness fall’s fantastic display of southbound feathers!

Also, DO NOT MISS THE PREMIERE OF “WINGED PLANET” this Saturday October 6 on the discovery channel at 8pm. Watch this preview to get an idea of the breath-taking bird’s eye-view footage of the marvelous interconnectedness of all the creatures in this amazing planet. I can’t wait!

There’s a lot going on out there in nature,

~Blake

Banding Delayed this Week Due to Rain but Columbus Day Open to Public

October 4, 2012 By Communications Team

Hatch year male Downy Woodpecker. Photo by Blake Goll. I think he's just as frustrated as we are about the rain! — Hatch year male Downy Woodpecker. Photo by Blake Goll. I think he’s just as frustrated as we are about the rain!

We have not been able to band at all this week because of the rain every morning. Monday was a fallout day with record numbers of migrants everywhere, but we were short banders and volunteers to safely operate. The weather forecast is calling for 40% chance of rain tomorrow morning as well. We plan to band tomorrow (Thursday), but if you see that it’s raining at all, don’t plan on coming. We will have to close because it’s too dangerous for birds to be stuck in a wet net, not to mention miserable for banders trying to extract them! If it’s clear, come on out.

We will add Monday October 8, Columbus Day, to our public banding days since many people have off (and we need to add more banding days to meet our quota after this week). Pray that the weather cooperates!

~Blake

Mid-Morning Shower Yields a Pot of Avian Gold at the End of a Rainbow

October 1, 2012 By Communications Team

Female Common Yellowthroat. Photo by Blake Goll.

The air was thick, sticky and unseasonably warm on Wednesday, not at all the kind of crisp air that brings a flurry of fall feathers to our nets. We were hosting a handful of very enthusiastic children who had off from school for Yom Kippur, so we were wishing for some yellow warblers to brighten the otherwise meager catch of Gray Catbirds, Song Sparrows and wrens. However, we did catch our 15th Swainson’s Thrush of the season and the second White-throated Sparrow of this autumn, which is an exciting indicator of the beginning of the next chapter of fall migration.

Swainson's Thrush. Photo by Gloria Ives. — Swainson’s Thrush. Photo by Gloria Ives.

White-throated Sparrow. Photo by Blake Goll.

Finally, a couple of lovely Magnolia Warblers graced our audience with their bright plumage, and we were satisified with that. There were plenty of birds for the visitors to study, and they were able to see many ageing and sexing criteria for different species. We thanked the maggies, the kids ooed and awed over a spritely Black-and-White Warbler, and we settled in for the rest of what we expected to be a dull morning (we spoiled banders are never satisfied!).

Magnolia Warbler (adult male). Photo by Blake Goll.

Ageing a Magnolia Warbler by the shape of tail spots.

Plip. Plop. Drip. Drop. Suddenly a cloud looming above decided to burst open even in the unabated presence of the sun. After a few minutes of this bizarre weather, we thought we’d better check the nets. As we trekked around to all the nets, most of which were empty, the rain subsided as abruptly as it started. We rounded the corner of the hedgerow to check one of the last nets, net 10, and there was our pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow! Rain drops sparkled on the net as it sagged and bounced under the weight of 10 wiggly pairs of wings, including two golden beauties- a Nashville and a Tennessee Warbler, appropriately sticking together. Birds of the same state stick together?

Nashville Warbler (male). Photo by Blake Goll.

Sexing the Nashville Warbler by the extent of red feathers on the crown. This is a male.

Tennessee Warbler (hatch year). Photo by Blake Goll.

Wilson's Warbler being extracted from net. Photo by Blake Goll (taken in Oregon). We banded a Wilson's Warbler at Rushton 2 weeks ago. — Wilson’s Warbler being extracted from net. Photo by Blake Goll (taken in Oregon). We banded a Wilson’s Warbler at Rushton 2 weeks ago.

Other goodies in our jackpot included two Red-eyed Vireos, Black-throated-Blue Warblers, a Magnolia Warbler and Tufted Titmouse. This great catch could have just been a coincidence, but more likely these were birds that were foraging high in the canopy or at the edge of the woods and dove for cover in the underbrush of the hedgerow when the rains came. Sometimes trapped titmice make such a fuss that they lure other birds into the net, but we didn’t hear anything from the banding table, which is fairly close to Net 10. We need a little shower of rain and birds like that every day we are out there! This week, we will commence daily rain dances.

Male Black-throated blue Warbler (hatch year). Photo by Blake Goll.

The total number of birds caught last week (2 banding days) was 92, including those mentioned above plus the first of the year White-throated Sparrow, a Gray-cheeked Thrush, a Brown Thrasher, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, Field Sparrow, Eastern Towhee and an American Goldfinch. In the hedgerows, but not the nets, were American Woodcocks, Scarlet Tanager, Philadelphia Vireo and Red-breasted Nuthatch.

A hawk or Philadelphia Vireo or Red-breasted Nuthatch spotted during banding session. Photo by Blake Goll. — A hawk or Philadelphia Vireo or Red-breasted Nuthatch spotted during banding session! Photo by Blake Goll.

Be on the look out for Red-breasted Nuthatches (RBNUs) at your feeder, in your yard or wherever you bird. As a result of a coniferous cone crop failure in the northeast (they eat the seeds of pinecones), many RBNUs are leaving their northern haunts to find better seed sources to the south for the winter. Others will remain in northwestern Ontario where the cone crops are much better. Additional northern birds like Common Redpolls might also show up in our area this winter for similar reasons related to the white birch seed crop in the north. Read the Winter Finch Forecast on the American Birding Association’s website for information about other irruptive finch species.

Red-breasted Nuthatch from Cornell Lab of Ornithology "All about Birds" website. — Red-breasted Nuthatch from Cornell Lab of Ornithology “All about Birds” website. Here they describe this nuthatch as “an intense bundle of energy at the feeder.”

Reminder: Keep your hummingbird feeders up and your salvia shielded from the frost at least through Thanksgiving! Other vagrants headed our way that could show up in your yard include Rufous Hummingbirds and other western species of hummers. These guys usually don’t appear until October, November or even December long after the Ruby-throats have gone. Ever-warmer winters are making the east perfectly hospitable to these vagrant western hummingbirds who are surviving and passing on their somewhat mutant genes to their offspring, which will follow in their parents’ wingbeats migrating from the west to the east instead of south for the winter. Hence, new migration routes for western hummers are emerging right before our eyes!

A Rufous Hummingbird. Photo by Blake Goll. This is one of my photos from banding in Washington state. Don't worry, hummer freeze like this and "play dead" when caught. She was fine and flew off with a nudge. — A Rufous Hummingbird. Photo by Blake Goll. This is one of my photos from banding in Washington state. Don’t worry, hummers freeze like this and “play dead” when caught. She was fine and flew off with a nudge.

Visit Scott Weidensaul’s website for more details about this new movement of western hummers and how to become part of the hummer banding study if you find one in your yard this fall or winter. Psst….I hear these western wanderers really like Pineapple sage if you have any of that.

Northern Saw-whet Owl. Photo by Adrian Binns.

Those fuzzy balls of cute fury are winging their way toward us at a faster pace than ever before. Saw-whet banders north of us are saying things like, “No one will sleep this Autumn,” and, “Sawweet dreams southern banders!” Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory in Burdett, NY (between Ithaca and Watkins Glen at the south end of the two biggest Finger Lakes) has alreay netted four hatch year Northern Saw-whet Owls as of September 27th, the first they have ever banded in September.

This is an irruptive species, whose major movements south depend on an adundance of voles during the northern boreal breeding season. It’s been said that this summer was a good one for the little owls, so there are many additional “kids” who will be spilling south this fall. Stay tuned for our official public owl banding start date, but think mid-October…. In the meantime, public songbird banding continues every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Rushton, 6am-11am (unless it’s raining). Hope to see you at the station!

There’s a lot going on out there,

~Blake

View from the Willistown Conservation Trust's Run-a-Muck course. — View from the Willistown Conservation Trust’s Run-a-Muck course. Photo by Blake Goll.

American Woodcocks at Songbird Banding, A Visit from American Birding Association and A New High for Saw-whet Owls Banded at Rushton!

American Birding Association Visits Rushton Owls on a Record Breaking Night!

PA Young Birders and Owls

Stephen Kress of “Project Puffin” To Speak at Delaware Valley ornithological club (dVOC) Banquet November 15

Songbird Banding Continues Full Speed Ahead and Owl Banding Off to a Roaring, Record-Shattering Start

PUBlic Songbird banding continues every Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Rushton….

Rushton Still Riddled with Warblers and Open for Birdness Monday!

Banding Delayed this Week Due to Rain but Columbus Day Open to Public

Mid-Morning Shower Yields a Pot of Avian Gold at the End of a Rainbow

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