Communications Team

Giving Thanks for the Owls of 2011

December 9, 2011 By Communications Team

Our banding station is officially closed for the year (both songbirds and owls), which means it’s time for us banders to get back in the office and put our lives (and our desks) back together again! We tried a few more times for owls around Thanksgiving when we heard that other banding stations both north and south of us were getting more owls. King’s Gap in Cumberland County (one of Scott Weidensaul’s banding stations northwest of us) caught 5 new Saw-whets on November 23rd! On November 21st Glenn Proudfoot, another owl bander in Poughkeepsie, NY, actually hand-plucked one female Saw-whet off of a rope that was holding one of his net poles up! She was not in the net and was totally free to fly away at any moment if she wished. This is not so unusual considering the surprisingly calm nature of some of these individuals. What is most notable about this story is that he named the owl Marsha Mellow! 🙂

We opened our nets the night after with high hopes and caught nothing…although we did see a flying squirrel spying on us and hear Saw-whet Owls calling in the woods. We suspect there are a couple of owls that decided to overwinter in our area, and they have grown weary of investigating the invisible, loud-mouthed male that sings for hours on end during some nights, in the midst of giant spider webs!

First and last Saw-whet of the 2011 season. — First and last Saw-whet Owl of the 2011 season at Rushton. (A Hatch Year Female) Photo by Blake Goll

Coincidentally, the very last Saw-whet Owl we captured this year (on November 19th) was the very first owl we caught this year (October 21st). We have no way of knowing if this young female (band # 37) was here the entire time or if she wandered many miles away and came back, which is very likely considering the nomadic nature of these woodland elves in winter (as discussed in my last blog post). In any case, it certainly seems that #37 is at least using Rushton as her home base this winter. Don’t forget, however, that these spritely owls have the ability to travel far and wide if they want to; this fall, one young female was reported to have traveled from a banding station in Ontario to one in Alabama in just one month!

Northern Saw-whet Owl roosting. Photo by Adrian Binns.

Our Saw-whet Owl total for the season is just 34, which is a comparable low to other banding stations in the east. The grande total ( a new all time low) for all three of Scott Weidensaul’s PA stations (King’s Gap, Hidden Valley, and Small Valley) is 116 as of November 30th; the previous low total for his stations was 201 in 2006. Last year, he banded over 340 owls across all 3 sites, and we banded 91 owls here at Rushton Woods Preserve. That was one of the best years so far.

I have not heard a definitive answer to the question of why there were so few owls showing up at eastern banding stations this year, although most banders agree that the resources up north were probably insufficient during the owls’ breeding season this year. The majority of banding stations banded more adult and less Hatch Year owls (birds born this summer) this year than previous years. This could be an indication that there weren’t many baby owls this year as a result of low breeding success; either the parents did not have the resources to have many babies, there was high juvenile mortality caused by lack of food or it was a combination of both scenarios. In certain previous years, lower numbers of Saw-whets traveling south actually meant that the resources up north were abundant, thus diminishing the need to migrate in winter. However, the low totals we saw this year coupled with the lower ratio of Hatch Years to adults is a sure sign that the little fuzzballs had a rough summer.

short-tailed shrew BINNS IMG_1264 copy — Saw-whet Owls' main food sources are rodents, like mice and this Short-tailed Shrew. Photo by Adrian Binns.

Even the Saw-whets’ plumage revealed evidence of stress. Just to give you some background, we age birds based on their species-specific molt patterns, with particular emphasis on the flight feathers. Molting requires a great deal of energy and nutrients, so a bird born this year (Hatch Year-HY) will not usually carry out a complete molt; it may molt all of its body feathers and only some of its flight feathers. The “unmolted” feathers are called retained juvenile feathers and usually appear dingier, lighter in color and more worn than the fresh molted feathers. We think of these retained juvenile feathers as the “cheap Kmart feathers”! The boundaries between tracts of new and old feathers are called molt limits.

A Second Year Saw-whet Owl. Notice the "cheap Kmart" feathers in the middle of the wing contrasting with the dark new outer flight feathers. — A Second Year Saw-whet Owl. Notice the "cheap Kmart" feathers in the middle of the wing contrasting with the dark, new outer and inner flight feathers.

An HY Saw-whet Owl will usually show no molt limit because they do not replace any of their juvenile feathers in their first fall. They have too many other things to be worrying about, like learning to hunt and stay alive! Therefore, an HY Saw-whet has all uniformly “trashy” looking flight feathers. A Second Year (SY) owl usually shows a molt pattern of several outermost primaries and innermost secondaries replaced; these feathers look darker and have less nicks than all the flight feathers in between. However, this year banders were seeing more SY birds with only a few outermost primaries replaced and no inner secondary feathers replaced. Such suspended flight feather molt is most likely another result of lack of adequate resources on the northern breeding grounds where the bird molted after mating.

Saw-whet wing under blacklight. Photo by Adrian Binns. — Ageing Saw-whet Owls is sometimes easier with a blacklight. Under a blacklight, the new feathers show up bright pink because of a special pigment they contain. This is a typical Second Year molt pattern, where an outer primary and some inner secondaries are replaced. The white feathers in between are older and have thus lost the pigment.

We are certainly thankful for the few beautiful owls that Mother Nature did send our way this year, and we wish them the best of luck as they survive the winter and return to their breeding grounds that will hopefully present better conditions in the new year! These owls are truly amazing little creatures, more adorable than the cutest stuffed animal, as whimsical as a fairy tale gnome, as silent and elusive in flight as the Luna moth, as mellow and approachable as a garden toad, more formidable a hunter than a wild cat, and at times as ferocious as a miniature fire-breathing dragon!

You can’t help but love them and be captivated by their steadfast, yellow-eyed gaze. I find myself wishing I knew what she knows, yearning to see the wild places she has seen, longing for the untamed solitude she has experienced, craving to fly on wings of silence through the night, and wanting to be close to her as a friend. She embodies nature at its finest.

Drawing by Kay Lake of a Saw-whet owl — Drawing by Kay Lake of a Saw-whet Owl.

Thank you to all who came out to our bird banding station this year, bringing interest, enthusiasm, and support. We are thrilled to be able to connect people to the nature that makes us whole, feeds our soul, and renews the bonds between us and the land from which we so easily become isolated.

A special thanks to our dedicated group of PA Young Birders who have been regularly attending our monthly meetings! We had fun at last month’s meeting learning about cavity nesting birds, looking for old bird nests in Rushton Woods Preserve and drawing our favorite cavity nesting birds. The Jr. Birders even learned how to use power tools to help make a bluebird box that the Trust will install on one of our properties!

girls-w-birdhouse-BINNS-IMG_3415-copy — Girls with bluebird house that they just helped build. Image by Adrian Binns.

Downy Woodpecker drawing by Emma Seving. Adrian Binns image.

Don’t miss this month’s meeting, “A Winter Bird Count”, on Saturday, December 17th from 9 AM – 1PM. PA Young Birders, ages 8-12, will meet at the Willistown Conservation Trust headquarters (925 Providence Road, Newtown Square, PA) where we will learn how to identify wonderful winter birds. Then we’ll learn about the honored tradition of the Christmas Bird Count before heading out into the field with our binoculars to see what we can see! We’ll return to the office for a Tally Rally of the birds we counted, while enjoying hot pizza and cocoa by the fire. Be sure to wear lots of holiday cheer and many warm layers! Please RSVP to Lisa Kiziuk (lkr@wctrust.org).

Jr. Birders birding! Image by Adrian Binns.

The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 by a man, named Frank Chapman, who proposed counting the birds instead of shooting them. Unfortunately, it had been a holiday sport for local farmers and residents to shoot as many birds as they could until sensible people, like Frank, began showing concern about alarming declines in bird populations. Today, the Christmas Bird Count is the largest wildlife survey in the world.

Christmas Bird Count circles in Western Hemisphere. Image from Audubon.

You don’t have to be a kid to participate in the spirited tradition of the Christmas bird Count! You also don’t need to be an expert birder; since there is a specific protocol and the data is very important, beginner birders will be placed in a team with at least one other experienced birder. The Christmas Bird Count season is December 14 through January 5 each year. To learn more about this elaborate citizen science project and to find participating birders near you, go to Audubon’s website. It’s a great way to meet new people, build your birding skills, experience nature in winter and contribute to the conservation of birds during this season of giving. Plus, hot chocolate tastes better than ever after hours of winter bird counting!

audubon snowy owls — Snowy Owls by John James Audubon.

Speaking of searching for birds in winter, be sure to keep your eye out for SNOWY OWLS!!! Like the Northern Saw-whet Owl, the Snowy Owl is an irruptive species that is closely tied to the rodent population on their northern breeding grounds, especially lemmings. This is an irruption year for Snowy Owls, which means that the dramatic decrease in lemmings is drawing them south from their usual Arctic Tundra territories in search of food. So far this winter, there have been over 100 reports of these Arctic ghosts in Wisconsin and other midwestern states and even one in Hawaii! Just over a week ago, a Snowy Owl was reported by several individuals east of Allentown on the PA/NJ border!

snowy owl range map — Snowy Owl range map from Cornell Lab of Ornithology "All About Birds" website.

These magnificent rare beauties are coming our way. Stay tuned for when one shows up near us….you can bet the bird nerds, like me, here at the Willistown Conservation Trust will ‘stop, drop, and bird’ at the first local report of a Snowy Owl! The last time a Snowy Owl irruption of this magnitude occured was in 2006. Interestingly enough, 2006 was also the runner-up to this year in setting the record low for numbers of Saw-whet Owls traveling south from their northern haunts. Here’s a Google Map of Snowy Owl sightings so far this year, and click here to read a recent article in the Wisconsin State Journal about the 2011 Snowy Owl irruption.

snowy owl at beach — Snowy Owl (from Google Images).

Wishing you happiness in your home and a bounty of birds at your feeder this holiday season!

~Blake

Songbird Banding Comes to a Close and Saw-whet Owl Movement is Sluggish

November 17, 2011 By Communications Team

Migrant shorebirds at the Delaware Bay (Redknots, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin). By Blake Goll

“These were, perhaps, the original poetry…

…in tune with the lift and fall of the seasons,

returning from nowhere,

or from an unknown terrain

which must consequently exist….

…They needed, for no obvious reason, two worlds

in which to feed and breed,

so they needed a capacity for sustained flight,

a fine orientation,

an ability to sleep on the wing

an instinct for form and its rhythms

as each took its turn to cut the wind.”

-Adapted from “First Poetry”, by Moya Cannon, a lovely Irish poet who visited our Rushton banding station this year.

Dark-eyed Junco (Picture from Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds website).

Well folks, it’s about that time…time to admit that the thrilling movement of fall songbird migrants is coming to a close as Old Man Winter looms closer. Last week, our nets produced very few birds (around 30 each day), the majority of species being White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos here to stay for the winter. We also banded many year-round residents like Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, and Tufted Titmice. As usual, these classics were crowd-pleasers, especially for the 15 Girl Scouts who came out to Rushton Woods Preserve last Tuesday to learn about birds and earn their honorary Wildlife Badges! The 4th grade girls eagerly learned how to use binoculars, practiced identifying birds by sight and sound, studied the intricate structure of bird feathers, and kept nature journals of their avian field sketches. They were quite the little naturalists!

Of most interest last week, in terms of the songbird catch, were a lovely Fox Sparrow and a dashing Red-bellied Woodpecker. The Red-bellied Woodpecker was “nothing special to us”, but our guest bird bander, Emily Thomas, from the Allegheny National Forest of PA was absolutely ecstatic when she heard he was in the net! She sprinted to the net so fast, she said she pulled a muscle! The Red-bellied was one of the few birds she had not seen in the hand in her 7 years of banding because they are not common farther north and in higher elevations, like the Appalachian Mountains. Click here to see the range of our Red-bellied Woodpecker. Never take our common beauties for granted; what is common to us might be extraordinary for someone else! I, myself, remember longing for the familiar Northern Cardinals when I was bird banding in the Pacific Northwest two summers ago.

Red-bellied Woodpecker BINNS IMG_7518 copy — Red-bellied Woodpecker by Adrian Binns.

Emily Thomas was visiting our neck of the woods to speak at The Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC) and The Birding Club of Delaware County (BCDC) about her interesting graduate research on the effects of oil and gas development on songbird habitat and communities. By the way, both of these prestigious bird clubs are welcoming communities in which to become involved if you are an avid birder, want to cultivate your beginner birding skills or want to make new birding buddies! Both clubs hold interesting birding field trips and have monthly meetings and frequent distinguished speakers.

Marcellus Shale Drilling Tower. (Picture from Wikipedia)

In a nut shell, what Emily found from her research is that the habitat fragmentation in the Allegheny National Forest from Devonian shale shallow wells actually increases bird species richness (the number of different species). This is because forest clearings from well pads and service roads allow more understory and small-gap loving species (like Indigo Buntings and Cedar Waxwings, respectively) to move in alongside some of the remaining closed canopy nesters (like Blackburnian Warblers) that were there before. However, such fragmentation does result in the loss of some specialist species (ie. closed canopy nesters like Magnolia Warblers) that are unique to that Northern hardwood habitat. A lot of the new species that move in after oil and gas development are generalists like American Robins. In the end, Emily projected her Devonian shale conclusions on Marcellus shale, predicting that the effects of Marcellus fragmentation will actually be less because one deep Marcellus shale well pad can access resources that would require many shallow Devonian pads. However, the habitat footprint for a given Marcellus well pad will be larger than that of any individual shallow Devonian well. It’s all very complicated! For more information on oil and gas development in PA go to http://extension.psu.edu/naturalgas or http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/oilgas/oilgas.htm .

Female & Male Magnolia Warblers at Powdermill. By Blake Goll. Magnolia Warblers breed in Northern hardwood forests.

Did you know that baby ticks are out and about? I didn’t even know what a baby tick looked like until last week when we saw little orange bumps on some of our birds, around their eyes and in their ears! Since we did not get a picture of the ticks, go to Hilton Pond’s website and scroll down for a nice (or not so nice!) view of a cluster of ticks under a jay’s eye. We found these exact same clusters on our Blue Jay’s eye as well as in the ear of other species like White-throated Sparrows. Apparentl, they are called seed ticks and will go through several more stages of development before reaching maturity. Yuck!

Debbie Beer & her sister, Rebecca, bonding over a Saw-whet.

As for the Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), we are getting shut out left and right. Last year, we banded a total of 24 nights for 91 NSWO. This past Saturday (11/12) was our 24th night this year, and we’re still at only 34 NSWO plus 2 Eastern Screech Owls. As of November 10th, Scott Weidensaul was at 86 owls across his 3 sites (compared to 336 last year to date), which is well below his 10-year average for the date of 187. All of these warm, moonlit nights with South winds are not great for Saw-whet movement. Other owl banding stations, like the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, find this trend to be true as well; north winds generate more southbound owl movement. In fact, some other owl banders have been speculating that the role of wind direction in local movements of these tiny owls is significant enough to conclude that they are not a truly migratory species, but rather a somewhat nomadic species with opportunistic migration. It’s never black and white in nature, which is what makes banding so interesting and exciting!

sawwhet BINNS IMG_1905 copy — Northern Saw-whet Owl by Adrian Binns.

On a related note, the big news last week was our nomad number 0904-08744, which found one of Scott Weidensaul’s (famous author and naturalist) nets at Hidden Valley on November 6 after having been banded by us at Rushton on Halloween. I guess Scott’s Valley isn’t so hidden after all! The Saw-whet Owl was a Hatching Year female (born this summer). This recapture shows that she wandered about 60 miles Northwest to Hidden Valley from Rushton in 6 nights. This same northbound wandering during migration occured last year when another Saw-whet we banded on November 9 was captured 5 nights later, on November 14th, at another one of Scott Weidensaul’s owl banding stations called Small Valley (in the same general vicinity of Hidden Valley). That’s two documented cases of northward wanderings at the tail end of “southbound migration”! This record is also remarkable because Scott encouraged the creation of our owl banding station when Lisa Kiziuk volunteered at Hidden Valley in the 2009 season. Talk about a full circle! Check out the Ned Smith Center’s Owl Research page for more information on Saw-whet Owl research.

Young Ruby-throated Hummingbird. By Blake Goll

While we are on the topic of Scott Weidensaul’s research, did you know that you should be keeping at least one hummer feeder filled and available at least through Thanksgiving? If you’ve put away your feeder already, consider putting it back up and you might get a western vagrant! Scott is one of only about 200 hummingbird banders in the country studying newly evolving migration routes of western hummingbirds.

rufous hummer — Rufous Hummingbird (derived from Google Images)

Traditionally, only the Ruby-throated Hummingbird was found east of the Great Plains, departing in September and wintering in the tropics. However, in recent years, almost a dozen species of western hummingbirds have been showing up in the East and Southeast in autumn and winter (including Eastern PA!). Hummingbird banders studying this emerging phenomenon are finding that most of these vagabonds are Rufous Hummers that breed in the Rockies, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest and typically winter in Mexico. However, changes in the landscape coupled with the warmer winters of the past century have made the east hospitable; those that survive and return to breeding grounds are passing on these “vagrant” genes that were once unfavorable, resulting in this rapid evolution of a new migratory route and wintering area for these birds.

Most homeowners take down their feeders when the last Rubys leave in September, but these Westerners don’t appear until October, November, or even December. Put that feeder back up if you want a chance at an early little Christmas gift wrapped in iridescent feathers! After Oct 15^th, you should contact Scott Weidensaul scottweidensaul@verizon.net if you are sure you have an overwintering western hummingbird. He or a fellow bander will come to your home, capture and band the bird, and release it to continue migration. The results can be spectacular! For example, in January 2010 a Rufous was banded in Tallahassee, FL and was recaptured 6 months later in Chenega Bay, Alaska! This information is vital to understanding how these migration routes are evolving.

Most people find it astonishing that hummingbirds can survive cold winter weather. Western hummers are actually very hardy because they are accustomed to nesting near timber line at high elevations where they can tolerate sub-zero temperatures if need be. These amazing birds can go into deep hibernation-like torpor on cold nights (rubys can only do this to a small extent) during which their body temperature is reduced from 102 F to just 54 F! As for finding enough to eat in cold weather, hummers can find dormant insects and spiders or cold weather active midges. The birds have also been known to drink tree sap from sapsucker wells! Visit Scott’s website to learn more about this fascinating western hummingbird research.

saw whet talons BIUNNS IMG_5206 copy — Feisty Saw-whet's Talons by Adrian Binns.

Schedule for the Rest of the Banding Season: Songbird banding is closed for the season, and this Friday and Saturday will be our next owl banding nights. As always, please sign up with Lisa Kiziuk, lkr@wctrust.org, to reserve an owl banding spot! We have not had a good night since November 5th, when we got 7 owls. Since then, we have only been getting one, two, or no owls each night. We’ve also been getting the same owls that we banded several nights before, like Feisty 54. We captured Feisty 54 four times so far this season: first on November 2 and twice in one night on November 11! This ferocious older female may still be haunting Rushton because, although we aren’t catching any owls these nights, we keep hearing Saw-whet calls that we suspect are coming from Feisty 54. Maybe she scared everyone else away! In any case, we are hoping for a few more owls before we shut down for the season (many northern stations have already closed). Even if we don’t get any new owls for audiences this weekend, there is a good chance of recapturing good old Feisty 54! I think she is starting to enjoy the attention. And I’ve also noticed that the human camaraderie is at its best on owl-less nights.

Never a dull moment here in the woods,

~Blake

P.S. The last PA Young Birder meeting on November 4th was a big success… with over 50 kids of all ages and no owls! Luckily, there were so many other fun activities going on (owl art, campfire and s’mores, night hikes, owl seek and find, and owl slideshows) that I don’t think the kids remembered that we were even trying to catch owls!

pumpkin sawwhet BINNS IMG_2198 copy — Owl pumpkin carved by Lisa Kiziuk. Photo by Adrian Binns.

The next PA Young Birder Meeting, “My Nest is Best,” is this Saturday November 19 from 9:30-11am at Rushton Woods Preserve. The Jr. Birders (ages 8-12) will learn about bird architecture and the many different types of nests that birds construct in various habitats. The children will assist with nest box installation for the Trust and will hunt for real cavities used by birds in the woods of Rushton. Please RSVP to Lisa Kiziuk, lkr@wctrust.org.

eastern bluebird m at nestbox BINNS IMG_7837 copy — Eastern Bluebird at nestbox by Adrian Binns

Last Days of October Produced The Season’s First Juncos, First Snowfall, and A Bunch of Halloween Owls

November 3, 2011 By Communications Team

2 sawwhets BINNS IMG_1910 copy — 2 of our Saw-whet Owls of 2011 by Adrian Binns. Notice the one on the left has a more complete white ring around its face than the one on the right. The one on the left is older.

I haven’t brought you up to date on last week or this week yet because it has been pretty hectic for us sleep-deprived, cranky bird banders. This is the time when we are working hard banding back to back: nights for Saw-whet Owls and mornings for the last fall songbird migrants. This sounds crazy, I know; why don’t we just quit the songbird banding and focus on the owls? The reason is because it is very important to gather as much songbird data as we can up until the very end when the flight peeters out so as to flesh out the entire picture of the fall migration. Quitting songbird banding too early could mean we miss the unexpected migrants on the periphery of the fall movement. So we soldier on for the love of birds and the loyalty of scientific research.

lisa & cardinal BINNS IMG_2128 copy — Lisa Kiziuk soldiers on with songbird banding after a long night of owl banding and apple/ finger peeling that made her more vulnerable to the fury of blood thirsty Northern Cardinals. Photo by Adrian Binns.

We went for songbirds last Tuesday (10-25) and Wednesday (10-26) morning and were surprised by large numbers of migrants still moving through. We banded 59 birds on Tuesday, including a feeding flock of snarly Chickadees and Tufted Titmouse. Wednesday was the notable fallout day, with migrant birds virtually dripping from the trees and carpeting the fields; the hedgerows were alive! A large flock of Cedar Waxwings eluded us all morning by staying high in the canopy, but we banded 70 birds that day, including a late Nashville Warbler, several Yellow-rumped Warblers, lots of White-throated Sparrows, a handful of lovely little pink-billed Field Sparrows, a flock of young Hermit Thrush, and the first batch of Dark-eyed Juncos of this year! It was good to see the Juncos again… to hear their familiar metallic chipping in the shrubs, and to watch the flash of white outer tail feathers as they jovially flit about the hedgerow….almost like welcoming old friends back for the holidays. Of course, Juncos are the first sign of impending snow, and they indeed brought the snow with them.

Yellow-rumped warbler — Female Yellow-rumped Warbler Fall 2011. (Blake Goll)

Hermit thrush — Hermit Thrush Fall 2011. (Blake Goll)

Perhaps last Wednesday was so busy because all the birds knew they had to get a move on before the rain of last Thursday and the snow of Saturday. In the calm before the storm they can feel the pressure changing and thus sense what is to come. In any case, Wednesday was a day to be remembered.

I went home briefly for lunch after morning banding and stepped out of my car in my driveway to a birder’s paradise. There were birds EVERYWHERE. I think I left the keys in the ignition with the car running and the door wide open as I grabbed my binoculars from the dashboard and excitedly scanned the yard. A Brown Creeper was creeping 5 feet away from me in a magnolia tree, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was flitting around hunting insects in an ornamental tree 2 feet in front of me. Further into the yard was a Hermit Thrush distinctively bobbing its tail up and down under the blue spruce. Suddenly a woodpecker whizzed past the spruce and into the arborvitae next to the house. Could it be? It was! A beautiful male Yellow Bellied Sapsucker, only seen in my yard during migration! I ventured further into the shallow woods behind my house, lured by the restless flurry of birds. There I saw about 20 Robins, the Hermit Thrush (which followed me and was spying on me as I find they often do), an abundance of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, lots of White-throated Sparrows, and yet another Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (a juvenile) tap tap tapping on an oak. What a day!

yellow bellied sap male — Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (from Cornell All About Birds website)

Juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (from Cornell All About Birds website)

Speaking of Golden-crowned Kinglets, on that same Wednesday (10-26) we had an interesting catch, if you can fairly call it a catch. Lisa, Lou, Doris and I were about to disperse for another net run when a little Golden-Crowned Kinglet came careening into the banding lodge and flew up into the skylight. She didn’t have enough speed to injure herself fatally because in order to hit the skylight she had to dip down and then up. However, she did bump her head unexpectedly and then sat on the railing totally stunned. I saw the whole transaction and am still not sure who was more stunned: me or the bird. As Lisa and I were standing there staring at the bird in disbelief, Doris quickly reacted and said, “Grab it and band it!” Lisa and I looked at each other in shock and then looked at the bird. She seemed okay, so I gently picked her up and banded her. She perked up and flew away after we processed her, but she didn’t fly far. We saw her perched in a tree 5 feet away looking at the banding shelter and then at her ankle as if thinking, “What on earth just happened to me? One minute I was flying and the next I was stopped by an invisible wall and then picked up by a giant who stuck this shiny thing on my ankle!” She got over it fast and soon went back to foraging.

Male Golden crowned Kinglet — Male Golden-crowned Kinglet (Blake Goll)

That day, we also got a recap White-throated Sparrow, which was exciting because the band looked like an old band. Getting a recapture songbird from someplace else is very unusual; most all the recaps that we get are our own birds that we banded just a few days ago at Rushton (they either haven’t moved on yet or are here to stay). This White-throated Sparrow ended up being our own as well. However, looking back at the records, Doris discovered that it was first banded at Rushton as an After Hatching Year (AHY) bird in December of 2009. This means the bird is over 3 years old and probably spends its winter in Rushton Woods Preserve every year! Interesting example of winter site fidelity.

Older White-throated Sparrow recap of this year. (Blake Goll)

Yesterday (11/2) was pretty slow for songbird banding, with only 34 birds, which is probably how it will be from here on out as fall migration comes to a close. Tuesday (11/1) yielded 58 birds including a gorgeous male Golden- crowned Kinglet, an exquisite Brown Creeper, the first handsome Fox Sparrow of the season, and a bizarre White-throated Sparrow with bright orange lores instead of the usual yellow (referring to the area right in front of the eyes). There are still Palm Warblers moving through the area in decent numbers as well; they were at Rushton yesterday, and I saw one at Okehocking on Sunday while walking in the snow with my pug. Next week will most likely be the last week of songbird banding before we close for the season. As always, you’re welcome to come out and observe Tuesday and Thursday.

As for the Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) banding, the season is well underway. We are going out every night this week to take advantage of the peak of the season and the relatively dark nights before the full moon thwarts our efforts next week. (Moonlit nights are not good for catching NSWO because they can see the nets better and tend to move less because they know they are more visible to predators like Great Horned Owls, Screech Owls, and Barred Owls.)

lou blake lisa sawwhet BINNS IMG_1932 copy — Lou, Me (Blake), and Lisa observing the wing of a Saw-whet to age. (by Adrian Binns)

I believe our total for this season so far is 23 Saw-whets. The season started out a couple of weeks ago with a very slow trickle of none, 1, or 2 owls a night until All Hallow’s Eve when we got 7 ferocious Halloween NSWOs. They were especially feisty that night with talons flailing and beaks clapping…maybe they knew it was the Devil’s night! Tuesday night (11/1) we got 8 Saw-whet owls including a recapture banded a few nights ago by us. Last night, we banded 4 new Saw-whets. This week we also banded a gorgeous red-phase Eastern Screech Owl, which brings our screech total of this season to 4 (3 red and one gray). Screech Owls can be predators to Northern Saw-whet Owls, but so far (knock on wood) our resident Screeches have been behaving themselves. We enjoyed hearing them singing last night amidst the meowing contact calls of the Saw-whets in the hedgerows.

eastern-screech-owl-thermal-vision-BINNS-IMG_1855-copy — Eastern Screech Owl next to a thermal camera. The yellow areas represent the warmest temperatures of the body, which appear to be his giant eyeballs! (Photo by Adrian Binns)

All of the other Saw-whet banding stations nearby are starting to get the owls in greater numbers as well, but no one is seeing the abundance of last year. Even Scott Weidensaul’s 3 stations near Schuylkill Haven, PA (“the Big Boys”) have only about 31 owls as of November 1, which is slightly behind their worst season in 2006, when they had 33 for the date, and well below their 10-year average of 64 for the date. This year is definitely not an irruption year for the little fuzzballs. Perhaps there are too many rodents up north to warrant many of the owls to migrate south or perhaps the breeding owls were not as successful this summer.

In any case, this is shaping out to be the best week this year so far for migrant Saw-whets to reach Rushton and jump into our nets. If you would like to observe the mistnetting and banding process of these wondrous little creatures of the night, remember that you must contact Lisa Kiziuk first (lkr@wctrust.org) to make an owl appointment. Nights are getting frigid so layer up!

Please note that this Friday (Nov 4th) is the PA Young Birder meeting at Rushton from 7-9pm, so owl banding will be closed to the public during that time, unless you have RSVPed your child for the event. The night should be a wild one, with Saw-whet Owl banding and presentations, owl ‘Seek and Find’ in the farmshed, owl art with Adrian Binns, s’mores and owl stories around the bonfire, and even short night hikes for those brave souls that really want to get a feel for the natural world at night!

There’s a lot going on in the woods,

~Blake

P.S. Our bird conservation program has really taken flight this past year, and we love being able to connect the public with our birds in such an intimate way. The Willistown Conservation Trust’s main goal remains protecting the land we love, but we have found that birds (in addition to farm fresh food) are a great way to get people to appreciate the land on a deeper level. Furthermore, our bird banding research contributes to global bird conservation efforts while guiding local habitat management for the benefit of birds and other wildlife. We appreciate all the help we can get as we are a non-profit organization with big dreams! If you have benefitted in some way from any of our programs or if we have provided you with a life-changing moment with one of our wild birds, please consider giving back. Anything helps!

: “Hooo Hoo Hoo will help me?” Northern Saw-whet Owl perched on our donation box before release. Wood carving by Peter Hausmann. Photo by Adrian Binns.

Final Fall Fallout of Migratory Songbirds & Our First Saw-whet Owl of the Season!

October 22, 2011 By Communications Team

Nashville Warbler by Adrian Binns — Nashville Warbler at Rushton Woods Preserve by Adrian Binns (Fall 2011)

Last Friday (10-14), we banded 56 birds to the delight of my adult class (age 50+) from Widener’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. After studying birds, bird banding and bird conservation in the classroom, the enthusiastic students came out to Rushton Woods Preserve to experience the banding production in person. They were thrilled to touch and be so close to these wild feathered beauties and were pleasantly surprised at the diversity of species: Eastern Phoebe, 5 Palm Warblers, 3 Myrtle Warblers, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers, lots of sparrows, 1 Gray-cheeked Thrush, towhee, goldfinch, cardinals, Carolina Wren, and 1 late CATBIRD!

The net over the compost pile was very busy that day with over 15 birds in the net at once during the mid-morning net check. Doris was packing 2-3 birds of the same species in each bag (we need more hand-made bird bags if you can sew and want to lend a hand!). Poor Doris also suffered deep puncture wounds during that same net check from an ungrateful mole or vole that she rescued from the net. “Don’t get no respect, even from rodents!”, she cried.

This past Tuesday (10-18) was our second big fallout day, probably the last one for this fall. We banded 93 birds of 20 species, which is 7 birds over Rushton’s previous record of 86! A Northern Parula Warbler was the best of 6 warbler species, and several Golden-crowned Kinglets were new for this year. Our loyal volunteers Alice, Lou, and Godefroy extracted non-stop and kept the birds safe. Win and Justin helped at the open and went to work saying, “Here are 6 birds. There are 2 more in #7 and 12 in #6.” That was 7:45 and we never stopped until after 10. Doris says, “No bird was held more than 90 minutes, which is long for Rushton, but nothing for the big banding stations which routinely hold birds for longer.”

Thursday and Friday of this week were slower, with probably more High School kids than birds. About 100 honors students from Conestoga High School’s Environmental Science class came out to Rushton over the past two days. They had the chance to visualize and experience concepts they have learned or will learn in the classroom this year by rotating through 3 stations: a woodland ecology walk, tour of the sustainable CSA farm, and bird banding and conservation. The students were impressed with the common birds we all sometimes take for granted like the handsome American Robin and Northern Cardinal and the charismatic Tufted Titmouse. The very last catch of the day was a stunning Sharp-shinned Hawk, which the kids got really excited about. The cell phones immediately came out of pockets and were snapping pictures left and right! This is probably the same hawk that we have occasionally seen darting in and out of the hedgerows and even dive-bombing Lisa one day as she was closing the nets. I think the Sharpie was angry that she wasn’t leaving the net up to facilitate his lunch endeavors.

Sharp-shinned hawk- Young female — Young female Sharp-shinned Hawk (by Blake Goll)

As for the Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO), we were off to a very slow start. For the first couple of weeks, we ended up empty-handed every night except for a red-phase Eastern Screech Owl two Fridays ago at 8pm and then again at 11pm. He just couldn’t get enough of our nets, apparently. Let’s just hope he has learned his lesson and stays away once we really start catching saw-whets (screech owls are a predator of NSWO, believe it or not).

Eastern Screech Owl recapture (by Blake Goll)

We don’t know what’s taking the Saw-whets so long, but it may be related to this crazy wet weather we have been having (which seems to have delayed this year’s songbird migration as well). There is also some speculation that this year was not a very successful breeding year for the NSWO, and therefore the number of young “Hatching Year” (HY) birds is much lower than last year. Since most of the owls we band are HY birds, we don’t expect to band as many this year as last. (The older more dominant males tend to prefer to stick out the winter on their northern territories rather than migrating south with the young owls and the females. )

The NSWO is also an irruptive species closely tied to the pine tree seed crop up north. Last year was an irruption year during which we had more saw-whets coming south than usual because the pine trees did not produce as many seeds as the previous year, which caused the rodent population (owl food) to plummet. When food up north is scarce, more owls travel south for the winter. Bird migration is related to food scarcity, not cold weather. Most birds, even some hummingbirds like the Rufous, are well adapted to dealing with cold weather.

You can imagine our delight last night (10-21) when we finally caught our first Northern Saw-whet Owl!!! It was a cute-as-a-button feisty young female weighing in at about 92 grams. It was about 9:00 at night when she found her way to our nets while investigating our audio lure that incessantly plays the male’s territorial call. Everyone was ecstatic, and even men’s voices were raised an octave or two as they ‘ooed’ and ‘aahed’ over the little owl. As for myself, I was a little intimidated by her mesmerizing yellow eyes that seemed to be boring into my soul from some wild place and “reading my mind”, as one woman said.

Young female Northern Saw-whet Owl — Our young female Northern Saw-whet Owl (by Blake Goll). My, what beautiful eyes she has!

Photogenic Northern Saw-whet Owl — Our very photogenic Northern Saw-whet Owl

Alas, there is hope for this year’s owl banding season! Remember to contact Lisa Kiziuk (lkr@wctrust.org) if you are interested in observing owl banding. Songbird banding will also continue on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for the next couple of weeks. No reservation required for songbirds.

And speaking of Lisa, congratulations to her on winning the DVOC (Delaware Valley Ornithological Society) Rosalie Edge Conservation Award for her tireless bird conservation work! Without her vision, the Willistown Conservation Trust’s banding station at Rushton Woods Preserve would never have become a reality. Today, the Rushton bird banding station is not only a reality but a wonderful destination where adults and children of all backgrounds experience some of nature’s finest works of living art while learning about the importance of such scientific research in the understanding and ultimate conservation of our nation’s feathered bounty. Thank you, Lisa, for making your dream come true and for all you do for the birds. I know Rosalie Edge would be proud of you.

~Blake

Rushton Migration Minutes: An Unexpected Second Wave of Warblers Preceded the Sparrow Surge Last Week… and One of Our Banded Owls Appeared In Quebec!

October 13, 2011 By Communications Team

“Bird Migration is the world’s only true unifying natural phenomenon, stitching the continents together in a way that even the great weather systems fail to do.”
~Scott Weidensaul, Author & Naturalist

red tailed hawk_dalton portella — Red-tailed Hawk by Dalton Portella

Migration is such an exciting time of year because you never know what to expect! Here at the Rushton Wood Preserve banding station, every day is different and brings new surprises. As difficult as it is to wake up before the sun rises on banding days, it is much easier when I imagine the endless possibilities of woodland gems we could encounter in one of our 11 webs.

Last week (the first week of October) was the first week I really felt the fall chill in the air, but our nets were hot! On Tuesday (Oct. 4) we banded 60 birds and to our surprise, a bunch of them were warblers. As I said in my last blog post, we were observing a drastic decline in the volume of warblers and therefore expected that they were almost finished passing through. Not so! The second wave of warblers last week must have been the birds who were held back by all the rain of previous weeks. Whatever the reason for this fallout, we were thankful because we had species that Rushton has never seen before, including a Tennessee warbler. This dainty warbler of the Canadian boreal forest is becoming increasingly uncommon throughout its range, so having one at Rushton was spectacular. The Tennessee warbler specializes in eating the spruce budworm, so its population may be closely tied to budworm fluctuations up north.

TennesseeWarblerLRR — Tennessee Warbler by Robert Royse (taken from Google Images)

Another amazing warbler we banded was the Blackpoll warbler. Lisa and I had never before seen one, let alone held one in our hand, so we were a bit skeptical at first. First we thought Pine Warbler, but ruled that out by the black centers in our bird’s feathers. Next, our guide indicated that in the fall Blackpoll warblers are often confused with Bay-breasted Warblers, but we finally ruled out the Bay-breasted by the bright yellow soles of our bird’s feet! The Bay-breasted has more grayish feet. Gotta love “confusing fall warblers”.

We had 2 Blackpoll warblers that day. One was skinny and the other had lots of fat stored in its wishbone area (or furcular hollow), which is what we love to see on long-distant migratory birds. It is especially important for Blackpolls to have lots of fuel because they have one of the longest, most strenuous journeys of all our wood warblers. Their journey begins on their breeding grounds of the northern boreal forest of Canada. They double their mass and fly all the way to South America, which is impressive in itself. Even more incredible is that many of the Blackpolls opt for the oceanic flight; they fly from northeastern U.S. out over the western Atlantic nonstop for 1,864 miles to Puerto Rico or S. America. The flocks of Blackpolls have shown up as diffuse blobs of glowing green on radar scopes over the West Indies at altitudes of 23,000 ft! These tiny warblers land in S. America about 88 hours after leaving the New England coast. Ornithologists have compared this dumbfounding journey to a human running 4 minute miles for 3.5 days, without rest, refueling, or water. Absolutely mind-boggling!

Other warblers in last week’s catch included Magnolia, Black and White, Common Yellowthroat, and Black-throated Blue.

Female Black throated Blue warbler — Female Black-throated Blue warbler at Rushton Woods Preserve by Blake Goll

Male Black & White warbler at Rushton by Blake Goll

On Thursday of last week, the sparrows replaced the warblers. White-throated Sparrows were the catch of the day, and a Lincoln’s Sparrow was the most photographed sparrow of the day. This very handsome sparrow likes boggy areas and is only seen in our area during migration on his way to the southern U.S. and Central America.

It is safe to say that last week was an all out fallout for Rushton Woods Preserve. The migratory birds came in on the cold front overnight and touched down in our enticing habitat by dawn. Depending on each bird’s individual physical condition, they will stay for a day to several days or even over a week in a stopover habitat such as ours. Then they will continue their migration, refueled. We could tell the birds last week had traveled very far overnight because many were showing signs of exhaustion, even those that we “popped” out of the net in seconds. We quickly processed these tired migrants first and released them immediately, so they could get back to refueling on insects and berries in the rich hedgerows and farm fields.

I spoke with our farmer, Fred, and he and the other growers who had been working the fields last week noticed the “fallout” of birds as well. As they were walking through the fields harvesting, they were often startled by birds, including warblers, flying right our from under their feet. The birds would fly only a short distance away from them and land in the grasses or vegetable plants a few feet away, as if too exhausted to go farther. Fred suspects the warblers glean insects from the crops; for example, the tomatoes are being left on the vine to rot in preparation for winter because the fermented fruit preserves the seeds for next year. This rotting fruit attracts a lot of insect activity, which the birds immediately discover. Fred also notices migrant birds following the farmers as they walk through the fields because the birds know that such human movement kicks up the insects from the undergrowth. Fascinating stuff! And to think, many birders never dreamed that farms could be beneficial to birds. A prize will go to any photographer who helps us document this revelation by getting a picture of a warbler on a tomato plant at Rushton! 🙂

This week we have been rained out from banding everyday so far except for Tuesday when we got 81 birds! The first of the Yellow-rumped Warblers came through; these warblers are the last to migrate because they winter farther north than other warblers, due in large part to their ability to digest berry fruits. We banded a few other warblers this week including Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Blue, and Magnolia, but the catch was largely sparrows: Lincoln’s, Swamp, Chipping, Song and Field. We banded some nice thrushes including Hermit and Wood Thrush in addition to towhees and resident birds like Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, and woodpeckers. The Ruby-crowned Kinglets are moving through in greater numbers now, and there are officially no more Gray Catbirds in Rushton until next spring.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet at Rushton. Blake Goll

Perhaps the most exciting birds we caught on Tuesday were a Winter Wren and a Brown Creeper, both very brown but uniquely exquisite. The Winter Wrens have one of the most elaborate songs of all; their voice echoes the heart of the forest. The Brown Creepers sing of “Trees, trees, beautiful trees!” in a sweet tinkling

voice, and their secretive habit makes them very exciting to spot creeping along a tree trunk. They sing of trees, crawl up and down trees, place their nests behind flaps of loose bark on trees, and even look like they are cut from the same cloth of tree bark. Their long , gnarly toes even remind be of tiny tree branches, and their marvelously curved bill is perfectly suited to “tickling the tree trunks” for insects. What a wonderful little bird.

Speaking of wonderful little birds, the Northern Saw-whet Owls are on their way to Rushton! Please read the following notification from the Rushton Banding crew:

___________________________________________________________________

2011 NSWO Update!

You’re invited to the Rushton Woods Banding Station this fall 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. We will open to the public from October 20 until November 23 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 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 information collected from this process gives scientists information about the cyclical nature of the migratory cycles of these species and their reproductive success.

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.

The station is located in the farm shed at Rushton Woods and Farm Preserve and the GPS address to use is 1050 Delchester Road, Malvern, PA 19355. Please note that parking is at a premium and you may be asked to park in the field lot. DRESS WARMLY.

Important NSWO Update!

Yesterday we received news that one of our “Rushton NSWOs” was caught at the Observatoire d’Oseaux de Tadoussac in Quebec. Here is the link to the observatory where she was caught on October 3 2011: http://www.explos-nature.qc.ca/oot/. NSWO number 0494-81906, or “Frenchy” as we call her, was caught at the Rushton Woods Banding Station last year on November 6 and weighed in at 99.3g. She was a “hatch year” owl, which means she was born in the summer of the year we caught her. This year on October 3, she weighed in at 103.3g, a sizable increase, possibly in preparation for migration, and she is now aged as a “second year” owl. We hope to see her again at Rushton this Fall!

New This Year:

In order to help support our long-term monitoring of the population dynamics of Northern Saw-whet Owls, and to improve our understanding of these mysterious night visitors, the Rushton Banding Crew is seeking donations to the program through our newly created “Owl Donation Box.” Your contributions will help financially sustain our continued collection of valuable information about these nocturnal birds, which are discreet and difficult to monitor. Your contributions also help fund our songbird banding efforts.

See you under the stars!

The Rushton Woods Banding Crew

_____________________________________________________________________

Ok Folks, that’s all for now. Phew! I had a lot to tell you! There is just so much happening in the natural world this time of year, and birds make these seasonal transitions so much more evident and exciting. Remember, you are welcome to share in the excitement Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Rushton Woods Preserve banding station through the first week or so of November.

Make sure you go see “The Big Year” this weekend…I can’t wait!

~Blake

Giving Thanks for the Owls of 2011

Songbird Banding Comes to a Close and Saw-whet Owl Movement is Sluggish

Last Days of October Produced The Season’s First Juncos, First Snowfall, and A Bunch of Halloween Owls

Final Fall Fallout of Migratory Songbirds & Our First Saw-whet Owl of the Season!

Rushton Migration Minutes: An Unexpected Second Wave of Warblers Preceded the Sparrow Surge Last Week… and One of Our Banded Owls Appeared In Quebec!

CONTACT

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST