Island Beach State Park, between 19 Aug and 16 Especiallyconspicuous was that the big October Nov. One or more of those stations was in flights, for which Island Beach is famous, never operationon 46 days during that 90-day period; materializedfor the second consecutiveyear. The there were three bandingdays in Aug, ten in Sep, two species banded in the greatest number over 24 in Oct, and nine in Nov. There were two days the yearswere Golden-crownedKinglet and Myrtle with three of the stations in operation Warbler,with long-term averages of 1191 and 627 simultaneously,five days with two stationsactive individualsbanded per season. This year they and the remaining39 dayswith only a singlestation came in with totals of 290 and 110-38% and 27% active. of average!Sparrows fared better this year with the "big4"- Song, Swamp, White-throated,and Junco In the discussionthat follows, when referring to - each coming in at between 75% and 100% of "prior-yearsdata," prior-year averages are based on the 16-year period 1987-2002. long-termaverage. In raw numbers,warblers were low this season, but that may well be merely a Once again our recent history of below-average resultof poorcoverage in September(only 10 days numbers of birds banded continues. Our 2200 total comparedto an average of 18.5 days). birds banded was only 37.5% of the long-term average and was the lowesttotal in the comparison Speciesof notethis year includedsingle individuals period.Our 0.92 b/nh was 57.9% of average and of Louisiana Waterthrush and Grasshopper, barelyexceeded last years 0.91 b/nh makingthese Saltmarshand Nelson'sSharp-tailed sparrow. the only two years we recorded less than 1 b/nh. Summary of the Best Days of the Season Date ( # Stations Operating) # Species # Birds # BirdsIN H Comments 6 Oct (1) 33 188 1.44 highest species total and # banded 16 Oct (1) 11 125 8.93 highest capture rate (tie) 19 Oct (1) 17 125 8.93 highest capture rate (tie) 2 Nov (1) 10 129 3.91 unusuallyhigh flightfor November! ATLANTIC FLYWAY REVIEW: SPRING 2004

Elizabeth W. Brooks, Coordinator May at eight stations,with five stationsreporting 1435 Waterwells Road their best day on 10 May. Alfred Station, NY 14803 [email protected] Resultswere mixed at the 15 reportingstations: eight stations'totals were up from the previous We welcome a new station to this, the seventh spring,while seven stationsreported totals down. AFR Springreport - West Hill BandingStation, Birds/100nhs were alsojust aboutevenly split. located along the BlackstoneRiver corridornear Northbridge,MA. Greenwell, Northview, and Bed- As usual,the stationnarratives make interesting reading, from Crown Point's educational video fordValley Stations did not operate during spring "JourneyNorth," to dragonfly studies at Kestrel 2004. JohnMiles earns the awardfor the longest Haven,to the ongoingresearch at BraddockBay season,opening nets on 29 Feb and closingon 14 and Appledore,to the King Rail at Rock Pointand Jun, despitea brokenfoot. much more! Overall,28,340 birdswere banded,up 3124 birds We continueto solicitreports for the springreport fromspring 2003. The "bestday" ranged from as from new reportingstations, and thank all of the earlyas 28 Aprat OccoquanBay, VA., to as lateas 23 May at Appledore,ME,but it fell between 9-12 current participants-frombanders-in-charge to volunteers and assistants at all the stations-for their effort. Page 192 North Amedcan Bird Bander Vol. 29 No.4 Oct - Dec 2004 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page 193 Crown Point State Historic Site 440-0732 Goldfinchthat are at least six years, 11 monthsold. Essex County, NY Killdeerand Purple Finchwere new speciesfor the John M.C. Peterson, Bander station, and we set new records for numbers of [email protected] individuals for Tree Swallow (10), Barn Swallow Gordon E. Howard, Chief Assistant (10), White-breasted Nuthatch (2), and Blue- winged Warbler (2). We also banded the second This markedthe 29th consecutive year of operation Tufted Titmousein 29 years. of the springbanding station on the groundsof the Crown Point State Historic Site. Located in The banding and educational program is now a hawthorn thickets near the tip of Crown Point project of the newly formed CPBA, the current peninsula, a natural migrant trap that juts board of High Peaks Audubon Society having northwardinto Lake Champlain, the station was withdrawnsponsorship after nearlythree decades. open from9-23 May. Now operatedby the Crown Visitors this year included 15 groups of 170+ Point BandingAssociation (CPBA), the stationis students,plus 28+ adultteachers/supervisors from situated west of the ruins of French and British forts Adirondack Wilderness Challenge (3 groups); on the 360-ac groundsof the historicsite. Bolton Central 5th grade; BSA Troops 19, 30, 40,116 and mixed troops; Crown Point Central 127 Myrtle Warbler Spanish;GSATroops 197,520, & 572; Lake Placid 105 American Goldfinches Central Elementary; and Lake Placid Central 27 Gray Catbird Middle School. Over 750 students have now 23 White-crowned Sparrow released a bird, received a Polaroid photo with 22 Baltimore Oriole "their"bird, and a certificate. Since only a fraction 21 Yellow Warbler of each classgets to release a bird,we imaginethat 19 Blue Jay easily ten times that number have visitedand been 16 Cedar Waxwing 16 American Redstart exposed to our educationalprogram. If their bird 14 Common Yellowthroat returns in a subsequent year, or turns up elsewhere, a notice is also mailed to the student. A sunny 10 May gave way to late showers and The Joumey North video on Crown Point banding, overnightrain, an early fallout of migrantsarrived shot in '03, went out to 10 thousand classrooms and stayed for several days, feeding voraciously acrossNorth America during migration this spring. on green caterpillars in the hawthorn leaves. Sunny, hot (83øF) 11 May was the best day for After the two-yearpermitting process, the intrusive variety, with 30 species and 103 individuals green ash was thinned in the immediatevicinity of banded. The next day was a record high 84 ø and the net lanes during the winter, in an effort to the bestfor numbers,with 147 birdsof 26 species maintain at least a portion of the habitat in netted. Butas the sunnydays with southerlywinds hawthorn,juniper, and cedar. The Crown Point continued,the birdsmoved on, and by 19 May (and Banding Associationappreciates the support of with 19 netsopened for 12 hours!)only eight birds HistoricSite Manager William Farrar and his staff: of four species were banded. Rain and cooler Tom Nebsitt and the maintenance crew under the weatherfinally arrived on 22 May, groundinga few directionof Jake Putnam- Nate Edson,Bob Lacey, late migrantsand providing38 birdsof 13 species Darrell LaFrance, Jerry Meachem, and Daryl on 23 May. McKeon- who so quickly cleared a remainder of the green ash in May. We enjoyedthe visitby Ray A total of 575 individuals of 52 species were Perry, Nancy Pierson,and Janet Zuckermanfrom banded, including16 differentwarblers- among the NYS OPR&HP in Albany and their expert them two Blue-wingedWarblers 10-12 May and an consultationon the futureof our bandingstudies & Orange-crownedWarbler on 10 May. There were educationalefforts and the expected status of the an additional20 returnsof 11 speciesbanded at Site as a new NYS Bird Conservation Area. We are Crown Point in previous years, the oldest also most grateful to those who helped transport apparently a Wood Thrush and an American the bandingstation: Kimberley Corwin of the DEC, Greg Furness,Judy and Roger Heintz, Dr. Gordon Page 194 North Amencan Bird Bander Vol 29 No 4 Howard, Gary Lee, and Carole Slatkin. Other This springseason was again cut shorta few days volunteers who worked at the station include Erika, because of rain, but even on the good banding Eberhard& Wendy Burkowski;Carolyn, Pierre & days numberswere very disappointing.Net lanes Woody Cyr; Melanie McCormack;Susan French were mud and runningwater for the total season Peterson; Jeff Rose; and Dr. Donald Timmons and knee rubber boots were the necessary footwear. The CPBA has completelyrevised the original175- species Birds of Crown Point State HistoricSite I had a total of 12 local recapturesthis spring. One checklist,published in 1992, so that the OPR&HP Blue-wingedWarbler was bandedas an AHY male can printa new list (now 201 species!)for visitors. on 21 May 1997; this bird is at least eightyears old After29 years,a totalof 12,036 birdsof 95 species A Rose-breastedGrosbeak was bandedon 18 May have been banded on Crown Point peninsula 1998 and recorded as an ASY male. This bird has duringMay, and we're lookingforward to our 30th been recapturedevery year since;its age is at least season in 2005. seven years.

Lewiston 431-0790 Braddock Bay Bird Observatory 431-0774 Niagara County,NY Kaiser-ManitouBeach BandingStation Jerald J. Farrell, Bander Monroe County, NY [email protected] Elizabeth W. Brooks, Compiler [email protected] The springbanding season started on 3 May 2004. Not many warblerspecies were observedat this The nineteenth consecutive year of spring time but nets were opened. As the season migration monitoring at the (Kaiser-Manitou progressed the warbler species count did not Beach)banding station was carriedout for 39 days •mprove.This bandingstation showed the lowest beginning23 Apr and continuinguntil 31 May2004. ever for b/100nh. This season was the 19th spring There were 3891 birds banded of 85 forms. An bandingseason for the LewistonStation and byfar additional44 female and 38 male Ruby-throated the worst for total birds banded as well as total Hummingbirds were captured and released species. The nets were taken down on 29 May. unbanded. %SY %ASY' %AHY % SY % ASY' % AHY 395 Magnolia Warbler 56.2 29.6 14.2 29 Gray Catbird 100 300 Ruby-cr. Kinglet 23.0 23.0 54.0 22 Magnolia Warbler 5 95 283 Gray Catbird 39.9 26.3 33.8 16 Ruby-cr.Kinglet 100 254 American Redstart 53.1 35.8 11.1 12 Nashville Warbler 100 210 White-thr. Sparrow 36.2 16.7 47.1 7 Rose-br. Grosbeak 14 43 43 184 Com. Yellowthroat 32.1 10.3 57.6 7 BI.-and-wh. Warbler 28 72 165 Blue Jay 41.2 45.5 14.3 6 Black-cap. Chickadee 100 141 W Palm Warbler 100.0 5 Blue Jay 100 140 Myrtle Warbler 60.0 27.9 12.1 4 Wood Thrush 100 131 Wilson's Warbler 44.3 22.9 32.8 4 Swainson's Thrush 50 50 4 Chestnut-sided Warbler 100 There were 506 recapturesof birdsbanded at the 4 Tennessee Warbler 100 station. These birds were all measured and weighed again as part of ongoing studies in The MagnoliaWarbler and Gray Catbird still are stopover ecology. Of these recaptures, 42 were the top two species banded. The high Yellow birds that returned from a previous season. Warbler numbers of last year did not repeat with Noteworthyamong these were an AmericanRobin this year's total return to the norm for the station. and a Common Grackle in their seventh year, a gracklein its sixthyear; three starlings,a Wilson's Oct - Dec 2004 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page 195 Warbler, and an American Goldfinch in their fifth studied nighttimemigration orientation of some year; a robin,two catbirds,a starling,an American thrushesand warblers. Fecal sampleswere taken Redstart, four Common Yellowthroats,a Song fromsome birds for a studyby NazarethCollege Sparrow,a cardinal,and a goldfinchin their fourth professor Dr. Beverly Brown. Meena Haribal year. obtainedsamples of preen glandsecretions from some birds. Seven ticks found on birds were The only foreign recovery was a Common removedand preservedand were sent to Dr. Janet Yellowthroat(#2220-60372) bandedat K-MBon 20 Huie of CarthageCollege for identification. Sep 2001 found dead near Camden, ME, on 11 May 2004. The recoverylocation is approximately LindaBoutwell (Rochester, NY), MargaretHahn 433 mi NNE of Manitou Beach. (Kalamazoo,MI), JenniferHanley (Toms River, NJ), Sue Orrell (Geneva, NY), Keri Parker A CedarWaxwing was capturedwith an orangetail (Takoma Park, MD), and Barbara Wagner band. A Swainson'sThrush and MourningWarbler (Fairport,NY) successfullycompleted our Bander each had a tumor on their lower mandibles. A TrainingCourse. Western Palm Warbler had crossed mandibles and a White-throated Sparrow and a Ruby- Dan Busheyfrom the DiversifiedOccupations crownedKinglet each had only one eye. A Ruby- (DO) program at Hannaford Career Center in crowned Kinglethad a deformedfoot. At least 14 Middlebury,VT, providedexcellent assistance for Yellow Warblers with Scaly Leg were released 10 days. CourtneyRawleigh from The Harley unbanded. Three birds had feather lice and seven Schoolcompleted a three-weeksenior internship had mites. Ticks were removed from five birds. at the bandingstation.

The totalnumber of birdsbanded (3891) during We gave informalbanding demonstrationsto spring2004 was above the mean (3395). Alder severalhundred visitors to the banding station, and Flycatcherwas a new speciesfor the spring on 16 Maywe hostedan open housefor Genesee cumulative list, which now stands at 137 forms. LandTrust, with from 150-200 visitors attending. Students from the Hannaford Career Center in Birdsbanded in recordhigh numbers were Gray- Middlebury,V'I', visitedon 18-20 May. Several cheeked Thrush, Swainson'sThrush, Gray groupsof homeschoolers,including the LEAH Catbird,Brown Thrasher, Orange-crowned Warbler, group also visitedthe station. and Red-wingedBlackbird. Becausewe were not ableto beginbanding operations until 23 Apr,we Thanksto all our faithfulvolunteers: Ann Adams, missedmany of theearly migrants. Both Brown Liz Barry,Linda Boutwell, Don Cowley,Virginia Creeperand YellowWarbler captures were the Duffy,Jack Duval, Judy Engerman, Peggy Fuller, lowestever. In addition,Golden-crowned Kinglet MaureenGates, Marilyn Guenther, Meena Haribal, wasmissing after being captured in 14 of thepast Donna Hilborn, Mari Kimura, John Lehr, Pat 14 years;Eastern Phoebe after 13 of 14 years; Lovallo,Chita McKinney, Shirley Meston, Carolyn CapeMay Warbler after 11 of 14 years;Downy Marrocco,Patti O'Kane, Paula Peng, Debbie Woodpecker,Acadian Flycatcher,Red-breasted Reed,Jessie Roberts, Judith Scarl, Jeanne Skelly, Nuthatch,Yellow Palm Warbler, and American LoisSmith, Ruth Stork, and KathyTetlow. Tree Sparrowafter 10 of the past14 years. Special appreciationto Dick and Mary Beth In additionto ourmigration monitoring, Brendan O'Hara; to Bob and Charlene Reed, Linda McCabe,a SUNY Brockportgraduate student, Boutwell,David Frosini,and Doug Smith for tookblood samples from White-throated Sparrows providinghousing to visitingbanders, interns, and to studydifferences in blood lipids in tan and white- students; and to Bill Kaiser and the Board of the morph individuals. Dr. Mark Deutschlander Genesee Land Trust for use of their land. photographedbirds under UV light and also

Page196 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Vol.29 No.4 Ruthven Park 425-0795 does in May. Poor weather in April seems to keep Cayuga, HaldimandCounty, ON migrants confined to the leading edges of Bander: Rick Ludkin coastlines (in our case, Lake Erie). In May the [email protected] same weather results in 'fall-outs'-large numbers Chief Assistants: Loretta Mousseau, Brian Pomfret of migrantscoming to ground in areas where they can find food and it is a bit warmer-usually inland This marks the ninth spring banding season at from the coast. Ruthyen Park. We started on 29 Mar and banded/ monitoredalmost continuouslyfor the next 62 days We had nine net lanes containing 16 nets (4 - finishingon 1 Jun. Althoughwe did not band on singlesand 5 chainscontaining 2-3 nets each). We daysof seriouslyinclement weather, we woulddo a also used up to four ground traps and one Potter census and try to get a sense of the types and trap; these were moved throughoutthe season in numbersof birdsmoving through the site. We had response to movements of birds on the property. the best overallcoverage that we have ever had. In Birdswere 'processed' in the recently refurbished fact, we did not miss a day in May. This was due to bandinglab locatedin one of the smalloutbuildings the sharingof the load by three banders:myself, of the historic site. Loretta Mousseau and Brian Pomfret. We ended up banding1,301 birds(fourth highest total) of 83 It was the worst of times, it was the best of forms (new record). times...... or something like that. Our April results were the worstfor that month in the past nine years 110 American Goldfinch both in terms of the number of birdsbanded - only 92 Magnolia Warbler 288 - and of the rate of capture- only 13.8 b/100nh 83 White-throated Sparrow this despite excellentcoverage. In 1999 (and since 71 Gray Catbird then) our station effort/net hours reached a level 65 Yellow Warbler that makes between-year comparisonspossible. 64 Red-winged Blackbird Our next lowestApril was 2000- 339 birdsbanded 55 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 44 Chipping Sparrow On the other hand, we had our best May in terms of 41 Common Yellowthroat numbers banded (981); the rate of capture, 40 Song Sparrow though, was only the fourth best (35.9 b/100nh) We caught more warblers this year than in any other- 383 (25 sp.), representing29% of the total Ruthyen Park National Historic Site is located on catch;both are highs.Our largestsingle day catch the banks of the Grand River about 2 km north of was 112 recordedon 10 May. This representsthe the town of Cayuga (Lat-Long: 425-0795). The first time we have banded more than 100 birds on area is a mosaic of agriculturallands, old fields, a spring day. and foresttracts (associatedwith numerousponds or 'sloughs'). The banding area surrounds the We had 168 "returns";of special interestwas a spacious lawns/groundsof the historic mansion. Great Crested Flycatcher originally banded in The net lanes are cut into the successional scrub, 1999. Being a bird of the treetops you usuallydo which provides a buffer between the open not catch them once, let alone twice, .five years meadowsand lawnsand the surroundingforest. apart (and several roundtrips to Central/South America later). Also of interest was a Rose- This springwas cold and very wet - in fact, rainfall breasted Grosbeak that had been banded in 1997 thisspring set new highrecords. Consequently, the insecthatch was late (and probablyreduced). Early We were open and operatingon 62 of the possible nesting birds seemed to suffer as we found a 65 days (95.4%). This could only have been couple of dead clutches of Eastern Bluebirds in managed with the co-operation and help of a boxes following cold, wet periods. May was number of dedicated and skilled volunteers. 5-6 somewhatwarmer but still quite wet. Interestingly, weeks: Rick Ludkin; 3-4 weeks: Loretta wet unsettled weather at Ruthven Park seems to Mousseau;2-3 weeks: Brian Pomfret, Teegan have a differenteffect on migrantsin April than it Docherty,AI Thrower, Linda Thrower;4-6 days: Oct. - Dec. 2004 NorthAmedcan Bird Bander Page 197 Norm Pomfret, John Shoveller, Peter Thoem, Net captures were again recorded, resulting in Walter Peace, Marlene Pomfret, Elaine Serena, similar statisticsas in previous years. Most nets BarbSharon; 1-$ days: BryceEdwards, Maureen accountfor about 4% of the birds banded except Moore, Kristen Niwranski,Cathy Badger, Darryl for the feeder net which captured 15%. This net is Edwards, Hannah Badger, Louise Unitt, Nancy mostsignificant during the early part of the season Furber, Dan Chambers, Jim Schofield, Jean and againwith the White-throatedSparrows. Most Schofield, James Lees. AmericanGoldfinches are also caughtat this net. A good number of non-feeder species are also I thank the Lower Grand River Land Trust and caught at this location, perhaps attracted by the especiallythe staff of Ruthven Park for their feeder birds. wonderfulsupport. This project was supported financiallyby the LandTrust and by the James L. Some extendedbanding days were conductedwith Baillie Memorial Fund of Bird Studies Canada with the birds being caught and banded after the six- funds raisedthrough the annual BaillieBirdathon. hour period. These birds were non-standard banding for reporting to the Canadian Migration Rock Point Bird Banding Station 425 -0793 MonitoringNetwork. James Lees bandedon some Dunnville, Haldimand County, ON Sundayswhich was also a departurefrom previous James A. Smith, Bander years. Three incidentsof an extra 6-m net being [email protected] usedto catcha specificspecies resulted in ourfirst James Lees, Roswitha Matuschek, Rick Young, Hooded Warbler, an Eastern Phoebe, and an Dora Young,Gisele Mills, Chief Assistants AmericanWoodcock. The net was placed along a ditch where the Hooded Warbler had been This year James Lees, a Britishringer, received a observed,again at a nestingsite and the thirdtime sub-permitand was able to take on some of the where a male woodcock was observed to be banding days and allow me a few days off. The landing. All were within my designated 10-min other volunteers continued to give excellent square and withinthe park. An evening with two service and made the operation of the banding nets open and a tape lure resulted,within 10 minof station easier. full dark, in the captureand bandingof the targeted Whip-poor-will heard that morning within the % sY % ASY' % AHY bandingarea. A NorthernSaw-whet Owl was also 247 White-thr. Sparrow 44.1 51.8 4.1 caught in one of the regular nets. A higher-than- normal numberof Common Grackleswere caught 192 Common Grackle 27.0 34.4 38.6 in the J-trap this year probably due to the trap 191 Yellow Warbler 48.2 51.8 - having been moved to a more open locationwithin 184 Amer. Goldfinch 56.0 34.8 9.2 the bandingarea. 142 Gray Catbird 35.9 63.4 0.7 This springwas one of the wettest. It was similarto 127 Ruby-cr. Kinglet 44.0 54.4 1.6 the springof 2000, althoughthe mud this year was 119 Song Sparrow 51.3 40.3 8.4 extremely bad and did not dry out untilthe end of 102 Com. Yellowthroat 41.2 57.8 1.0 the bandingseason. Only a few days were lostto 85 Nashville Warbler 40.0 60.0 - weather,although some bandingdays startedlater or ended earlier because of rain. The addition of 84 Amer. Tree 53.6 44.0 2.4 boardwalks, thanks in part to a grant from T.D. Sparrow Canada Trust Friends of the Environment,helped a great deal with our mud problem and made net An additionaltwo nets were put intoa locationthat rounds much easier. was originallyused in 2000. This is over a marsh area and it resultedin the captureand bandingof a We had a higher-than-normalspecies count this King Rail. This species was a surpriseto all year with the addition of some more southern concerned, although we had heard what we species such as the King Rail mentioned above, thoughtwas a VirginiaRail. Page 198 North American Bird Bander Vol 29 No 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-bellied Woodpecker, A changethat may have an impacton my banding Whip-poor-will,Yellow-breasted Chat, Sedge area was the destructionof ideal habitatjust to the Wren, White-eyed Vireo, Rusty Blackbird,and north of the park. This land was tumed back into HoodedWarbler. This correspondsto reportingof farmingland with the bulldozingof the brushand higher-than-normalsightings of some of those succession plants that had been there. Also of speciesin southernOntario. RustyBlackbirds are note was the blight that turned the high-bush seen each year but perhaps because of the wet cranberry and other Vibumum brown and will conditionsin the banding area, came down to be reduce or eliminate the fruit crop in the fall. caughtthis year. Of the 91 speciescaught, 47% were for 10 or fewer individuals and 22% were for Four bird identification teaching sessions were 50 to 11 individuals which is about the same as in conducted with the Environmental Restoration previousyears. classat Niagara College in St. Catharines. Part of the requirement was that they visit the banding Recapturedbirds totaled 324 entries with some station. Two elementary class visits and banding birds accountingfor multiple entries. My re-trap demonstrationswere given within the park. One protocolallows for birds to be released without scout troop visit and banding demonstrationwas processingif originallybanded in the past24 hours, done. An article was submitted for publicationin so other birds were caught again but not the North American Bird Bander. processed. As a memberof the CanadianMigration Monitoring Date First Banded Re-trap Data Network, data are submitted to Bird Studies 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Foreiqn Canada. These data include banding, re-capture, 9 21 45 121 123 5 dailycensus, and casualobservations making up a daily detected total for each species of bird. Rock Of the nine birds first banded in 2000 three were Point is a purely volunteer-run station. Support the same Black-cappedchickadee and the rest comes in the form of volunteerswho are willingto were Blue Jay-2, Rose-breastedGrosbeak, Gray come and learn and do what has to be done at the Catbird, Yellow Warbler, and Northern Cardinal. bandingstation. The foreignbirds were: a Wilson'sWarbler, which I stillhave not heard anythingabout althoughit is Financially we are supported through grants or reportedas beingbanded at LongPoint which is 70 donationsby HaldimandBird Observatory, Ontario mi west of me; Brown-headed Cowbird, which was Ministry of Natural Resources, James L. Baillie reported as originally banded at Long Point; Memorial Fund of Bird Studies Canada, T.D American Goldfinch first banded at Ruthyen, which Friends of the Environment, Ontario Power is 26 mi northwest; Black-capped Chickadee, Generator, and individual contributors. Thanks which I have not heard anythingabout, althoughit also to Parks Ontario and Mark Custers, Rock is supposedto be a U.S. band; Song Sparrowfirst Point superintendent, for permission to conduct banded at Selkirk. For the second year in a row I scientific research within Rock Point Provincial reported the same Common Yellowthroat with a Park. returned certificate for a banded Barn Swallow. Obviouslythe band number has been damaged Appledore Island Migration Station 425-0703 since it has not been read correctlyat least twice. I Appledore Island, York County, ME will be watchingfor it next season. I give my Sara Morris, Compiler apologies to Dr. Winkler of Cornell Univ. if he [email protected] received notificationof a recovery of his banded L. Burton, E. Caruana, K. Covino, D. Fitch, L. Barn Swallow(1671-82668). This particularstring Herlihy,M. Hurban, S. Lee, K. Mattern, F. Melendy, of 1C bands (1671-62000) has caused me S. Musilli, M. Mustillo, J. Panasiewicz, S. problems in reading on at least two other Parkinson,C. Riccelli, G. Shipley, M. Stauffer, A. occasions. Thiede, L. Zeltman, Banders

Oct.- Dec. 2004 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page 199 Spring2004 representsthe 15th year of substantial we presentedan additionalproject on the effectsof springbanding on Appledore.Overall, the season ticks on migrantbirds. was a relativelyaverage one. The numbers of birdscaptured (2,433) and net-hours(3,346) were During the spring, the banding station regularly very closeto the 15-year averages (average birds provided banding demonstrationsfor visitorsto AppledoreIsland, particularly participants in credit captured= 2468; average net-hours: 3,370). At and non-credit courses at the Shoals Marine Lab the station,this year was affectionatelyknown as (SML), visitingbirding groups, and a numberof the year of the flycatcher. BothYellow-bellied and classes from visiting high school and colleges. Traill'sflycatchers were significantly more abundant SML continuesto supportthe stationin a varietyof than normal(YBFL average: 37.1, 2004: 147; ways, but most notably by providing logistical TRFL average : 35.4, 2004 = 96). Wilson's supportto station volunteers. CanisiusCollege Warblers also were captured in numbers higher generously provided funding for many of the than normal (average: 18.2, 2004 = 40). No station'ssupplies, funding for studenttravel to the species was significantly less abundant than station,and grantsto studentswho are involvedin normal,although a dropin CommonYellowthroats data analysis and presentation. I also wish to offset the increases in other species (average: gratefully acknowledge our numerous dedicated volunteers,who providesupport both through their 513, 2004: 340). The only new species banded work and through financial contributionsto the was an Alder Flycatcher that conveniently station. vocalizedduring handling. Station personnel were excited by a number of other notable captures, Selkirk Provincial Park 424-0795 including our second Chuck-will's-widow,Hairy Haldimand-Norfolk Counties, ON Woodpecker,Grasshopper Sparrow, and Nelson's John Miles, bander Sharp-tailedSparrow. [email protected] %SY %ASY' %AHY Mike Furber, chief assistant 340 Com. Yellowthroat 58.8 24.1 17.1 The ninth year of operatingin the springat the 327 Magnolia Warbler 63.6 26.0 10.4 Selkirk Provincial Park field station of the 181 Red-eyed Vireo 22.1 10.5 67.4 HaldimandBird Observatorycommenced 29 Feb 147 Yel.-bel. Flycatcher 33.3 6.1 60.5 and ended 14 Jun. The stationwas manneddaily 124 White-thr. Sparrow 51.6 17.7 30.6 once it opened, except for days of inclement 102 Amer. Redstart 64.7 28.4 6.9 weather or personalcommitments, with banding 96 Traill's Flycatcher 0 1.0 99.0 takingplace on 91 days. Due to medicalproblems and a brokenfoot on the bander-in-charge,there 86 Gray Catbird 71.3 18.4 10.3 was no coverage for the first third of March. 75 BI. & wh. Warbler 41.3 36.0 22.7 Fortunately, the break could be walked on and, 73 Blackpoll Warbler 51.7 30.3 18.0 with care, daily coverage resumed 10 Mar, ten days after the mishap. In additionto the BIC, 13 volunteersspent one or moredays assistingwith Althoughno days were lost due to weather, nets runningthe station. were closedfor part of 12 days due to rain and/or heavyfog. Sincemany of thesewere duringthe %SY %ASY' %AHY %HY morning,weather is likelyto have had a greater 194 Wh-thr. Sparrow 100 •mpact than normal on the number of birds 122 Song Sparrow 95.9 4.1 handled. 119 Slate-col. Junco 76.5 21.8 1.7 Our banding data were used in numerous 97 Myrtle Warbler 22.7 43.3 33.0 presentationsduring the year, includingone at the 93 Golden-cr. Kinglet 100.0 AmericanOrnithologists' Union in Aug 2004, and 86 Red-wg. Blackbird 47.7 39.5 12.8 four presentationsat the WilsonOrnithological 85 Nashville Warbler 31.8 58.8 9.4 Societyand Associationof Field Ornithologists joint meetingin Apr 2004. Our research efforts 84 Ruby-cr. Kinglet 100.0 continueto focus on using capture-mark-recapture 69 Common Grackle 100.0 methodsto modelstopover length, and thisyear 67Amer. Goldfinch 62.7 19.4 17.9 Page 200 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Vol. 29 No,4 Exceptfor days of extreme adverse weather, when nestingbirds in the area, the recapturesof a Slate- banding was not carried out, the station was coloredJunco and a Gray Catbird banded in 1999 manned from a half-hour before sunrise for a are noteworthy. m•nimumof six hours for the passerine banding. On a couple of mornings, banding commenced The Haldimand Bird Observatory operates three after the morningrain had ceased. field stations separated by several miles. Occasionallythere are interstationrecoveries; one The springof 2004 saw a fairlydry Aprilfollowed by such occurred this spring when an American almost record rainfall in May. Over five inches Goldfinchbanded at Selkirk on 24 Apr 1999 was were recordedat the bandingstation; the fairly dry retrapped at Ruthven Park 7 Mar 2004. trails aroundthe bandingsite in late April turned to churned mud by mid May. Noteworthy foreign recoveries were a Sharp- shinned Hawk banded 4 Nov 2003 recovered 12 Passerinebanding was carried out using 19 mist Apr 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, and a Brown-headed nets,six ground traps and a Jay trap. No changes Cowbird banded 14 Apr 2002 recovered 20 Mar •nthe net placementswere made for the passerine 2004 in Chattanooga, TN. operation, and the setup appears to be the most efficient for the area. There were 19 visitordays recordedthis springat the banding site. The first noticeableinflux of migrantsoccurred 13 Mar when the Song Sparrows started to arrive; 27 I extend my appreciation to Parks Ontario, the Mar saw the vanguardof Golden-crownedKing lets LongPoint Region ConservationAuthority and the appear followedby a varietyof migrantson 29 Mar. Park Contractor,Hans Lutzi,for hissupport and for permissionto band in the Park. This projectwas There was a small influxon 5 Apr but it took until 16 supported financially by the James L. Baillie Apr for a good flightto arrive when 72 birdsof 13 Memorial Fund of BSC with funds raised through specieswere banded. The rest of the month was the annual BaillieBirdathon, the Ministryof Natural quiet, but there was a good variety of migrants Resources CWlP program, the Norfolk Field around29 - 30 Apr. Overall, Aprilwas not a good Naturalists and George Pond. Also the month for numbers banded at Selkirk. Observatory'sfriends and memberswhose greatly appreciated individual donations included bird There was a good influxof birds on 3-4 May with bags, 3-ring binders, file cabinets, materials for good variety, and things started to pick up on 6 boardwalks, timely cash donations and other May; there was no coverage on 7 May but 8 May items. Goods and serviceswere also providedby was good and then 9-11 May were the big days of Selkirk Provincial Park. the spring. There were three days of 199 or more banded each day with a new station high of 223 And finally,appreciation to the volunteerswithout birds banded on 10 May of 36 species. The daily whose assistance the station's operation would totalsthen slowlydropped off and no furtherwaves have been very difficult: 4-6 days: Mike Furber, of birds occurred for the rest of the month. Mike Kimber, Suzanne May, Ken Mcllwrick; 1-3 days: Allison Furber, Jamie Furber, Matt Furber, There were 2040 birdsof 77 species banded in the Nancy Furber, Tim Furber, Sue Kimber, Jamie spring of 2004, which is the fourth best spring at Miles, George Pond, and Bill Smith. Selkirk. Pine Siskin was new for the station, bringingthe station'sbanded species count up to 124.

There were 141 birdsretrapped during the spring- some retrapped many times. There were 112 returns. While most of these are residents or

Oct. - Dec. 2004 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page 201 Long Point Bird Observatory 423-0800 banded, as well as a Blue Grosbeak, Lark Sparrow, Port Rowan, Haldimand-Norfolk 423-0801 and 2 Laughing Gulls that were not banded. County,ON 423-0802 Warblers were well representedthis springas we [email protected] banded 35 species, including Yellow-breasted Stuart A. Mackenzie and Christian A. Friis, Chats (4), Ovenbirds(100) and both Northern(44) Banders and Louisiana waterthrushes (2). May also Kevin Picard, Janus Ethelberg, Hugh McArthur, AudreyHeagy, Chief Assistants broughtthe 'Days of the Jays'. A phenomenal846 Blue Jays were banded this springalone, breaking LongPoint Bird Observatory's 45 th spring migration the previousyearly recordset in1966! This brings was an average year numbers wise, but intoquestion West Nile Virus worriesthat a lotof us exceptionalin terms of rarities. In late February may have been having about our blue-feathered and throughMarch, Tundra Swans whitenedthe friends. Interestinglyenough, 76.1% of these birds surroundingLong Point and TurkeyPoint marshes were aged as second-year. Similarly,2003's Blue while other waterfowl blackened the inner bay. Jay totals were the highest they have been since 1980. Migrationmonitoring kicked off on 1 Apr with a mediocre mix of Golden-crowned Kinglets and Slate-colored Juncos. Two traditionally more southern species whose northern range limit is in southern Ontario % SY % ASY' % AHY shattered earlier bandingand daily estimatedtotal 1233 Wh.-thr. Sparrow 52.2 12.0 35.8 records. Eight White-eyed Vireos were banded 886 Blue Jay 76,1 6,6 7.3 and many were observed, matching a previous 440 Red-wg. Blackbird 60.4 33.6 6.0 high for the entire year of 1988. We also had an 419 Yellow Warbler 53.0 32.5 14.5 exceptional northward eruption of Red-bellied Woodpeckersas 16 were banded (highestever 382 Amer. Goldfinch 24.3 62.6 13.1 total) and as many as 75 separate migrantswere 377 Magnolia Warbler 38.5 38.7 22.8 observedthroughout the season. 365 Com. Yellowthroat 39.4 22.7 47.9 338 Gray Catbird 45.8 36.4 17.8 Two AcadianFlycatchers (endangered in Canada) 319 Br.-hd. Cowbird 62.4 19.1 18.5 were banded this season, along with one very special re-capturedcolor banded female from our 313 Myrtle Warbler 56.9 31.6 11.5 Tip station. She was originally banded in the As the spring progressedthe passage at Long summer of 2003 in Backus woods just 10 km north Pointappeared to be more episodicthan usualwith of Long Point. Another astounding recovery strongwaves around 30 Apr - 4 May, 10 - 17 May, resultedin LPBO breakingyet another longevity and a littlepush from 25- 27 May. Ruby-crowned record, this time for a female Eastern Kingbird Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes and White-throated She was originallybanded at our Breakwaterfield Sparrowsdominated the first big wave. The next station in May 1994 as an after-hatch-year. She one hit in the secondweek of May and we got was re-captured in 1996, 1998, 2001, and for the soaked as hundredsof White-throatedSparrows fourthtime this June, making her at least 10 years and a variablegrab bag of othermigrants kept our old. staff and volunteersvery busy. There were 685 birdsbanded on 10 May alone, an incredible369 at Well over 1000 visitors to our Old Cut field station ourOld Cut site in six hours of banding.During the enjoyedbanding and birdingdemos as well as our week of 10 - 17 May, LPBO banded 2897 birdsof visitorcenter. All told, LPBO bandednearly 10,000 93 species! birds this springof 121 species, and 223 species were observed largely due to the hard work, This mid-May tidal wave brought with it an enthusiasm, and dedication of the 48 volunteers •ncrediblenumber of raritiesincluding 2 Kentucky, who spent time at LPBO this season. Thanks 4 Worm-eating, a Yellow-throated Warbler, 2 again for the wonderfulspring. Summer Tanagers, and a Harris's Sparrow

Page 202 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Vol 29 No 4 Kestrel Haven No new species were added to the cumulative Avian Migration Observatory 422-0764 station list of 129 species plus five forms. Most Burdett, Schuyler County, NY Neotropicalswere present in very small numbers John and Sue Gregoire, Banders or not at all. The onlysurprises were a singleGray- [email protected] cheeked Thrush and a single MourningWarbler, two species we rarely encounter in spring. A We had manywindy and/or rainydays that greatly Blackpollfemale presented with a very vascular curtailedoperations. Often it was simplytoo windy brood patch making us wonder if this species was to net safely. Interestingly,our daily point counts expandingits breeding range. For the first spring did not pointto much of a migrationhere. All those ever, we failed to band a Rose-breasted Grosbeak strongwinds from the south must have carried Normally,this species is present in good numbers. most birds over our station to the shores of Lake Addingto the concern,point counts have revealed Ontario. Of 46 possibledays, we were only able to only one pair, which is well below our norm for open for shod times on 19 days. Only three of breeding pairs. We continued our dragonfly those allowedus to stay open after noon. The high studiesand netted five in mist nets (Epithecacanis, pointwas with White-crownedSparrows that had Anaxjunius, Cordulegastermaculata and Libellula an extended 30-day stopover here. Our total was lydia). The real pleasure of this springwas in our stable and the measure of efficiencyin terms of b/ returns. 100nhwas up due to the large numberof American Goldfinch. The best return was that of an American Goldfinch %SY %ASY' %AHY that establisheda new age recordfor the speciesat 419 Amer. Goldfinch 62 38 - over nine years. Of our 106 returns, 29 of ten 34 E. Wh.-cr. Sparrow 100 species were over 4 years of age. Four Gray 31 Cedar Waxwing 64 26 10 Catbirds were 11, 7, 6 and 4+ years old; eight 18 Purple Finch 44 39 17 AmericanGoldfinches were 9+, 7, 6+, 5(3), 4+ and 4 years old; a Baltimore Oriole was 7 while two 18 Wh.-thr. Sparrow 33 67 - Hairy Woodpeckers checked in at 7 and 4 years of 18 Yellow Warbler 67 33 - age; two Common Yellowthroatswere at 6+ and 5+ 16 Gray Catbird 100 years; four Yellow Warblers were at 6,5(2), and 4 14 Corn. Yellowthroat 100 years old; a Purple Finch was 5+ years; two 11 Ruby-cr. Kinglet 64 36 American Robins were at 6 and 4+ years old; three 10 Song Sparrow 100 Song Sparrowswere each 5 years of age and two Black-cappedChickadees were at 5 and 4+ years We banded 701 individuals of 55 species in 19 old. days of operation. We also had 81 repeats, a whopping106 returns and 27 hummingbirdsnot Abnormalities were few and consisted of advanced banded. We also did not band two other birds, a cases of avian pox on the tarsi of two individuals Yellow Warbler and a White-throated Sparrow (YellowWarbler and White-throatedSparrow) that whose tarsi were greatly enlarged by pox. We had we did not band. one foreign recovery- A SY female Purple Finch that had been banded northof Albany, NY, by Bob West Hill Park Banding Sta. Yunick last August. She was an active breeding Northbridge,Worcester County, MA bird here, giving us some idea of the range of Strickland Wheelock, Bander dispersal.Thanks to large numbersof goldfinch, [email protected] our measure of efficiency was 160b/100nh for KathyClayton, Jackie Pascucci,Jack Barthel,Paul newlybanded birds and 185.6 b/100nh overall.Our and Beth Milke, Susan Coe, Holly Jessop, and best day was 9 May and our most species diverse Chris Volante, Chief Assistants day was also 9 May with 19 species banded. Our overall breakdown was 362 SY birds, 222 ASY, West Hill Park is locatedin Northbridge,MA, along one TY and 116 AHY. The overall percent SY was the BlackstoneRiver Corridor. We havepermission 51.6. to band birds at this site from the Army Corp of Oct. - Dec. 2004 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page 203 Engineers.The banding site encompassesa their hatch site. It is also interesting to look at the varietyof habitats:open fields bordered by mixed seasonal fluctuations in Yellow-rumped Warbler woodlands,pine uplands, fresh water marsh, and captures. This yearwe caught only two individuals secondarygrowth wetlands. This was our fourth after catching36 last year. springseason at this location. Our goalsare to studyhow residentand migrantbirds utilize the We continued to improve the site this season, varied habitatsat the park, to look at migration adding new net lanes in a more uplandfield-edge trendsthrough comparison of our inlandbanding habitat. We also continuedto refine our banding resultswith coastal sites, and to educate the public techniques,learning a lot at the EBBA conference about birds and their conservation needs by in April. In addition, we conducted educational providingbanding demonstrations. demos for Massachusetts Audubon's Drumlin % SY % ASY' % AHY Farm, Joppa Flats & Stony Brook sanctuaries, ScituateHigh School and other familygroups. 101Gray Catbird 48 21 32 47 Bl.-cap.Chickadee 0 25 75 Our dedicated volunteers made significant 4J Red-wg.Blackbird 68 26 6 contributionsto site operation: opening/closing 28 White-thr.Sparrow 5 0 95 nets, extracting birds, recording, photo documentation, web site management and 25 Com. Yellowthroat 42 47 •1 weather and net productivitytracking. 24 SongSparrow 0 0 J00 22 Amer. Robin 25 •7 58 Presque Isle 420-0800 20 Baltimore Oriole 54 23 23 Erie, Eric County, Pennsylvania 13 Amer. Goldfinch 9 36 55 Ronald F. Leberrnan, Bander Barb Mitchell, Sam Stull, Chief Assistants 12 No. Cardinal J0 20 70

The totalsthis springlook amazinglysimilar to last Bird banding this spring began on 28 Mar and spring. We had a successfulseason. However, I ended on 30 May. A total of 14 days afieldwas the have to admit that our daily experience could not lowest here in seven years, mainly due to several compete with last year's incredible excitement. longperiods of rain and winds. In all, 347 new birds Our total numberof captureswas roughlythe same were banded of 58 species in 650 net hours. (480 v. 466, 51 speciesboth years), but consistsof Eleven Ruby-throatedHummingbirds were netted twice as many catbirdsand half as many warblers. and releasedunbanded. The best day was 17 May, Two factorsmost likely played a role in the reduced with 54 birdsbanded (comparedto 148 on 25 May number of warblers: weather conditions and 2003). A good sign was the better-than-usual havingto close 10 days duringpeak migrationfor numbersof Blackpolland Bay-breastedwarblers. traveling. Predominantwest winds pushed more A male Prairie Warbler was a new speciesbanded migrants to the coast. Also the season was very here on 6 May. wet, causingsome net lanes to remain under water 112 Magnolia Warbler for the entire season. 89 White-throated Sparrow 55 Yellow Warbler Now that we have been at this site four years, a 47 Gray Catbird 39 Swainson's Thrush larger percentageof our capturesare returnsfrom 34 American Redstart priorseasons: (18% v. 13%); 12% of our captures 32 Black-throated Blue Warbler both this spring and last were current season 28 Wilson's Warbler repeats. We expect this trend to continue. •9 Song Sparrow •9 Least Flycatcher Our Gray Catbird captures increased 100% this Noteworthy returns to this station was a Yellow spring. This follows last fall's incredible 288 Warbler banded as an adult male on 18 May 1996 captures (86 in 2002) after a summer of great that has been recaptured here every May since breedingsuccess. Apparentlya good numberof then except for 2001 and 2002. This means that young birds survived the winter and returned to this bird was at least nine years old. Nineteen Page 204 North American Bird Bander Vol. 29 No.4 additional Yellow Warblers returned to the station: %SY %ASY %AHY two after 9 years, two after 8 years, two after 7 71 Gray Catbird 75 25 years, and 13 after 1-3 years. In addition,an adult 70 Amer. Goldfinch 63 37 Warbling Vireo banded in May 1997 was 29 Com. Yellowthroat 34 52 14 recapturedthis May, making it at least nine years old 19 BI.-cap. Chickadee 63 37 16 Song Sparrow 25 6 69 In additionto our regular visitorsthis spring, we 15 Yellow Warbler 67 33 - demonstratedbanding to some of the 800 middle school students from the Earth Force Youth 15No. Cardinal 33 - 67 Summit sponsored by the Glinoda Center and 8 Prairie Warbler 75 25 - AlleghenyLake Erie Earth Force. 8 Wh.-thr. Sparrow 63 25 12 6 Blue Jay 50 50 - I thank all the helpers and visitors, includingBarb M•tchel, Sam Stull, Donna and Pat Peters, Karen Returns includeda five-yr-oldAmerican Goldfinch and Harley Winkleblack (who come all the way and Gray Catbird;numerous four-yr-olds including from Fort Wayne, Indiana), Evelyn Anderson, and 6 Black-capped Chickadees, 3 American Gold- all the staff at the park. finches, 2 Song Sparrows, 4 Common Yellow- throats, and a Gray Catbird. We captured Wing Island Banding Station 414-0700 numerousthree-yr-old returns including2 Yellow Brewster, Barnstable County, MA Warblers, 5 Gray Catbirds, 5 Common Yellow- Susan Finnegan, Bander throats, 1 White-throated Sparrow and numerous [email protected] resident birds. One- and two-year-old returns Gretchen Putonen, Chief Assistant included all of the previously mentioned birds except Yellow Warblers. We held one successful Th•s was our fourth spring season for the Wing bird bandingdemonstration this spring,which was Island BandingStation located on the groundsof attended by approximately twenty people. the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in Brewster, MA. Winter held on through March and I thank bander Gretchen Putonen and assistant •nclementweather preventedus from beginningat Carolyn Kennedy for all their time and effort this our normal time this year. With the exception of spring. I also thank our other banding assistants, some feeder birdscaught in early March when we Peter Brown, Judith Bruce, Judy Keller, Diane caught our Common Redpolls, our official net Silverstein,Dympna Moore, and Bill Finneganfor openingthis year was not until 3 Apr. The season their helpwith our operation.Judy Olsen gets a big ended on 11 Jun with only 17 days of operation, thank-youfor making us many bird bags! mainlydue to our abilityto band weekends only.A total of 318 birds of 41 species were banded. Net Powdermill Nature Reserve 400-0791 hourstotaled 1407 for a capture rate of 23 b/100nh. Rector, Westmoreland County, PA We used a range of 1-25 nets. Our largest daily Banders: Adrienne Leppold, Robert C. catch was on 14 May for a total of 54 birds of 15 Leberman and Robert S. Mulvihill species. As usual, Gray Catbirds were our # 1 bird [email protected] here on the coast. We banded 71 new individuals [email protected] th•s spring. Warblers banded includedAmerican [email protected] Redstart, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, Trish Miller and Annie Lindsay, Chief Assistants CommonYellowthroat, Magnolia, Myrtle, Nashville, P•ne, Prairie, and Yellow. Four new species were The bird-banding program at Powdermill Nature added to our list this spring: Common Redpoll, Reserve, a 2,000 ac field biological station of Yellow-belliedSapsucker, Eastern Bluebird, and Carnegie Museum of Natural Historylocated in the Yellow-belliedFlycatcher. Laurel Highlands region of southwestern Pennsylvania, was in operation on 70 out of a possible91 days duringthe spring2004 season(2 Oct. - Dec. 2004 North Am• •ricanBird Bander Page 205 Mar through 31 May). With a 42-year spring more conservationattention, which is the purpose average bandingtotal of 2,567, and only 1,827 of the boreal songbird initiative (http:// b•rds banded this spring, we nearly set a new www.borealbirds.org/). record low. Nevertheless, this spring's total was w•thin one standard deviation of our long-term There were no raritiesamong the birdsbanded this average. Our springseason capture rate was just springand, overall, no real "highlights."Only one 14 b/100nh, possiblyour lowestspring capture rate birdneared a recordhigh or lowand that was Wood ever. While ourtotal in 2004 barelyexceeded 2001 Thrush, which tied the previous high total of 38. (1,819 birdsbanded), our capturerate was actually The top birdfor the season,Song Sparrowsat 161, three fewer b/100nh than in 2001. Weather this was the highesttotal for that speciessince 1995. springmay have playeda role in the lower totals While not a record setter, with 13 banded, and capture rate-not only did rainy spring days BlackpollWarblers came in secondthis year to the delay or cancelbanding on a few days, but also, record season high of 15 banded in the springof warm summer-like weather persisted through 1990. No more than a handfulare usuallycaught muchof Apriland May, forcingclosing of netswell each spring,and this was the highesttotal for this before noonon many days duringthe season. species since 1990.

Thisspring at Powdermillwas very unusualin that While mostindividual species fell within1 SD of the no day exceeded 100 birds banded. In fact, our long-termaverage, the majoritywere on the low highestdaily total was only 75 on 7 May,which tied end of that range. Only three were statistically1 9 May for the most diverseday with 32 species. SD or more below the mean, includingDark-eyed Nearly half of our catch on 7 May was wood Junco. warblersof 14 species,two of whichwere also the topcatches for the day: Nashville Warbler (11 ) and Overall,we did not experienceany strongflights of MagnoliaWarbler (8). Species diversitywas just œmpidonaxflycatchers or many wood warblers, above average with a season total of 99 species, two groups that also tend to help boost banding peakingthe lastweek of Aprilwhen 18 newspecies totals the most. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, were added, and the first week of May, when 20 Eastern Wood-Pewee, Brown Creeper, Yellow- new specieswere added. breasted Chat, and Pine Siskin were among the eight speciesconsidered "misses" this spring(i.e. Ordinarily,it is nothigh diversity that resultsin high species with a Iong-tem average of >1 bird). totals, but rather a handfulof species making up a However,we did have some"good gets" this spring large proportionof our total catch. Dark-eyed (specieswith a long time average of <1). These Juncohas longheld the numberone spoton the list included: Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern of the top ten speciesbanded at Powdermill.This Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-breasted spring,however, it f•11to fourth. The low overall Nuthatch,Orange-crowned Warbler, Blackburnian banding total this spring can be somewhat Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, and "Western" attributed to the lack of any heavy migration of Palm Warbler. juncos through Powdermill-the same cause was •mplicatedin the case of our low springtotals in Finally, we thank the following volunteers and 2001. Even during the years with the lowest internswho helpedwith bandingthis spring:Randi cumulativetotals forjuncos (i.e. 1991-2003), Dark- Gerrish, Dan Hinnebusch, Melissa Jakubcak, eyed Juncoaverages per year were stillabout 250, Brian Jones, Carroll Labarthe, David Leibmann, or more than twicethis spring'stotal. Comparing Annie Lindsay,Mike Lohr,Jake Mohlmann,Felicity w•th the earlier years, nearly 5,000 juncos were Newell, Iona Newell, Jim Sheehan, Paul Sweet, banded in the 10-year periods,meaning an almost Janice Sweet, and Sondra Terwilliger. 500 birds representedan average spring catch. This serves to emphasize the impact this single, We also thank banders Tim and Rachel Dellinger usuallyabundant species can have on our overall from WVU and Steven and Caryl Baronfrom New springseason totals. It also suggeststhat birds York for their help while visiting the banding breedingin the boreal zone should be receiving station. Valeria Ojeda, a Ph.D. student from Page 206 North American Bird Bander Vol, 29 No.4 Patagonia,Argentina, also spent many mornings little excitement in the way of major fallouts.The during her 10-day stay at Powdermillhelping to 1481 birds banded was well below our average of operate the banding station, as well as, 1999; on a per net-hour basis, the season's0.71 b/ contributingtime in front of the computerentering nh was only 56% of our average (1.26) and was the molt data for us. Thank you! lowestcapture rate we have ever experienced.

Lastly, we thank Dr. David Smith, Powdermill Date (# stations # Birds # Species # B/nh D•rector,for his ongoingsupport and interestin the operating) banding efforts and research being conducted 7May (1) 53 16 2.21 here. And, as always, we are extremely fortunate to have a highly skilled data entry operator at 16 May (1) 171 26 1.78 Carnegie Museum's Section of Birds, Marilyn 19 May (3) 216 26 1.72 N•edermeier, who painstakingly enters, checks 21 May (4) 185 25 1.21 and doublechecks all of our bandingrecords, and who is responsible for generating banding The major species of note was a Swainson's schedulesand fillingdata requests. Warbler banded by Gale Smith on 20 May. There are only about a dozen accepted records of this Island Beach State Park 395-0740 speciesfor NJ whichlies just northof its breeding Seaside Park, Ocean County, NJ range, but breedinghas not yet been confirmedfor Glenn R. Mahler, compiler the state. This is, however,the fifth bandingrecord [email protected] of this species for NJ and two of the previous records also were at Island Beach. During the spring 2004 banding season, five bandersoperated banding stations at five locations OCCO Potomac River NWR Complex, at Island Beach State Park, between 3 Mar and 8 Occoquan Bay 383-0771 Jun. One or more of those stationswas in operation Woodbridge,Prince William Co., VA on 35 days duringthat 98-day period;there were Suzanne Miller, David Mitchell, Joseph Witt, four bandingdays in Mar, four in Apr, 24 in May and Banders three in Jun. There were two days on whichfour of the stationswere in operation,four days withthree Bill Teetz, Gordon Knight, Barbara Chambers, ElizabethSellers, Joanna Taylor, Bev Smith,Chief stations in operation, and four days with two Assistants stations in operation; on all remaining banding days only a single station was active. Banders The 644 ac of Occoquan Bay NWR are located in participatingthis seasonwere BruceAdams, Mary Woodbridge, northern Virginia, Prince William Doscher, Robert Pantie, Gale Smith and Robert County, 20 mi south of Washington,DC, at the Yunick. Assistingwas Jennifer Hanley. confluenceof the Potomac and Occoquan rivers. % sY % ASY' % AHY % SY % ASY' % AHY 286 Gray Catbird 68.5 12.9 18.5 66 Wh.-thr. Sparrow 38 32 30 247 MagnoliaWarbler 72.9 25.9 1.2 48 Myrtle Warbler 73 23 4 212 Com. Yellowthroat 75.9 13.7 10.4 43 Com. Yellowthroat 44 35 21 109 BlackpollWarbler 76.1 21.1 2.8 39 Gray Catbird 26 41 33 66 Amer. Redstart 74.2 25.8 - 36 Com. Grackle 18 64 18 27 Red-wg. Blackbird 59 30 11 50 Red-eyedVireo 58.0 28.0 14.0 16 No. Cardinal 31 19 50 48 Canada Warbler 72.9 27.1 14 No. Waterthrush 7 50 43 47 Yellow Warbler 80.9 19.1 - 14 Eastern Towhee 36 50 14 35 BI.-and-wh. Warbler 54.3 28.6 17.1 14 Song Sparrow 29 14 57 32 No. Waterthrush 46.9 31.2 21.9 Banding occurred from the first weekend in Apr Exceptionallywarm and humid weather in much of throughthe last weekend in May, as usual. This May with passage of few frontal systems provided Oct. - Dec. 2004 North American Bird Bander Page 207 year, dueto veryinfrequent rain-outs, we were able had emerged here, we would simplyhave had to to get in 26 of the 28 scheduleddays, for a record shut downfor a while. We did seem to be picking 2,101 net-hours. Our600 volunteer hours were the out dragonfliesmore frequentlythan in the past. same as lastyear as we were tendingover twice as manynet hours. However,our new birds(455) and The White-throated Sparrow was the bird most non-repeatingrecaptures (67) did not keep pace banded. In 2001 it was second to the Yellow- with the extra net hours,putting our b/100nh at 25, rumped Warbler; in 2002 it was second to the the lowestby far (compare to 47, 49, 46) in four Common Yellowthroat; in 2003 it was third behind years. A "big"day meant dealingwith 40 or 45 both of them. We banded 66 WTSPs in 2004, most birds, an average day was about 20. A "lot" of of whichcould not be sexed. They were caught visitorsmeant 12 or 15 people, an average day had from 10 Apr until 8 May. four. The Yellow-rumped(Myrtle) Warbler was second Bands were put on 455 birdsof 57 species. The with48 birdsreceiving new bands:69% were male, new species added to the OCCO list are an 27% female, and two birds we just couldn't Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great-Crested Flycatcher, determinefrom the plumage.MYWAs were caught from 16 Apr until 2 May. Philadelphia Vireo, Brown Creeper, Golden- crowned Kinglet, and Ovenbird, bringing the The little Common Yellowthroat was third at 43 station total after four seasons to 78 species. birds banded: 60% were male, 40% female. The There were 67 birdsrecaptured: four from 2001,10 firstCOYE was caught21 Apr, but the firstfemale from 2002, 13 from 2003, and 38 from 2004. There was not caughtuntil 8 May; we were catchingthem were two "foreign"recaptures: a Gray Catbird that up to the last day of banding was banded at the Mason Neck MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivityand Survivorship)MAS2 (Little The fourth-mostbanded bird was the Gray Catbird Marsh Rd) site as a hatching-yearbird on 25 Jul with 39, and number five was the Common Grackle 2003. The other foreign bird was a Northern with 36. These five species comprised50% of all Waterthrush #1831-83637. While we do not have those banded. Roundingout the top ten are 27 specificinformation on thisbird yet, the bandstring Red-wingedBlackbirds, 16 NorthernCardinals, 14 was issued to the Department of Ecology and Northern Waterthrushes, 14 Eastern Towhees, Evolutionand OrganismalBiology at Tulane Univ, and 14 Song Sparrows. New Orleans, LA. The Friends of the Potomac River Refuges The first bird on opening day was an Eastern (www.foprr.org) adoptedus super nicely. They Towhee. Butwe actuallyhad two birdsbefore this boughtnew nets and poles,a lotof newbags, more "first"one - the day before,as we were settingup rebar and stakes, more line;just everythingwe and hammeringin rebarand tyingdown poles and need! FoPRRalso supported Bill Teetz in building yellingto each other, a Field Sparrowand a White- a bigwonderful blend-into-the-trees storage shed. throatedSparrow flew intoa net we were usingto Refuge personnel Steve Boska and Jamie Revis gage properpole placement. They left unbanded led AmeriCorpsto builda well-drainingrock and as we did nothave the bandsat the stationyet. stone platform upon which the tent is set. Our honor student this year from the Flint Hill School We hear Eastern Wood-Pewees all the time and was ElenaPlionis, and it was an honorhaving her, finallybanded our first one on the last day, in the teaching and learning from her. Eagle Scout last net. Also on the last day we recaptureda candidateBrian Parks from troop1196 builta small Downy Woodpecker who had been banded on our parking lot, with fence, and public/handicap- veryfirst day of operation,8 Apr 2001. We banded accessibletrail from there to the bandingstation. The Refuge has placed a portabletoilet to the side ourfirst bird weighing under 6 g-a femaleSY Blue- of the lot, on a gravel pad, also constructedby grayGnatcatcher tipping the scalesat 5.9 g. This Brian. OCCO has come quitea way fromtwo card year five female and one male Ruby-throated tables set out in the open! Hummingbirdswere released at the net.

This was a 17-yearcicada year, butwhile some of The FirstAnnual FoPRR Fall Festivaland general membershipmeeting was held on 23 Oct 2004. our neighborhoodssounded like the soundtrack Birdbanding was set upfor the dayto demonstrate froma sci-fimovie, OCCO was free of them. If they the art of mist-nettingand banding. Page 208 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Vol.29 No 4