Simply put, this Fall banding season has been epic. From our very first Mourning Dove to our final bird, it has been a complete roller coaster ride. The last two weeks were a bit of a waiting game. We had been waiting for those late arrivals to bring our species total to an even 70. We were banking on Chickadees and Tree Sparrows to help us out but alas the Chickadees evaded us and the Tree Sparrows hadn’t even arrived yet! Luckily for us, we caught some weirdos.
Since our record breaking Cape May Warbler we managed to catch 6 more species including a Blue Jay, Vesper Sparrow, Brown Creeper, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Swainson’s Thrush. Bringing our grand total to 71 species!! It’s just nutty!
Fall migration is always interesting and exciting but this year was full of surprises. We caught fewer of our usuals like Tennessee Warblers and Myrtle Warblers in favour of all the little odd balls like Blackpoll Warbler and Magnolia Warblers. In total we have broken 17 records, had 4 station firsts, and of course broke the species record!
It’s not just a good year for birds! This year we had Weasel sightings almost every day in September from Walter and Wendy the Short-tailed Weasels. They were so confident they would often sneak into the banding hut… while we were inside it!!
Our Bander in Charge this year, Kelsey, has been truly amazing! She banded every day of the fall season except for the very few bad weather days. She was incredibly welcoming to our volunteers, visitors, and groups. Thank you Kelsey!
We can’t say this enough, we are so grateful for all of our volunteers this year! They have been absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much to everyone who came out!! If you are interested in volunteering next year be sure to send an email to: [email protected]
If you’re not a morning person make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date with all things Delta Marsh Bird Observatory!
Here is a little recap of our season but be sure to check out our final list and numbers when it’s up on the website. I’ve also included our final whiteboard of the season. See if you can decipher the four letter codes for each bird!
Our four station firsts include:
- Mourning Dove
- Purple Finch
- Vesper Sparrow
- Brown Thrasher
We caught more of each of these species than in previous years:
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- Trail’s Flycatcher
- Least Flycatcher
- Lincoln’s Sparrow
- Cedar Waxwing
- Black-and-White Warbler
- Orange-crowned Warbler
- Magnolia Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Blackpoll Warbler
- Northern Waterthrush
- American Redstart
- Mourning Warbler
- House Wren
- Sedge Wren
- European Starling
- Northern Flicker
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See you next season! Maybe even in the spring!
-Meredith Stoesz
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