Howdy all,
The last two days have not been the most productive days I have seen here at
Kiptopeke. In fact, they have been pretty slow. And the wind has not helped
any either. We had half of our nets closed yesterday and then again for half
the morning today, because of the wind. Anyway, we were still able to safely
run about half the station and we did catch a few birds.
Although we have not caught anything unusual, we are starting to see an
increase in fat deposits on a few of the birds we have been catching. A good
sign! Of the 20 birds that were banded between the two days, we had our first
BLACK-THROATED BLUE WARBLER, OVENBIRD, and YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS of the season.
The most unusual capture for the banding station came today when we caught a
HAIRY WOODPECKER. Just not a species we catch much of here. In fact, only 6
have been banded since 1994 (and truthfully, all six have come in the last six
years). Seems the habitat is getting better for that species here.
At the Eastern Shore of VA NWR, large flocks of EASTERN KINGBIRDS are still
hanging around. Many hundreds were around last night. Also, I had five flocks
of BOBOLINKS go over, each containing about 150 birds. The Boat Ramp pond
didn't have much in it last night: 2 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, 1 SEMIPALMATED
PLOVER, 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 1 SPOTTED SANDPIPER, and 2 distant peeps I
couldn't ID. Also saw 2 YELLOW WARBLERS there as well.
Banding totals for 8/20:
American Redstart 7
Black-thr. Blue Warbler 1
Ovenbird 1
TOTAL ----------------------- 9
totals for 8/21:
Black & white Warbler 3
Common Yellowthroat 1
Yellow-breasted Chat 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 1
Northern Cardinal 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
TOTAL-------------------------- 11
As a side note, I have started adding pictures to the blog I have been
running for the banding station. You can view it at _www.cvwo.org_
(http://www.cvwo.org) if you are crazy enough to do so! Just kidding. Just
random pictures
of the activities, the birds, the animals (CVWO staff included here), and
whatever I take a picture of(!) at the banding station, and the area. I plan
on
updating the blog every few days, so check in regularly!
Cheers,
Jethro Runco
Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory
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