Bird Banding Results

August 31, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

We had good diversity and bird activity today despite the heat and humidity. Sarted with 2 Chats (see pic) and ended with a young male Yellow warbler (pic)and Willow Flycatcher (shows the large bill and slight purple wash to the chin- a berry eating bird!). I have included an interesting pic of two of our goldfinch backs- Lesser on left/American on right, both HY birds. A handsome AHY plumage Bewick's wren in fresh plumage. Lot's of Tanagers on site and cedar waxwings calling!

May 24, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

We had a nice day at the BCEP. The fire up Honey Run in Butte Creek Canyon missed the Reserve. It looked like a nice burn though, most grass and some ladder fuel, trees in tact. We had a singing Warbling Vireo and several Wilson's still trickling through. Other than that the breeders are well established, with Orange-crowned warbler juvies already out. Note the different plumage adult vs juv. Juvie feathers are duller and wispy and greater covs have buffy tips. Adult feathers have more material so are more dense, brighter and no buffy tips on the covs.

May 17, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

it was a lovely day for migrants and summer breeders. While putting up nets I had a nice male Black-chinned hummer come and check me out and Mike Skram had a female- maybe collecting nesting material at the creek. he also had an Olive-sided flycatcher. Both not rare, but 2 new documented species onsite (by me). Still in the canopy lots of netrop breeders but many migrants are moving on and out. We had a good net day with our first two captures, the ever elusive skulker- Swainson's thrush! Here are the results of our great day. next banding- not sure- I'll be out of town off and on and will keep you posted. Enjoy these beautiful birds!

May 10, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

May 3, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Here are the results for banding at the BCEP- migration monitoring spring 2007.  We had a nice day of yellow!  Look at the difference between after second year male (black cap) and female (dark cap-not extensive) Wilson's warbler. Yellow- breasted chats in, but not heard singing, were a last minute surprise.  the female is on the right- ID'd as such only by a partial brood patch (BP) and a grayer mandible (lower beak). The male with a developing cloacal protuberance (CP) and mandible (lower beak) of black.  Auriculars are slightly different in color (male darker).  Without breeding characters (BP and CP) it would be difficult to differentiate the sexes in this species.  Thanks to Mike Skram who showed up and pointed out a Bald Eagle (adult) soaring overhead.  Otherwise, nothing new detected but many migrants (coming and going) detected. 

April 18, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Banded this week for migration monitoring.  A frenzy of song continued for several hours and new for the season migrants at BCEP were several singing Warbling Vireo's and WIlson's warbler.  I got my first of the season look at a Western Tanager although I still have not heard one vocalizing.  Mike Skram came out for an hour and picked up a Golden Eagle and Lincoln's sparrow.  We had some real beauties in the net including a recap female Black-headed grosbeak who bred at the site last year and was banded in July 2007.

March 24, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Most migrants are in and singing.  I was thrilled to hear a yellow warbler singing in the early morning (later found in the net-see attached) and also had a western wood peewee.  Mike did point counts and had a MacGillvrays.  Other movin' on singers: a Ruby-crowned kinglet (seems late, but also heard one in Paradise yesterday), Wilson's and Nashville Warbler and Cassin's vireo.  Yesterday in Paradise I had my first calling Western Tanager.  Year-round residents are in breeding condition. 

March 16, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Last night Levi Bateman, Randall Peterson and I went to try for NSWO at BCEP. We had no detections and no owls in the net. This is a big change from last week (exactly 1 week ago), when we had 4 owls in the net and a possible 2 additional individuals. Amazing! I think we hit migration evening last week and they have moved on. Next week we will band at the upper site. I have attached a picture that Levi took of me releasing an owl last week.

March 15, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

All, yesterday we started spring migration monitoring at the BCEP. We had a little lesson on differentiating myrtle warbler (MYWA) vs. Audubon's warbler (AUWA)- both called "Yellow-rumped warblers" or more fondly known as "butterbutts", because of the little yellow rump patch (see pic). The AUdubon's are more common around here and usually have a yellow throat-but, a young bird may have no yellow in the throat or a faint wash. However, this bird has characters of an older female (ASY) so if she was an AUWA she should have yellow in the throat. So other clues are the "smile" from the throat to the ear, defining the auriculars (ear patch), and a whitish supercillium (eyebrow), which is rather faint in this bird. And there are possible intergrades between AUWA and MYWA! My final answer is ASY/F MYWA.
Thanks Scott and Courtney for the great pics.
Tree swallows were are only migrants, but we had nice looks at an adult Bald Eagle, flock of ~85 sandhill cranes, and 7 band-tailed pigeons. Lots of singing resident birds. We closed early to go look for Peregrines (no birds seen) and heard 2 orange-crown warblers singing in Bidwelll park and had a couple of violet-green swallows.

March 10, 2007 (click to veiw results and picutres)

All, last night Levi Bateman, Mike Skram and I ran 3 nets at the BCEP and captured 4 Northern Saw-whet Owls (NSWO)- all SY/F. After recapturing three of the birds in subsequent net runs I decided to close down after 1.75 hours of operation. In addition, we had 2 birds perched, (see attached;one for sure banded) and a a third flew over the net- so a possible 6 NSWO on site. Last week, I found a roosting bird which prompted me to set up nets here. I'm wondering if we are experiencing migration or is this a productive wintering site for the owls? We heard no distinct vocalizations from these owls which is quite different than the fall migrants who chirp and wail. Frankly, I was surprised to find the birds at this elevation at 300', although Jim Snowden has had them along the Sac River in winter. Two weeks ago at the fall monitoring site BCCER, we had no detections of NSWO. We had a visit from a very kind neighbor, wondering what the noise was that sounded like "a pipe being sawed," which apparently echoed up the canyon. The origin of the NSWO name is based on the owls primary song, the one I broadcast to lure the birds in- which is said to sound like a saw being sharpened or "whetted". We invited him to check nets with us and fortunately we had a saw-whet in the net, a first for him. He gave his blessing to keep banding and he would inform the neighbors as to the noise. We also had a nice silhouette view of a male great-horned owl hooting and then flying off in the dusky sky... nice! These owls should be on chicks now.

September 17, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

We did a little last minute banding session and it was a nice day for migrants. WETA still around but not in nets. On arrival at the gate we had a tooting N. Pygmy owl, the first we have detected on site. Cedar waxwings were detected today. We also had a new in the net warbler (and maybe new for the site- I will have to check PC data sheets), a common yellowthroat-see pic! One of the Orange-crowns we captured is gray-headed like subspecies orestera (see 2 pics),as opposed to our typical olive green lutescens. This is our second capture of this subspecies-usually east of the Sierra Crest.

September 2, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

We had a great day full of migrants and residents. Our first net run had 14 Bushtits and one Wilson's warbler (new in the net). We had 4 species of warbler, Wilson's, Yellow, Yellow-breasted chat, and Orange-crowned (pics attached), and two species of flycatcher: Western wood peewee (see pic) and Dusky. Migrants are moving but we are still getting residents with juvenal plumage (lesser goldfinch and CA towhee). A beautiful Scarlet monkey flower (see pic-if I did not ID this correctly let me know) provided a burst of color among the gravels on the creek bank.

August 26, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Although we had almost a record number of people (9-thanks everyone!), we had a pretty slow start but ended up with some nice new in the net birds including 2 juvie Nuttall's woodpeckers (pic) and 8 yellow warblers (!!!, I had been hoping for one of our singing males all summer). The majority of the YWAR were young birds with good fat deposits. These warblers have unique yellow patterns in the tail (as seen in weighing pic) making them easy to ID. We had both female Anna's and Rufous hummers in the net and a female black-chinned near the processing station. Jackson pointed out a great bird-and new for the site- Lewis' woodpecker! Also had some un-ID'd flycatchers over the creek (and a singing western wood peewee), several foraging Western Tanagers, and a singing Chat (plus one in the net). Pics are from a variety of participants-thanks for sharing.

August 4, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

All, you are likely not surprised, but migration is happening. We found out by several of our exciting and challenging birds in the net. We had both Willow flycatchers (pic)(possibly detected one time during spring migration) and a Pacific-slope flycatcher- (pic, definitely detected singing during spring migration)-already headed out of town. Butte Creek Ecological Reserve (BCEP) is likely a very good migration corridor with its riparian vegetation, dense blackberries (fruit source) and water source. Also new in the net but detected by point counts was a Lark sparrow(pic). Here are the results. At least 2 yellow warblers were still singing but again eluded the nets.

July 7, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Hi all, we had a great day at the BCEP with lots of babies and species diversity. Although I had 2 male singing yellow warblers in the area we did not have any in the nets. We did have yellow-breasted chats and orange-crowned warblers in the net (but no OCWA singers). Also a juv that I ID'd as an OCWA but am now a bit hesitant of that ID. Look at comparison pics between OCWA juv. and warb. juv and give me your ID. Following are the results of the July banding effort. Thanks all assistants for your help!

April 28, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Hi all, today was not the busiest but we got a couple of nice neotropical migrants in the nets. I conducted point counts in the first hour of the morning and had some new birds for the site: yellow warbler, house wren and black-throated gray warbler. Yellow breasted chats seem to be establishing their territories and were singing from 3 locations- what a great song- I thought I was in a tropical forest somewhere! Later we identified a male black-chinned hummer performing his shuttle display in front of what we assumed to be a female black-chinned. In the nets we had three new species: Swainson's thrush, Townsend's warbler and a nice pair of Black-headed grosbeaks. Hermit thrush captures are dwindling. Really fun day in the field!

April 20, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Hi all, we had a decent day at the BCEP with some new migrants encountered for the site. Mike Skram conducted point counts and picked up and Ash-throated flycatcher, yellow-breasted chat, and western tanager. We had 2 Wilson's warblers singing near our nets and a warbling vireo near the end of the morning. On closing I had a western kingbird, and a green heron flew over. On my last net round I had a Nashville Warbler (see photo), a nice surprise because I had not detected any singing. Lots of BUOR, OCWA, BHGR singing. Lots of great color with feathers and flowers. Here are the banding results-as typical, Hermit thrush is the catch of the day!

April 7, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

Following are the results for migration monitoring at BCEP. New migrant observed today- Bullock's oriole- nice bright male. Yellow-rumps and Orange-crowned warblers continue to vocalize and stay high in the canopy (and out of the nets!). We continue to capture a large percentage (57%) of Hermit thrushes-likely as they move out. Golden-crowned sparrows undergoing heavy prealternate molt. A carcass of a 1/2 eaten, and fully plucked California quail was found in one of our nets.. There was a hole in the mesh near the quail. I think a Cooper's hawk had plucked and eaten most of this bird, was likely startled, flew with its prey into the net. When it hit the net it dropped the quail, backed out (these nets don't hold large birds)- taking some mesh in it's talons, creating the hole. A Cooper's hawk has been seen 2x during our visits- once this morning. We frequently hear CAQU in the morning. Butterflies today; western tiger swallowtail and several black and blue butterflies (?). I have been seeing a very small (~1.5 inch) blue butterfly (spring azure??)-I need another field guide!

April 5, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

We braved the drizzle to set up at Butte Creek Ecological Preserve (BCEP), hoping for clear skies. The skies did not clear but the drizzle did and the creek was flowing wide and fast like a major river. Two of our net lanes were under water and could not be set up safely. We had some vandalism at 3 other lanes (missing poles or rebar). So after a rather disappointing set-up, we finally got 5 nets up and closed by 10:30 to hide poles and reset rebar. Black phoebe photos attached. I was not aware that the BLPH has a white outer web on R6 (see BLPH back) like the western kingbird, even though this is evident in field guides! So I learned something new and will have to blame my ignorance on the fact that we don't see BLPH in WA!

March 18, 2006 (click to veiw results and picutres)

The debut of the Butte Creek Ecological Preserve (BCEP) migration monitoring station was a success! On our first net round we had a recovery, an Orange-crowned warbler that was banded at another station!

Information provided by Dawn Garcia