Pictorial Highlights

December 2012 - March 2013 Visitors to the banding lab frequently ask us how we deal with inclement weather over the winter. This year in particular, there was no shortage of snowy banding days. If the snow is light and the temperature is not too low, we can still use mist nets throughout the winter, although we do increase the frequency of our net checks as the temperature drops, sometimes checking as often as every 20 minutes. We also open fewer nets over in the winter, typically … [Read more...] about 2013 Winter

August - October 2012 Of all the environmental factors that influence migration, perhaps wind is the most important. And this year, more than most it was our biggest frenemy. How is wind important? Hawks soar using thermals (warm air rising from heated land masses) or ridges (wind pushed up by ridges). Songbirds on the other hand, migrate at night and fly when the winds are light or are in the direction they are heading (when they literally have a tail wind). Because low pressure systems … [Read more...] about 2012 Fall

Spring 2012 Spring is always a season of change at the banding lab. As we await the return of the migrants, we are busy placing back on poles the nets that have been taken down for the winter, and trimming vegetation around the net lanes in an effort to keep the habitat consistent from year to year. Each week the days lengthen and the mercury rises as we gear up for our season of Spring migration. This year brought a change in personnel to the banding lab, as we said good-bye to our Avian … [Read more...] about 2012 Spring

Although we had a very average September (numerous days with southeast winds did not help), captures dramatically increased in October. A high diversity of warblers remained through early October, and they were replaced by exceptionally high numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers. We also were fortunate to capture some rather unusual species. One of 3 Pine Warblers banded on a single day in early October. We only capture about one of these a year, making 3 in a day quite a … [Read more...] about 2011 Late Fall

June-July 2011As usual, summer is a slower period at Powdermill and we reduce our banding effort. June is especially slow as most young have not fledged and adults spend most of their time within their territory. Captures pick up in July as fledglings gain independence, disperse from their natal areas and move around the landscape. One of the highlights of the summer was the capture of an ASY male Cerulean Warbler, which occurred during a field course that was being taught at Powdermill through … [Read more...] about 2011 Summer

May 2011The warblers returned in force throughout May. We saw the return of most of the breeding species to our area through the first 2 weeks of May. We had a dip in numbers of birds banded during the 3rd week as eastern winds likely pushed a lot of birds to our west. In terms of numbers of birds banded, it was a rather average spring migration at Powdermill. Some of our highlights and photos of molt limits are below. Banding totals by month and year can be found on our banding summary … [Read more...] about 2011 Late Spring