Neighborhood nestwatch program visits the yard to band birds last week

Gray Catbird in net, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Gray Catbird banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Gray Catbird banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

House Wren banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Black capped Chickadee banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Song Sparrow banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Song Sparrow, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Veery, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Gray Catbird banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Northern Cardinal, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

Gray Catbird banded, Belchertown, MA, June 2015

House Wren with bands, Belchertown, June 2015

As part of the neighborhood nestwatch program (sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute) I had a bird bander visit the yard last week.  The program looks at a focus group of several backyard bird species and checks to see how they fare in different settings (urban, suburban and rural). Any individual of the focus species that gets caught are banded with a unique set of color bands that allow tracking of the birds over the course of the year(s). The focus species include Northern Cardinal, Black capped Chickadee, House Wren, Carolina Wren, Gray Catbird, Song Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, American Robin and Eastern Phoebe. During the course of the morning we managed to capture a total of nine individuals with eight of those being from the focus group that where then banded (a Veery was also caught but not banded). A total of four Gray Catbirds, a House Wren, a Black capped Chickadee, a Song Sparrow and a Northern Cardinal. The majority (all but one catbird) were males, which is not too surprising as most females would be sitting on nests at this point. There were lots of other birds in the general area that we were not lucky enough to have fly into the nets including a Black billed Cuckoo and an Alder Flycatcher (both species I have not heard around the house in a few weeks). As always it was lots of fun to see these birds up close and personal and to release them after banding.  Looking forward to seeing how these eight banded birds fare over the course of the upcoming years.  Thanks to Steph for coming by to band the birds and allowing us to get some great up close looks at the birds (I'm sure we will have even more luck next year!)

If anyone else living in Franklin, Hamden or Hampshire county would be interested in participating in this very interesting program you can e-mail them at springfield.nestwatch@gmail.com.

More information on the neighborhood nestwatch program can be found at this link:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/research/neighborhood_nestwatch/

Black Vultures (three in view) with Turkey Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, June 17, 2015

Black Vulture, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, June 17, 2015

Black Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, June 17, 2015

I also made early morning stops on Monday and Tuesday to both Lake Wallace and the vulture roost along Moody Bridge Road in Hadley. On Monday I had the Common Gallinule calling but didn't see it during the ten minutes I was there. Other typical stuff around but nothing unexpected. The vulture roost on Monday featured 23 Turkey Vultures plus a calling Black billed Cuckoo. My twenty minute stop at Lake Wallace this morning was the first time I was unable to find a Common Gallinule at this location since June 5 when I first discovered a couple of them there. I have made ten stops there since that day and have had at least one on every visit but today. The vulture roost was a bit more productive and I had at least four Black Vultures plus 39 Turkey Vultures. The four Black Vultures are the most I have ever had together in Hampshire County.