Banding birds in the yard for the second year

House Wren in net, home, Belchertown, MA, June 2, 2016

House Wren, home, Belchertown, MA, June 2, 2016

Gray Catbird, home, Belchertown, MA, June 2, 2016

Ruby throated Hummingbird, home, Belchertown, MA, June 2, 2016

Black capped Chickadee, home, Belchertown, MA, June 2, 2016

The Neighborhood Nestwatch program paid a visit to the yard today and banded a total of eight individual of four species (two House Wrens, three Black capped Chickadees, two American Robins and a Gray Catbird). A Ruby throated Hummingbird was also caught but immediately released as the species is not part of the program's scope. Compared to last year we banded the same number of birds but with a different mix of species. Despite lots of catbirds around it was unusual that we only caught one this year compared to four last year (link to post from last year:  http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2015/06/neighborhood-nestwatch-program-visits.html). A thank you to Taylor and Rachel for coming by to expertly band the birds.
Link to additional photos from the morning here:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/albums/72157668838699661

Moose, Quabbin Park, MA, June 2, 2016

Great Blue Herons at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 2, 2016

Before the banding this morning I hit a few spots starting out with a brief stop at Winsor Dam and then over to Lake Wallace before a return to Quabbin Park including another stop at Winsor Dam. Nothing too unexpected at Lake Wallace but at least of the Great Blue Heron nests has a recently hatched youngster in it. The small area of Quabbin Park that I checked turned up the usual birds plus an unexpected Moose at the Route 9 marsh. My second stop at Winsor Dam produced the continued male Lesser Scaup that played hide and seek behind the large orange buoy.

Now that May has come to an end I will take a quick look at where I am compared to previous years in regards to species seen in Hampshire County.  I will once again look at two benchmarks...total species at the end of May and date to reach 200 species over the last few years.  I managed to reach 200 right on time with a sustained effort but I'm a bit behind compared to the last few years....we shall see how the rest of the year plays out.

Totals at end of May

2012         2013            2014           2015            2016
185           210              213             210              206


Date to reach 200 species
2012         2013            2014           2015            2016  
Sep 7        May 18        May 14       May 15        May 15