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PICTORIAL HIGHLIGHTS, WEEK OF 5/8-5/13/01

Cloudy and cool, with intermittent showers in the morning on 5/12, becoming partly sunny by afternoon. Both the number of birds and number of species banded on 5/12 were the highest thus far this season. A remarkable nine new species for the season were banded on 5/12: Black-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Barn Swallow, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Bay-breasted Warbler, Orchard and Baltimore orioles.

Below are pictures of some of this diverse and interesting cast of characters:

Black-billed Cuckoo	Gray-cheeked Thrush
Bay-breasted Warbler (ASY female)	Bay-breasted Warbler (ASY male)
Baltimore Oriole (ASY male)	Orchard Oriole (SY male)
Eastern Kingbird (calm)	Eastern Kingbird (angry!)

Clear and mild early AM, becoming sunny, warm, and breezy by early afternoon on 5/11. Same pattern as yesterday, with low overall banding total and high species diversity. Among eleven species of wood warblers was one new species to band for the spring. Especially when it's a dull-colored SY female like this one, it really can be a confusing spring warbler! Check today's banding list to see which was the new species.

Like yesterday, foggy and cool in early AM on 5/10, becoming sunny and very warm by noon. Once again, banding was very slow, with just 24 birds banded in 200 net hours, however, almost every bird banded represented a different species (19 in all)! One species, Scarlet Tanager, was new to band for the spring. We thought it was a particularly brilliant ASY male, but we'll let you judge for yourselves!

Foggy and cool in early AM on 5/9 following light rain overnight; becoming sunny and warm by noon. Banding continued to be comparatively slow, but two new species were banded for the spring: Black-throated Blue Warbler (an ASY female) and a Blackburnian Warbler (photo below; also an ASY female). We rarely catch BLBW at this season, having banded a grand spring total of just 30, and having missed banding the species in spring in 20 out of 40 years.

It was cool, calm, and overcast all morning on 5/8, providing ideal conditions for banding. While our banding total (51 birds) was the highest so far this spring, the capture rate was still unexpectedly low. Three new species, all wood warblers, were banded for the spring: Tennessee Warbler, Mourning Warbler (below), and Wilson's Warbler.